War of Tatters
| War of Tatters | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Charge of Farroupilha Cavalry, Guilherme Litran (Júlio de Castilhos Museum, Porto Alegre, Brazil) |
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| Combatants | |||||||
 Rio-Grandense Republic |
 Empire of Brazil |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Bento Gonçalves da
Silva Antônio de Souza Netto Giuseppe Garibaldi |
General Lima e Silva | ||||||
War of Tatters of Farroupilha Revolution (in Portuguese: Guerra
dos Farrapos, Revolução Farroupilha) was a Republican uprising that began in the
southern Brazil (
The war rushed the coronation of Dom Pedro II, at that time a 15 year old, in direct violation of Brazilian constitution. After the War of Cabanagem, It is considered the bloodiest civil war to have ever occurred in Brazil.
The war
The uprising is believed to have began due to the difference between the economy of Rio Grande do Sul and the rest of the country. Unlike the other provinces, the state economy focused in the internal market rather than exporting commodities, the state's main product, the charque (bovine dried and salted meat), suffering badly from the competition of charque imported from Uruguay and Argentina, which had free access to Brazilian market while the gauchos were charged high tariffs inside Brazil.
In 1835 Antônio Rodrigues Fernandes Braga was nominated president of RS and at first his appointment pleased the liberal farmers, but that soon changed. In his first day in the office, he accused many farmers of being separatists.
On September 20, 1835, General Bento Gonçalves captured the capital Porto Alegre, beginning an uprising against the perceived unfair trade reinforced by the state government and the state president fled to Rio Grande, 200km south. In Porto Alegre, the rebels, also known as Farroupilhas or Tatters, elected Marciano Pereira Ribeiro as their new president.
Responding to the situation and further upsetting the Tatters, the Brazilian regent Diogo Feijó appointed a new state president, who was forced to take office in exile in Rio Grande.
Pushing for consolidation of their power, Antônio de Souza Netto declared the independence of the Piratini Republic on September 11 1836 with Bento Gonçalves as president nominee. However, Bento was arrested and jailed by imperial forces until he escaped in 1837, returning to the province and bringing the revolution to a head. Nonetheless, Porto Alegre was recaptured by the empire and the rebels never managed to conquer it again.
The Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi joined
the rebels in 1839. With his help the revolution spread through
Peace
In 1840, Amnesty was offered to the rebels, which they refused although it was clear that they had no chances of winning, followed by the issuing of a a republican constitution by the Tatters in 1842, as a last attempt to maintain power. The same year saw General Lima e Silva (soon Duke of Caxias) take office and try to find a diplomatic settlement to the issue.
On March 1 1845, the peace negotiations led by Lima e Silva and Davi Canabarro (replacing Bento Gonçalves) concluded with the signing of the Ponche Verde Treaty between the two sides.
The treaty offered the rebels a full amnesty, full incorporation into the imperial army and the choice of the next provincial president. All the debts of the Riograndese Republic were paid off by the Empire and a tariff of 25% was introduced on imported charque.
As a goodwill gesture, the Tatters chose Lima e Silva as the next provincial president.
See also
External Links
- [1] A review of Farroupilha Week in modern RS state
- Balaustre 67 (language: portuguese}
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