In the works that deal with the first years of Brazil's political independence, many historians emphasize the fact that the privileges and excesses that marked the colonial past were not overcome with the establishment of the independence of the parents. One of the cases in which this perspective is even more evident is found in the Balaiada revolt, which took place in 1838, in Maranhão.
In the nineteenth century, the economy of Maranhão went through a strong crisis, largely due to the competition of North American cotton in the international market. In addition, the establishment of the Law of Mayors - which granted the governor the privilege of appointing mayors municipal authorities – caused another type of friction where political bossiness intensified the people's relations with institutions government agencies.
In this way, we can see that the presence of three leaders in this revolt, which very well represented the political situation experienced there, boosted several hotspots of tension. Raimundo Gomes, one of the first leaders of the revolt, mobilized a group of slaves, cowboys and artisans shortly after to free a group of cowboys imprisoned in Vila da Manga, on the orders of a political opponent of their boss workers.
The artisan Manoel dos Anjos Ferreira, known as Balaio, began to fight against the authorities provincial after accusing officer Antônio Raymundo Guimarães of sexually abusing his daughters. After winning over several supporters, the rebels managed to control the city of Caxias, one of the largest commercial centers at the time. The popular nature of this movement greatly threatened the stability of the economic privileges of those in power at the time.
That same year, black Cosme Bento de Chagas had the support of approximately 3,000 runaway slaves. The large number of blacks involved in the revolt gave racial traces to the issue of inequality raised there. In response to the uprisings, Colonel Luis Alves de Lima e Silva was appointed to control the tense situation in the province.
In 1841, with abundant weapons and a group of 8,000 men, Luis Alves succeeded in containing the rebels and, for this reason, received the title of Conde de Caxias. The disarticulation between the various revolting arms of Balaiada and the disunity around common objectives, greatly facilitated the repressive action established by the government forces.
All runaway blacks accused of involvement in the revolt were re-enslaved. Manoel Francisco Gomes was shot down during the revolt's retaliatory movement. Cowboy Raimundo Gomes was expelled from Maranhão and, during his deportation to São Paulo, died on a boat. The leader of the slaves, Cosme Bento, was arrested and sentenced to be hanged in 1842.
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
