Inconfidência dos Alfaiates

Inconfidência dos Alfaiates (Conspiracy of the Tailors), an unsuccessful plot for independence in Salvador, Bahia, in 1798. The conspiracy was a two-stage response to changing economic and social conditions in Bahia as sugar growing experienced a resurgence within the context of increasing despair among Salvador's poor. Initially, Bahian elites, strongly influenced by French physiocratic thought and the ideas of the French Revolution disseminated by a newly formed Masonic society, the Knights of the Light, sought to lead a movement whose objectives were independence and free trade. As the plot developed, however, it became radicalized as a large number of working-class artisans (especially tailors), enlisted men, slaves, and ex-slaves became involved. The goals of this latter group constituted a radical agenda: an end to racism, equality of opportunity, equality before the law, abolition of slavery, and the establishment of an independent Catholic Church. The political goals of the plotters included establishing a republic with leadership open to all, based on ability. Where the initial plot had been socially conservative, the second was a plan for social revolution.

The royal authorities discovered the plot because of the indiscreet actions of some of the participants and through informers. As with the Inconfidência Mineira, punishment fell disproportionately on the poorest of the plotters—four of whom were executed. The initial, elite plotters were punished either lightly or not at all. In some cases they were not even questioned.

The plot demonstrated the dichotomy between Brazilian elites, for whom independence did not imply social transformations, and the colony's poor, for whom independence was part of a process of radical social change.

See alsoMasonic Orders .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Luis Henrique Dias Tavares, História da sedição intentada na Bahia em 1798 ("A Conspiração dos Alfaiates") (1975).

Donald Ramos, "Social Revolution Frustrated: The Conspiracy of the Tailors in Bahia, 1798," in Luso-Brazilian Review 13 (Summer 1976): 74-90.

Additional Bibliography

Barman, Roderick J. Brazil: The Forging of a Nation, 1798–1852. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988.

Donato, Hernani. O cotidiano Brasileiro no século XVIII. Sao Paulo: Melhoramentos, 1998.

Garcia, Paulo. Cipriano Barata, ou A liberdade acima de tudo. Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks, 1997.

Souza, Iara Lis Carvalho. Pátria coroado: O Brasil como corpo político autonomo, 1780–1831. São Paulo: Editora UNESP Fundaçao, 1999.

                                           Donald Ramos