Pernambucan revolt
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Through Sugar, South America and Napoleon
The movement was led by Domingos José Martins, with the support of Antônio Carlos Ribeiro de Andrada and Frei Caneca. The Consulate General of the United States in Recife, America's oldest diplomatic post in the Southern Hemisphere, publicly supported the Pernambucan revolutionaries.
This revolution is also notable for being one of the first attempts to establish an independent government in Brazil, as it was preceded by the Inconfidência Mineira.
Contrasting with the Inconfidência Mineira, that at its demise culminated in the killing of a lower class white man (Tiradentes) or the Revolt of the Tailors, whose leaders that where killed were mostly black young men, the Pernambucan revolt ended up with the killing of white, higher-class ringleaders.
Background
The revolt can be traced from the presence of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil, which mostly benefited the plantation owners, merchants and bureaucrats of the Central and Southern regions of the country. The inhabitants of other regions, namely the Northeast, were not satisfied by the monarch's stay, given that southern Brazilians generally had knowledge of the favors and new privileges conceded to them by the Portuguese monarch from which they had received great wealth. The northern Brazilians were generally separated from the monarch, and the benefits thereof, but, at the same time, had the responsibility to support him.
Another group not content with the politics of the King John VI of Portugal and Brazil were military officials of Brazilian descent. In order to protect the cities and provide aid in military actions in French Guiana and in the region of Prata, John brought troops from Portugal in order to organize military forces reserving the highest military ranks for the Portuguese nobility. Because of this, the level of taxes steadily rose as the colony was forced to maintain the expenditures of the military campaigns.
The historical analyst, Maria Odila Silva Dias, remarked that "in order to cover the costs of installing public works and civil servants, taxes on the export of sugar, tobacco and leather were increased, creating a series of troubles that directly affected the capitanias of the North, which the Court did not hesitate to burden with the violence of recruitment and with contributions to cover the expenses of war in the kingdom, in Guiana and in the Prata region. For the governors and functionaries of various capitanias, turning to Lisboa or to Rio was the same thing."
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Troubles in the Northeast
The Northeastern region had already been affected by a famine causing a blow to cotton and sugar production in 1816, and creating another reason for the fervent desire for independence. In Recife, the capital of Pernambuco, and in the principal ports of the region, this desire and a general feeling of hostility toward the Portuguese was particularly extreme. The general sentiment was described as the "Portuguese of New Lisbon" exploit and oppress the "Pernambucan patriots."
Liberal ideas that entered Brazil by way of foreign travelers, books, and other sources incited the revolutionaries. Also, secret societies had formed from the end of the 18th century, often in the form of mason stores, several of which had existed in Pernambuco – all of which served as locations for the spreading and general discussion of the so-called "infamous French ideas."
In the peak of the revolt, one finds that the strongest Pernambucan patriots marked their identity in several methods – including drinking aguardente instead of wine and host made of wheat.
Further patriotic feelings were expressed with the chants:
Napoleonic plans
Argentine historian Emilio Ocampo investigated the life of Carlos María de Alvear, and found British documents about a Bonapartist plot in Pernambuco to free Napoleón Bonaparte, and take him to some strategic location in South America, in order to create a new Napoleonic Empire. Alvear's plans were never carried out because of the defeat of the revolution.
In May 1817, Antônio Gonçalves da Cruz, known as Cruz Cabugá, disembarked in Philadelphia (United States) with 800 thousand dollars (updated at the 2007 exchange rate at approximately 12 million dollars) in his luggage with three missions:
- Buy weapons to fight Dom João VI’s troops;
- Convince the American government to support the creation of an independent republic in the Brazilian Northeast;
- Recruit some former French revolutionaries exiled in American territory to help free Napoleon Bonaparte, exiled on the Island of Santa Helena, who would then be transported to Recife.
However, on the date of the emissary's arrival in the United States, the Pernambuco revolutionaries were already besieged by Portuguese monarchist troops and close to surrender. When Napoleon's four veterans, Count Pontelécoulant, Colonel Latapie, orderly Artong and soldier Roulet, arrived in Brazil long after the revolution had ended, they were arrested before disembarking.
In relation to the American government, Cruz Cabugá met with the Secretary of State, Richard Rush, but only managed to get a commitment that, while the rebellion lasted, the United States would authorize the entry of Pernambuco ships into American waters and that they would also accept provide asylum or shelter to potential refugees, in case of failure of the movement.
Fall and Aftermath of the Revolt
The governor of Pernambuco, Caetano Pinto de Mirando Montenegro, had some knowledge of the plans of the revolutionaries, and thus sent out to arrest the primary leaders in the plot. These revolutionaries anticipated the danger to the movement, which began after the Pernambucan capitan, José de Barros Lima (nicknamed the Crowned Lion), killed the Portuguese officer assigned to arrest him.
The revolutionaries organized a provisional government – with the leader aiming to extend the movement to other capitanias and obtain recognition from other nations. The revolt extended to Ceará, Paraíba and to Rio Grande do Norte, but was only able to survive two months before Recife was surrounded by sea and land by troops of the Portuguese monarch. The revolution, soon after, was dismantled.
Before the fall of the movement, the revolutionaries sought out the support of the United States, Argentina and England, without success. Known casualties of the conflict include the eventual execution of the rebel leaders: Domingos José Martins, José Luis de Mendonça, Domingos Teotônio Jorge and the Catholic priests Miguelinho and Pedro de Sousa Tenório. The corpses of the condemned were later mutilated by having their hands and heads cut off. Other corpses were dragged by their heads to a burial ground.
Flag of the Revolt
The general layout of the flag used by the revolutionaries still endures today, as the flag of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. The first flag was formed from the requirement for a flag to replace the Portuguese flag that had been hauled down from the Recife fort after the provisional government took control of the city. The government originally considered hoisting the French tricolor, but instead appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Father João Ribeiro Pessoa to develop a design. The design was copied in watercolor by the Rio de Janeiro artist Antônio Álvares—a painting that still existed when Ribeiro was writing in the 1930s—essentially the same as the modern state flag with the field dark blue over white, a single star above the rainbow. The flags were produced by the tailor José Barbosa, who was also a captain in the militia. The first flag was publicly blessed by the dean of the Recife cathedral on 21 March 1817.
In 1917, the same flag became the official banner of the current state.
According to its physical description, the flag's features signify the following: "The blue color in the upper rectangle symbolizes the grandeur of the Pernambuco sky. The color the white area is for peace. The three-colored rainbow represents the union of all the people of Pernambuco. The star indicates the state within the grouping of the Federation. The sun is the force and energy of Pernambuco, and finally, the cross represents our faith in justice and mutual understanding."