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Thematic dossier 200 years after the Revolution (1820-2020)

December 2021

“CONTOS LOUCOS” AND “FANTÁSTICAS CARRANCAS”:

VINTISM (1820-23) IN PERNAMBUCO

MARIA DO SOCORRO FERRAZ

slinsferraz@uol.com.br

She is Associate Professor at the Department of History of the Federal University of Pernambuco

(UFPE, Brazil), and underwent doctoral studies at the University of Bielefeld, from 1974 to 1980,

under the supervision of Professor Johannes Helweg. She received her Ph.D. in History in 1992 at

the University of São Paulo, supervised by Professor José Jobson Arruda. She was a Visiting

Professor at the Faculty of History and Geography of the University of Salamanca/Spain, during

the first semester of 2002. Among her publications, the following stand out: Sertão Fronteira do

Medo (Ed. UFPE, 2015); República Brasileira em Debate (Ed. UFPE, 2010); Fontes Repatriadas,

Colonial History notes (Ed. UFPE, 2006); Sertão um Espaço Construído (Ed. Universitária

Salamanca, 2005); Caneca, Acusação e Defesa (Ed. UFPE, 2000); Liberais & Liberais (Ed. of

UFPE, 1996).

Abstract

This paper examines the conflicts between liberal monarchy supporters and liberal republicans

in the province of Pernambuco in the period that preceded the 1820 Porto Revolution until the

independence of Brazil. It highlights the difficulties of the colonial elite in dealing

administratively and politically with the two centres of power: Rio de Janeiro versus Lisbon,

Pedro versus D. João VI.

Keywords

Liberalism, Constitutionalism, Elite, Pernambuco, Conflicts

How to cite this article

Ferraz, Maria do Socorro (2021). “Contos Loucos” and “Fantásticas Carrancas”: Vintism

(1820-23) in Pernambuco. Janus.net, e-journal of international relations. VOL12 N2, TD1 -

Thematic dossier 200 years after the Revolution (1820-2020), December 2021. Consulted

[online] in date of the last visit, https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.DT0121.3

Article received on em July 28, 2021 and accepted for publication on September 30, 2021

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“Contos loucos” and “Fantásticas carrancas”: vintism (1820-23) in Pernambuco

Maria do Socorro Ferraz

“CONTOS LOUCOS” AND “FANTÁSTICAS CARRANCAS”:

VINTISM (1820-23) IN PERNAMBUCO

MARIA DO SOCORRO FERRAZ

Historian Carlos Guilherme Mota defined the insurrectionary movements that spread

throughout the country in the first decades of the 19th century as the "second discovery

of Brazil", highlighting the 1817 Revolution as the culmination of a discovery process

(Mota, 2016:252). While the South had the São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas

conspiracy projects, the Northeast experienced the strongest insurrection, when in Brazil

the discussion about the form of government and the possible independence of the

Kingdom from Portugal was pondered. The Pernambuco elite presented the most radical

model of nation through the writings of Frei (Friar) Caneca (Caneca 1875 and 1976). The

discussion was influenced by the enlightenment.

In 1798, D. Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho, Navy and Overseas Minister, presented a reform

programme

to the Junta de Ministros (Board of Ministers) of Portugal based on the

moderate ideas of Abbot Raynal, the liberalism of Adam Smith, and the ideas of Bishop

Azeredo Coutinho, experienced when he held the position in Pernambuco and in Elvas,

Portugal. This programme highlighted some points: the crisis of the colonial system

combined with the world situation and the restlessness in the colony. Azeredo Coutinho

had already indicated that the integration of Portugal with Brazil was necessary, as it

would strengthen the ties between them. The loss of a colony such as Brazil would

undermine the existence not only of the Portugal, but above all of the Portuguese

monarchy and probably the autonomy of the Portuguese nation.

In the opinion of the reformers, Portugal should create two centres of political power in

Brazil: one in the north and one in the south, so that they could represent Portuguese

power and help each other; there should be changes in unproductive taxation, as many

of the colonists' complaints were related to taxes confused with extortion and practices

of authoritarian and ethically dubious officials; scientific expeditions to explore Brazil to

better know its riches were planned. The exploitation of existing resources and

experimenting with new cultures in Brazil were part of the new policy, which attempted

to implement the changes resulting from the industrial revolution.

By 1788, Portugal had already received samples of coffee produced in Brazil. In 1795,

iron ore mining started in Bonito, in the captaincy of Pernambuco. In 1798, the

Article translated by Carolina Peralta.

Speech given before the Board of Ministers and others on matters relating to the economic and financial

development of Portugal and Overseas Domains, especially Brazil (Lyra, 1994: 245).

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Maria do Socorro Ferraz

Portuguese government sought information about cochineal

and recommended the

creation of a Botanical Garden for the cultivation and recording of plants for the most

diverse destinations.

By 1801, sprouts and seeds of sandalwood trees were already being sent from

Pernambuco to Portugal. And, with the presence of the Prince Regent in Brazil, in

November 1812, a Royal Notice ordered the Governor of the Captaincy of Pernambuco

to send vine sticks to the royal estates in Lisbon in all ships going to that port. In 1813,

100 vine sticks were sent from the Olinda Botanical Garden.

This project about discovering wealth in Brazil and improving exploration methods and

techniques included the training of nationals such as José Bonifácio, who studied

mineralogy in Germany, and Manuel de Arruda Câmara, considered by historian José

Antonio Gonsalves de Mello as the “representative model of the educated generation of

the late eighteenth century” (Mello, 1982: 58). Manuel de Arruda Câmara had a doctorate

in medicine from the University of Montpelier and carried out important studies in the

field of botany.

He was part of a generation that focused on science, politics and the economy of Brazil,

aware of its contribution to the new emerging society. Arruda Câmara applied the results

of cutting-edge research from his time, carried out in France, demystifying the belief that

the increase in the harvest could take place through the fermentation of any quality of

grain. The cultivated Portuguese realized that the weakened colonial empire could

become the new empire, articulating itself with its American colony in order to sustain

the monarchy and other overseas dominions.

The list of reforms proposed by Minister Rodrigo Coutinho included the foundation of the

Olinda Seminary in 1796, more as a College for young people than as a seminary for the

training of priests. Two years later, to run it, the Portuguese Government appointed an

enlightened man born in in 1742 in the village of São Salvador dos Campos dos

Goitacazes, in the captaincy of Paraíba do Sul, and educated in Portugal, Bishop José

Joaquim da Cunha de Azeredo Coutinho. In Pernambuco, Bishop Azeredo Coutinho had

various functions and in all of them he stood out as an enlightened man, defender of the

monarchy and of reforms limited to enlightened despotism. The building of the Seminary

began in 1800.

Bishop Azeredo Coutinho

wrote to the Prince Regent to inform him about his work in the

captaincy of Pernambuco, his religious activities, as general director of studies at the

Olinda Seminary, as interim governor of the captaincy of Pernambuco and as president

of the Junta da Fazenda (Finance Board) in Pernambuco. He described his actions and

achievements consistent with the enlightened thinking of the time: he reduced the

number of curates in the main churches; he drafted a statute to educate the Portuguese

youth in all the main branches of literature, not just for ecclesiastics, but for every citizen

who wanted to serve the State; he set up a seminary for young women with status aimed

primarily at those who wanted to be mothers; he settled four nations of rebellious Indians

Insect used in fabric dyeing.

This information about the transit of newly discovered or recently explored cultures in Brazil is advanced by

F. A. Pereira da Costa (1951). In Anais Pernambucanos. Recife: Imprensa Oficial.

Biblioteca Nacional of Rio de Janeiro. Letter of 20 January 1816. Cartas que o excmo. bispo d'Elvas, don

José Joaquim da Cunha d'Azeredo Coutinho, escreveu aos excmos. generaes inglezes que mais concorrerão

para a restauração de Portugal. Por Coutinho, José Joaquim da Cunha de Azeredo, 1742-1821.

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Maria do Socorro Ferraz

towards the State and Church; he clearly informed that, as governor, he did not allow

the rich to oppress the poor; he commented on the scarcity of fresh meat in Recife and

Olinda, and its abundance in the hinterlands.

To solve this disparity, he proposed opening a road between Olinda and the hinterlands,

so that cattle could reach the coast, find good markets and supply them. He informed D.

João about the need for a good customs in order to prevent theft; he bought a small

frigate and armed it to face the pirates who infested the coasts of Pernambuco; he posted

couriers and sentries all along the coast to watch enemy ships; he fought hunger in the

hinterlands. As President of the Board of Finance of Pernambuco, he collected the

revenues of the Royal Treasury according to products and parishes.

Portugal’s efforts to modernize the colony included something not often privileged then

– leisure. To the astonishment of the population, a notice to the Government of

Pernambuco informed of the concession given to Francisco Antonio Todi, manager of the

São Carlos theatre in Lisbon, to establish a Casa de Sortes in the city of Olinda. The

concession, which recommended caution and public inspection, reflected the new

mentality to be introduced in Brazil.

While Portugal led the uplifting of the Empire from a policy of integration with its American

colony, understanding its fragility in the face of more powerful nations such as France

and England, the conflicts between these two empires ended up imposing a decision on

the Portuguese government, which had long been thought by its leaders, but postponed.

The arrival of the royal family and the displacement of the Portuguese state apparatus

to Brazil was a far-reaching positive action for the immediate future of Brazil. For the

Portuguese nation, it brought the tragedy of having its territory occupied by the French,

the English, the Spaniards. In short, it brought war and penury. Minister Souza Coutinho

himself had already commented, in 1803, on the possibility of creating a powerful empire

in Brazil. The opinion of the Marquis de Belas

about this situation is quite enlightening:

“With the doors of the continent closed by the French on the inside and by the British on

the outside”, there was no alternative for the Portuguese monarchy but to migrate to

Brazil.

In the political and economic game, between France and England, Regent D. João VI,

upon arriving in Brazil, made decisions favourable to England, which would also be in

Brazil’s interest in the short term. Regardless of the effort to maintain the forces that

supported the Empire, the power bloc showed signs of disintegration. These forces did

not emerge so explicitly from the state apparatus, but from civil society. (Valentim,

1993:392).

The decisions made by the Prince Regent regarding the colony, such as the opening of

ports, the signing of the 1810 Treaty of Navigation and Trade and the rise of Brazil to the

category of United Kingdom, led to the rupture of the power bloc. The letters of the

Governors of the Kingdom are the best proof of this disintegration, which brought

different results to its supporters: positive for the seigneurial/colonial bourgeoisie and

negative for the mainland’s bourgeoisie and aristocracy.

Costa.F.A.P.da. (1983). Anais Pernambucanos, vol.X. Recife, FUNDARPE.

“Memória do Marquês de Belas”, not dated, cited by Ângelo Pereira (1953). D. João VI Príncipe e Rei, vol.

III, p. 40, Lisbon, Editora Empresa Nacional de Publicidade.

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Maria do Socorro Ferraz

Even though the results related to Brazil were positive, their distribution was not

homogeneous. In the disintegration of the power bloc, the Captaincy of Pernambuco

played a different role from other captaincies, which were divided between the power of

Rio de Janeiro and the power of Lisbon.

In 1804, Caetano Pinto de Miranda Montenegro arrived in Pernambuco. He was Governor

in Cuiabá and travelled by land, covering a distance of 670 leagues. In 1805, he was

appointed governor of Angola. A petition by residents of the captaincy of Pernambuco

asked the Prince Regent for his permanence, which was attended to. Until the arrival of

the imperial family in Brazil, Governor Caetano Pinto de Miranda Montenegro was seen

as an upright man, a good administrator, with a commendable character. For ten years

he governed with prudence, did not risk major innovations, but allowed for some

improvements. He listened to complaints from the poor and the rich, and was considered

a "righteous man".

The changes carried out by the government of the Prince Regent helped the

administration of Caetano Pinto de Miranda Montenegro. For example, commercial

franchises granted by D. João began to change the habits and customs of colonial society.

Mesa Grande clerk Caetano Francisco Lumachi de Melo commented in his report that

before 1799, customs revenues were much lower. From 1799 to 1810, these yields

almost tripled and by 1823 amounted to more than a million.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Pernambuco competed with Bahia for the second

and third place in imports and exports. Rio Janeiro had the lead.

On 10 March 1808, Caetano Pinto de Miranda Montenegro was called to Rio de Janeiro

by the King and stayed there until September of the same year. On his return, he brought

a commendation from the Order of Christ and another, Knight in the Cape and Sword of

the Ministry of Finance. Still, for the people of Pernambuco he brought with him a heavy

baggage of taxes: the tenth tax on the houses, the tax on inheritances and legacies, the

sugar tithe and the Prince Regent’s project to invade Cayenne in French Guiana. This was

in addition to other humiliations to guarantee the Court's luxury, expenses that

encumbered the national treasury.

Despite the good collection of revenue in Pernambuco, from the point of view of some

products, especially sugar, one can speak of a decrease in income, given the expenses,

including those incurred by the occupation of Cayenne by the troops. The social situation

was oppressive because of taxes. Portugal declared war on France, prepared to occupy

Cayenne and demanded 1000 men from Pernambuco for this military expedition. The

Governor approved this new tax policy.

Father Dias Martins noted that he returned from Rio de Janeiro with the task of sending

all the Province's money to the Court, without thinking about the obligations to the

creditors. In fact, these taxes were general to the entire country. However, Governor

Caetano Pinto wrote to the Prince Regent about the inconvenience of simultaneously

charging more taxes and taking away bread winners or loved ones from families. Despite

Biblioteca Nacional of Rio de Janeiro. Relatório do escrivão da Mesa Grande Francisco Lumachi de Melo

apresentado ao Governo do Rio de Janeiro. Registro de Correspondência 1808/1833, CGPP 9, 50.

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the reaction of the people from Pernambuco, 300 men were sent to occupy Cayenne in

1809.

Brazil's situation was one of continuous deficit and Portugal's one of complete

degradation: plundered, its trade interrupted and its fields deserted. In July 1811, the

Prince Regent ordered a loan to be raised in the Kingdom, guaranteeing payment with

the rents of the provinces of Bahia, Pernambuco and Maranhão. The aim was to restore

industry and farming in Portugal. In Hipólito da Costa's opinion, this loan taken out in

the Kingdom impoverished it, as the money drained into the pockets of American and

other merchants. (Costa, 2001).

In 1812, the economic-financial and socio-political situation in Portugal was very difficult.

In Lisbon, the discount on paper money was 25%, given the disappearance of metallic

coins, exchanged for foreign goods, mainly from the United States. Even the remittances

of pounds from London to pay British and national troops also ended up falling into the

pockets of American traders. A law prohibited the exit of gold and silver, but it was

useless. According to current opinions, encouraging trade with Brazil was the only chance

for Portugal to get its currency back.

At the end of 1812, Portugal's deficit was 12 million cruzados. In addition to the purchase

of food, the military expenses weighed on the finances. D. João tries to obtain a loan

from England, but failed. He had to sell the Crown's free property.

The finances were in a mess. The navy had more officers than warships. In Brazil, bills

of exchange, interest on loans and civil servants were no longer paid on time, despite all

coffers being scraped, including the deceased and absent, in the words of Hipólito da

Costa (2001). Portugal checked what was collected in the Captaincies, and suggested the

following: collect the amounts of the Captaincies, calculated in 1530 contos, paying the

expenses through Banco do Brasil; Brazil's expenses should be reduced and revenue

increased. Rio de Janeiro, Bahia and Pernambuco had the best revenues, so these should

be taxed. The Government should tax imports heavily.

And would the 1810 Treaty allow it? How would governments in Brazil and Portugal react?

The Lisbon regency forbade the exit of metals; the Rio de Janeiro government did the

same in Brazil’s other provinces. Payments would be made in bills from Banco do Brasil

or dealers, redeemable at the respective markets.

Changes in import taxes took place much later and very weak. As Rio de Janeiro became

the centre of mercantile activities, it was more dependent on England than Pernambuco,

which at this point was preparing to leave the Empire. The businessmen of Rio de Janeiro,

at the end of the 18th century, formed a pressure group, independent of the rural

aristocracy – the great landowners. Due to the volume of their business, they were able

to accumulate capital and provide credit to the King and rural landowners.

The position of merchants in Rio de Janeiro was far superior to that of merchants in

Pernambuco. More affluent than their Pernambuco counterparts and enjoying greater

social prestige, they were even honoured with the order of Christ, which gave them

In the Royal Charter of 13 December 1812, D. João authorized the sale of the Crown’s free prperty to cover

insolvent expenses. Índice das Cartas de Leis, Alvarás, Decretos e Cartas Régias de 1812. Available at

http://bd.camara.leg.br/bd/bitstream/handle/bdcamara/18322/colleccao_leis_1812_parte1.pdf?sequence

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aristocratic status. The businessmen of Pernambuco, on the other hand, massacred by

the Companhia de Comercio da Paraíba e Pernambuco, only became ennobled if they

became landowners, and they were not familiar with the credit and interest system.

The Pernambuco Revolution of 1817 was the result of these new standards introduced

by Souza Coutinho's reform project and by the circumstances of the time. Led by

Pernambuco residents, but with important support in Paraíba, Ceará and Rio Grande do

Norte, it is a good example of the fractures that gradually undermined the Empire. To

get an idea of these divisions, Caetano Pinto de M. Montenegro, on 5 March 1817,

therefore on the eve of the Revolution, reaffirmed to the inhabitants of Pernambuco the

king's intention to unite the kingdoms and denounce the infidels:

People from Pernambuco: calm your spirits, do not listen to rumours: some

inconsiderate words uttered in excess of joy, do not decide the character of

men nor make them infidels and traitors. His majesty has just united all his

kingdoms into one: this happy union must spread. What basis could these

parties have to divide you? We are all Portuguese, we are all subjects of the

same Sovereign, we are all fellow citizens of the same United Kingdom: men

are not distinguished according to their place of birth, but according to love

and fidelity to their King, and their homeland, this being the honourable motto

of the Portuguese for their talents, virtues and the accuracy with which they

fulfil their duties

In response to the numerous proclamations by rulers loyal to the King, revolutionaries

also published them – like the one below, at the end of the Revolution on 15 April 1817:

Whoever you are

We have read your proclamations, worthy of those who make them and

worthy of those who spread them. And we admire the grading of your threats:

in the first, on 21 March, you were happy to call us unworthy; on the two of

29 March, you refer to us as infamous, despicable and other epithets that

certainly belong to you more than to us. You require our death and promise

to use the sword if you do not establish the Laws of your good King. See how

different we are, we do not hassle you, we do not hate you, but we will play

murder with murder, fire with fire and war with war. We do not fear you,

come, you will disembark and experience what free men are like. In payment

for your three proclamations, we send you another three. I warn you that if

any of our raftsmen suffers any insult, we have in our hands your Marshals,

Brigadiers, and officers who will pay head for head.

House of the Provisional Government in Pernambuco, 15 April 1817.

Signed: Father João Ribeiro Pessoa, Domingos José Martins, José Luiz de

Mendonça, Manoel Correia de Araújo, Manoel José Pereira Caldas, Antonio

Carlos Ribeiro de Andrade, Miguel João de Almeida e Castro.

Biblioteca Nacional of Rio de Janeiro. Documentos Históricos: Revolução de 1817 (1954) v. CVI

Idem.

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Upon learning about the outbreak of the revolt, D. João ordered the departure of the fleet

destined to block the port of Recife under the command of Admiral Rodrigo José Ferreira

Lobo. An army with eight battalions, artillery and cavalry left Rio on 4 May in 10 sailboats.

The general command was entrusted to General Luís do Rego Barreto, who considered

the liberal and revolutionary ideas of the Pernambuco inhabitants to be insane.

Due to the influence of the literature of French and American liberals, introduced in the

Colony in various ways, including by Arruda Câmara, these dreams of independence

seemed to Luís do Rego “contos loucos” (crazy tales). He pejoratively called the

battalions formed and directed by the natives “fantásticas carrancas”(whimsical

grimaces).

The situation of the revolutionaries became untenable. Attempts to support the

neighbouring provinces, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará were successful, but

attempts to obtain military support from the United States were unsuccessful no matter

how much effort the Freemason had made. The exchange of proclamations between the

parties’ military leaders also had no effect. The Rio de Janeiro Court sent a group of men

presided over by General Luís do Rego Barreto, who for consecutive years subjected

Pernambuco's inhabitants to many vexations. The main leaders of the Revolution were

sentenced to death, dismemberment and their remains were displayed in public squares.

Governor Luís do Rego Barreto imprisoned Pernambuco citizens right, left and centre. He

punished some by exiling them to Africa. Others were sent to various prisons in Brazil,

and forty-two were tried by courts in Lisbon, on the accusation of being supporters of

independence. As a result, the Minister of Justice in Portugal ordered the magistrate of

Belém to take the prisoners to the Castle, to the Regedor das Justiças, and to prosecute

them immediately.

According to Hipólito José da Costa, the prisoners triumphantly paraded through the

streets of Lisbon, exposed to the horrified eyes of the inhabitants, escorted by cavalry

and infantry with drumrolls and pomp. And since their clothes had got held in their trunks

at Customs, they weren't dressed with dignity. The forty-two prisoners met with the

weight of the Portuguese Court’s absolutism, in the humiliation of this parade and in the

triumph of Governor Luís do Rego.

General Luís do Rego Barreto believed that he had defeated the “contos loucos” and the

“fantásticas carrancas”. However, the “crazy tales” crossed the Atlantic and inspired

Portuguese constitutionalists, victorious with the Constitutionalist 1820 Revolution in

Portugal, which forced King João VI to return to Portugal and sign a liberal constitution,

approved by elected deputies from various parts of the Kingdom, led by the Cortes.

Supportive of the liberal constitutionalists of Pernambuco, the Lisbon Cortes participating

in the 1820 Revolution ordered the release of the revolutionary survivors of 1817

and

An allusion to the heads of monsters that were placed on the prow of boats on the São Francisco River,

representing ferocious animals, supposedly to chase away evil spirits.

After the trial of the cases of the 42 Pernambuco prisoners in Casa da Suplicação, they were released and

received in Pernambuco with great festivities. The final judgment took place on 27 October 1821. (Costa,

2001: 325)

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created Governing Boards in all the provinces in an attitude of disrespect towards

absolutist governors, such as Luís do Rego Barreto.

As in Pernambuco in 1817, the military and magistrates of the city of Porto were already

preparing the constitutionalist revolution some years before August 1820. José Ferreira

Borges, a member of the Council of the 1820 Porto Revolution, was a member of the

Sinédrio, an association founded in Porto in 1817 by Manuel Fernandes Tomás, whose

purpose was to prepare a liberal revolution in Portugal.

The Portuguese situation at the time brought dissatisfaction to the bourgeoisie, farmers

and the military. It meant the closing of factories, the abandonment of agriculture, the

delay in the payment of wages and salaries to the military, British tutelage, the Brazilian

primacy and the invasions that Portugal suffered by France and Spain. With the opening

of Brazilian ports 'to friendly nations', such as England, British competition destroyed the

Portuguese economy.

The 1820 Porto Revolution faced additional problems: the Portuguese absolutist

monarchists, who followed D. João VI, did not opt for the King's return. Brazil and the

divided Brazilians took different positions: some preferred the constitutionalism of the

Cortes to the government of Regent Pedro; the English minister Thornton and the Count

of Palmela pressured the King to send his son Pedro or return to Lisbon, thus putting a

stop to the democratic side of the 1820 movement; and the Austrians, although

enlightened, did not support the 1920 movement, and remained absolutist.

The political arguments of the liberal constitutionalists and of the more conservative

Portuguese originated in the two trends within the Portuguese monarchy: absolutism and

constitutionalism. The Portuguese constitutionalists presented the Constitution as the

remedy for all the ills that afflicted Portugal, even hinting at the recolonization of Brazil.

The bourgeoisie of the city of Porto were promised industries that could transform

Brazilian raw materials into manufactures - cotton into textiles, raw sugar into refined

sugar and its distribution in the European market.

How about the 1810 Treaty with England, would it be disrespected, restructured?

The bourgeoisie needed D. João VI’s relationship with England for the construction of the

industrial revolution, including new negotiations with the British. The constitutionalists,

in an attempt to calm the King, tried to naturalize liberalism by linking it to tradition,

recalling the fictional Lamego Cortes (Lima, 1997: 16).

What changed in Brazil with the victory of Vintism?

The Portuguese living in Brazil, both merchants and State bureaucrats, and Brazilians

well positioned with the King, did not want to lose the advantages obtained with the

coming of the Court. They were aware that the return of the King would affect them, as

Brazil would lose its status as United Kingdom and as head of the Portuguese

Government.

There is no detailed study on the interests of Emperor Francisco I, of the Holy Roman Empire, in marrying

his daughter Maria Leopoldina to Pedro de Alcântara - this royal house probably found Brazil important for

its politics, especially in relation to the English or they could play further by investing on the American

continent.

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D. João VI travelled to Portugal to attend the Constitutionalist Cortes in April 1821. His

son Pedro became the Prince Regent. Unlike the Portuguese constitutionalist liberals,

Silvestre Pinheiro Ferreira

predicted that the return of the King would bring irreparable

damage to the Portuguese Empire. The facts proved this assertion. Pedro's power was

much less accepted than the power of D. João VI. Brazilians suddenly had to comply with

the laws, orders and decrees coming from two arm wrestling centres of power: the

Constitutionalist Cortes based in Lisbon, and Pedro’s Regency based in Rio de Janeiro.

The Portuguese living in Brazil, most of them merchants, and the military pressured him

to accept orders from Lisbon, and appeals for this to happen became constant in the

main Brazilian cities.

The decree of 1 October 1821 of the Lisbon Cortes created Provisional Boards in the

Provinces, which reduced Pedro's power, as the customs’ administration and the military

command were Lisbon's responsibility, which led to fights between opposing factions.

The provinces of Pará, Maranhão and Bahia started to obey the Cortes of Lisbon. in Rio

de Janeiro, the Portuguese garrison rebelled and forced the Prince to form a Provisional

Board dependent on Lisbon. The provinces of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais

were directly governed by the Prince Regent.

In the discussion of the Lisbon Constitutionalist Cortes on the administration of the

overseas territories, the problem of administrative uniformity between Portugal and

Brazil came into the agenda. The post of Governor of the Provinces, with its absolutist

slant, had no counterpart in Portugal after the 1820 Revolution, and it was soon replaced

by the election of the Provisional Boards. The newly elected Boards, in the spirit of the

constitutionalist movement, generally had Brazilians, who felt institutionally watched by

the Portuguese military and were reduced to mere inspectors of Portuguese customs

duties. Without a clear definition of the Prince's power limit, the Boards were, in fact,

helpless entities used by the two centres of power: Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon.

The events in Pernambuco in this period were sui generis and deserve special analysis.

The news of the success of the constitutionalist movement in the city of Porto reached

Rio de Janeiro and five days later it was known in Pernambuco. Governor Luís do Rego

organized and presided over the Constitutional Governing Council of the Province of

Pernambuco on 30 August 1821. He did not want to officially disclose the news. For a

year, he wanted to hide the constitutionalist victory from everyone, which was

impossible, as periodicals, pamphlets, and loose information reached the Province. On

this, Denis Bernardes wrote:

Contrary to what happened in Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, the Portuguese troops

in Pernambuco did not support the constitutionalist movement, remaining

faithful to the Governor's orders. This explains, among other reasons, the fact

that about a year elapsed between the arrival of the first news of the Porto

revolution and the election of a Board, within the new rules approved by the

Cortes and Luís do Rego's ability to remain leader of the Government.

(Bernardes, 2001: 368).

Silvestre Pinheiro Ferreira was in Brazil as Minister of Foreign Affairs and War, from 1810 to 1821, and also

as his advisor. Between 1814 and 1815 he wrote by order of the Prince Regent “Memórias Políticas sobre

os Abusos Gerais e o Modo de os Reformar e Prevenir a Revolução Popular” (Silvestre Ferreira, 2012).

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The county of Goiana

did not want to accept the command of Luís do Rego and did not

recognize this Council as legitimate. A large part of the Pernambuco counties supported

its decision. A few from the south of the Province declared themselves obedient to Luís

do Rego. The liberals from Pernambuco had had a bitter experience of the repression of

the 1817 Revolution. So they thought it would be better to wait, reorganize the Province,

wait for the events between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro, and between the defence of

Portuguese constitutionalism and independence mixed with authoritarianism led by

regent Pedro. For these Pernambuco liberals, war in Brazil was imminent, and it could be

long, exhausting both power centres. For this region, the republic could no longer be a

dream.

Luís do Rego Barreto found out about the constitutionalist movement in Goiana and

arrested several military and civilian officers. He immediately sent an official letter to

King D. João VI, reporting on the latest events in Pernambuco. He confirmed that

Pernambuco was uprising and that there were parties that wanted absolute independence

from Portugal and that at the moment they were governed by the Constitution of

America. Governor Luís do Rego still had Portuguese troops from the Algarves Battalion.

On 21 August 1821, the Regent sent an official letter authorizing the creation of a

Provisional Government Board in Pernambuco. On 17 September 1821, Rego sent it to

the Recife Chamber for action. However, at this point, Recife was uprising. This letter

was published in the press. Olinda tried a conciliation, but Goiana did not accept it.

The Goiana revolt was called Temporary Constitutional Government and publicly

supported the Porto Revolution. On 10 October 1821, the Goiana Board sent an official

letter to the King listing the recent political events in Pernambuco, justifying its creation

and denouncing the abuses of Luís do Rego Barreto

Then, it sent an envoy to the King and the Cortes – Manoel Clemente Cavalcanti de

Albuquerque – showing it did not support the independence movement. The creation of

the Board was ordered by the crown appointed judge, with representatives of the clergy,

nobility, military and people, on 29 August 1821. On 21 September of the same year,

there was a bloody battle in Olinda, between the forces of Goiana and those of General

Luís do Rego.

The forces of Goiana marched on Recife against the troops commanded by the General

and, in the village of Beberibe, they made their camp. The siege of Recife by the Goiana

people ranged from Rio Doce, in the north, to Afogados, in the south. Afraid of being

Goiana was founded before 1570, and was originally inhabited by Caetés and Potiguares Indians. It rose to

the category of parish in 1568. At that time it belonged to the captaincy of Itamaracá. Due to its expansion,

it became a village, then hosting the Chamber and Justice and becoming the head of the Captaincy of

Itamaracá. Part of the captaincy of Itamaracá was incorporated into the Captaincy of Pernambuco in 1763.

Goiana was the first municipality in Pernambuco to declare the abolition of slavery, before the law of 13

May 1888. See Galvão (2006).

The governor of Pernambuco imposed changes that harmed the economy of Goiana. This village provided

meat to Recife and other places; the tax for this service was high. The governor banned this trade and

favoured another village, Vitória de Santo Antão. The tax remained high and this shook the economy of

Goiana. Another episode that may seem simple, but was demoralizing for the people of Goiana: the

Governor occupied the Vila at night and with his troops ripped all the blinds from the windows, which

protected from the sun, and then made a big fire with them. This despotic act forced the population to buy

iron bars and glass, which were English product. See Ferraz (1996: 145).

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crushed by the military forces of other Pernambuco counties, which joined the Goiana

battalions, Governor Luís do Rego sent emissaries requesting an armistice.

His great opponent was not another general but merchant Gervásio Pires Ferreira. A

businessman, he was the evaluator of the tax system of the Republic from 1817,

proposing reforms and improvements. Released from prison in Lisbon on 22 February

1821, he returned to the Province with greater prestige than before. He went to Beberibe

and in an agreement signed between the revolutionary forces and the General, it was

decided that he would immediately embark for Lisbon with all the Portuguese battalions.

This agreement took the name of the Beberibe Convention.

On 15 October 1821, an official letter arrived from Lisbon, ordering the creation of the

new constitutional government, and on 26 October, the Provisional Governing Board,

chaired by Gervásio Pires Ferreira

, was elected. That same day, Luís do Rego left for

Lisbon, along with part of the Portuguese troops. A new governor of arms was on his way

from Portugal to replace Marshal Salazar. The Board had the difficult and delicate task of

informing the Prince Regent in Rio de Janeiro and His Royal Highness in Portugal of the

changes that had taken place in Pernambuco, because the new Board was not an

unconditional ally of either of the two powers, even if it would not explicitly comment on

the matter.

The war for independence that broke out in Brazil dismantled the routine work between

the provinces and the central power in Rio de Janeiro. Many administrative issues in the

Province were raised daily and the Provisional Government did not have immediate

answers. It was decided to convene a Grand Council, a kind of Assembly in an attempt

to manage heterogeneity and to try democracy by expanding participation and

responsibilities. It included landlords, priests, deputies, judges, inspectors, and soldiers.

The first measures taken by the new Governing Board involved restoring order in the

Province. Some Portuguese battalions had not yet embarked, due to lack of space on the

ships, which caused fear in the population.

With no military power in the Province, the Board, attentive to socio-racial issues,

organized a military force composed of native people. Two companies of blacks and two

of pardos were created and paid for this service. They were commanded by sergeants-

majors of the same race and class, respectively. The “fantásticas carrancas” were back.

The relations between the Board presided over by Gervásio Pires and the government of

Rio de Janeiro were, from the beginning, tense. The Rio de Janeiro power did not trust a

Board led by an ex-revolutionary of 1817. The balance between both had always been

dangerous for Pernambuco. Between the two centres of power, the Board presided over

by Gervásio honoured in all its acts the Cortes, the King, and Lisbon as the centre of

power. However, it felt helpless in its policy against the Rio de Janeiro power. The

Province paid taxes to pay for the lighting and police in Rio de Janeiro. As much as

Pernambuco requested a reduction in taxes, it did not receive any positive response from

the two powers. The small and medium producers of brandy, a secondary elite, were not

helped by Lisbon, while the large owners were not affected in their fortunes. In

The Provisional Governing Board was made up of the following members: Gervásio Pires Ferreira –

president, Fr. Laurentino Antonio Moreira de Carvalho – secretary, and by Manuel Ignácio de Carvalho,

Antonio José Vitorino Borges da Fonseca, Filipe Neri Ferreira, Joaquim José de Miranda and Bento José da

Costa.

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retaliation, they started to support the Prince Regent, in Rio de Janeiro. Allegations that

Gervásio Pires would not support the independence proposed by Pedro and the Andrada's

ministry reached the Rio court.

On 1 June 1822, the area where the members of the Pernambuco Board were meeting

was invaded by envoys of the minister José Bonifácio de Andrada, representing the four

military branches, forcing Gervásio Pires Ferreira to sign a document of loyalty and

adhesion to the regency of His Royal Highness, D. Pedro. Reacting against that mutiny,

Gervásio replied that such attitude was not a regular act of the people and so he resigned

from the Presidency

. One of the Rio de Janeiro envoys, João Pedro Estanislau, replied

that "the people have assumed their rights, the people want it, it is necessary to obey."

The ousting of Gervásio Pires Ferreira was followed by his imprisonment in Bahia. He was

later sent to another prison in Lisbon.

In a confused period when national independence and liberalism were intertwined, the

idea of democracy became associated with popular anarchy. The population was outraged

by rumours. This state of rebellion had deeper causes, appearing in various forms, either

in conflicts between the ruling class fractions or in the formation of the Colony's military

battalions. This recurrent insubordination of the northern region in relation to the

southern region was a sign that the model of nation that this region imposed, explained

in the writings of José Bonifácio, would harm the northern region in the vision of the

revolutionaries.

References

Printed Sources

Atas do Conselho do Governo de Pernambuco, vol. I, 1821a1824. (1997). Recife: CEPE

Editora.

Biblioteca Nacional of Rio de Janeiro. Letter of 20 January 1816. Cartas que o excmo.

bispo d'Elvas, don Hoze Joaquim da Cunha d'Azevedo Coutinho, escreveu aos excmos.

generaes inglezes que mais concorrerão para a restauração de Portugal. Por Coutinho,

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Ibid, p. 105.

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