The Cabanos War took place between 1835 and 1840, in Grão-Pará (Pará and Amazonas). This province, until Independence, had a differentiated administration, as it was directly linked to Lisbon, therefore it was not controlled by the central government. The majority of the population of Grão-Pará was made up of mestizos, Indians and blacks who lived miserably along the drug routes of the sertão, exploited by a minority of wealthy whites. Both the political and social situation made this region very explosive.
The war had its origins in a political dispute among local elites over the appointment of the provincial president. The economic and social insecurity in the region made this clash go beyond the limits of the elite and involve the popular layers. It was in this way that the revolt took on a social character. On the one hand, landowners, Portuguese traders, mercenaries and imperial troops sent by the central government; on the other side, the poor, that is, the huts living in the rough huts on the banks of the rivers. Hence the name cabanagem, an organization composed of Indians, mestizos and blacks.
The main leaders of the Cabanos were the exalted liberals Clemente Malcher and the brothers Vinagre and Eduardo Angelim. In January 1835, the rebels took Belém and killed the president of the province, Lobo de Souza. Popular forces managed to take power in the province and organize a government that lasted for ten months. Feijó sent military troops to the region and even then only with great effort and the use of severe violence managed to quell the revolt in 1840, costing around forty thousand lives.
By Lílian Aguiar
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/a-guerra-dos-cabanos.htm
