Cabanagem

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Cabanagem

Cabanagem, a popular insurrection in the Brazilian Amazon (1835–1840). Decultured indigenous people known as tapuios and the rest of the formerly free population essentially constituted by people of color were subject to coercive labor arrangements, to army and navy recruitment, and to personal indignities.

In contrast with other parts of Brazil, whites constituted a very small minority in Pará. With the declaration of Brazilian independence, the metropolitan Portuguese sought to maintain the colonial status quo in the province. Although they were forced to concede in 1823, they managed to retain control of the region and to maintain the labor system. Popular uprisings in 1823, 1824, and 1831, supported by the nationalist portion of the elite, sought to end the power of the Portuguese. They were put down with the help of the national army and navy. Massacres like that of 256 prisoners on the prison ship Palhaço (1823) contributed to the hostility of the lower classes (cabanos) against the white, Portuguese upper class.

In 1834 the authoritarian governor, Lobo de Souza, increased army and navy recruitment to strengthen authority in the province. Conflict within the elite was increased by the suppression of an anti-Masonic pastoral letter of the bishop. The governor, who was a Mason, took action against the popular bishop, Batista Campos, who had published the letter in the diocesan newspaper. The burning of the fazenda (ranch) of Campos's protector, Félix Antônio Clemente Malcher, in October 1834 and the subsequent death of the bishop made armed resistance appear to be the only solution for the cabanos.

The festival of São Tomé, during which people traveled to Belém, was a propitious time to prepare for the insurrection, which erupted on 6 January 1835. The rebels were led by Antônio Vinagre, a fazendeiro whose brother Manuel had been shot by government troops during the expedition against Bishop Campos. Cabanos soon took Belém, and most of the government troops joined them. The governor was executed, the Masonic temple was destroyed, and Malcher was freed from jail and proclaimed governor. The rebels sent a message to the imperial court in Rio de Janeiro, telling the government to send no more governors to Pará.

Malcher, a member of the dominant class, was not disposed to support fundamental changes and adopted a conciliatory attitude, seeking to stop acts of vengeance and appealing for a return to work. A month after his installation as governor, he was overthrown and the more popular Francisco Vinagre was proclaimed the new governor. Once in power, however, Vinagre also came into conflict with the cabanos, and in June finally agreed to hand power over to the designated governor, Manuel Jorge Rodrigues, a naturalized Portuguese. Cabano troops then left Belém but did not lay down their weapons. Persecution of cabanos by the new government led to new confrontations.

In the third and most crucial phase of the Cabanagem, Eduardo Angelim Nogueira, a tenant farmer on one of Malcher's properties, assumed leadership of the cabanos. Belém was again seized by cabano troops in August 1835. Black slaves joined the movement, which clearly envisaged the abolition of coerced labor and of slavery. Angelim Nogueira, seeking to establish government in the traditional way, opposed acts of vengeance and "excesses." Dissension within the cabano ranks, the outbreak of disease, and the arrival of government troops led the rebels to abandon Belém in May 1836.

The following years saw brutal repression of cabanos, many of whom were executed. The last groups surrendered in Amazonia in 1840. Some found shelter among indigenous groups, such as the Mura, who had supported the movement. About one-fifth of the population of Amazonia is said to have perished.

The Cabanagem is distinguished from most other insurrections of the regency by its popular character and leadership, especially in the last phase, and its power over an entire province.

See alsoSlavery: Brazil .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Domingos Antônio Raiol, Motins políticos ou história dos principais acontecimentos políticos de província do Pará desde o ano 1821 até 1835, 2d ed., 3 vols. (1970).

Renato Guimarães, "Cabanagem: A revolução no Brasil," in Cadernos do CEAS 71 (January-February 1981).

Julio José Chiavenato, Cabanagem: O povo no poder (1984).

Carlos De Araújo Moreira Neto, Indios de Amazônia, de maioria a minoria (1750–1850) (1988).