THE balaiada it was a provincial rebellion that took place in Maranhão between 1838 and 1841. This was a popular rebellion, motivated by popular dissatisfaction with the poverty and social inequality of the province, which merged with the dispute waged by bem-te-vis and cabanos for the political power of the province.
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Historical context of the balaiada
In the 19th century, the province of Maranhão was one of the poorest in Brazil and the local economy functioned mainly on the basis of plantations in sugar and cotton, in addition to the cattle raising practiced in some places. The production of plantations it focused on the export market, and there was great use of slave labor.
In the first half of the 19th century, the cotton economy in Maranhão underwent a strongcrisis, as its product began to suffer from competition from cotton produced in the southern United States. This affected local producers and caused unemployment to spread across the province.
political dispute
This bad economic situation in Maranhão affected the life of the poorest population and sharpened the shortage of this portion. In addition to the economic and social aspects, politics was a focus of tension in Maranhão due to the dispute between good-te-vis (liberals) and cabins (conservatives), the hegemonic political groups of that province.
Both groups, in general, had a strong connection with the elites of Maranhão, although the bem-te-vis had considerable strength in an urban “middle class” that resided in São Luís. The political scenario in Maranhão, as well as in other provinces in Brazil, was one of intense political dispute between these two groups.
The rivalry between bem-te-vis and cabanos got out of control from 1837, when the conservatives regained power in Rio de Janeiro through the regency of Araújo de Lima. This caused the bem-te-vis to be removed from power in Maranhão, and the cabanos began to govern the province after the rise of the conservative Francisco Bibiano de Castro as president of the province.
The clash between conservatives and liberals gained new contours through the Mayors' Law. This law was approved by the president of the province and brought significant changes to the administration of cities in Maranhão. It stipulated that many of the justice of the peace's responsibilities in relation to urban administration would be transferred to a mayor.
This mayor would be appointed by the president of the province and would have a series of powers that included, for example, the police power. As the cabanos were in power in the province, the chosen mayors were people allied with the conservatives. This created a scenario of open persecution of the bem-te-vis, increasingly removed from power.
Development of the balaiada
The political dispute soon turned into popular dissatisfaction, since, while bem-te-vis and cabanos fought for the control of Maranhão, the population, made up mostly of blacks and browns, saw their situation worsen every day. more. It was in this scenario of political dispute between conservatives and liberals and popular dissatisfaction that a revolt broke out.
it all started in December 13, 1838, when the cowboy RaimundoGomes, known as Black Face, decided to attack a jail to save his brother. This happened when Gomes was passing through villagegivesMango (current city of Nina Rodrigues) with a herd of her boss. There, many of the men in his service were recruited and his brother was arrested, charged with murder.
Raimundo Gomes reacted to his brother's arrest and attacked the jail, freeing him, as well as freeing other prisoners. The attack carried out by Gomes spread a popular movement throughout the interior of Maranhão. Raimundo Gomes continued as the leader of other outbreaks of rebels that emerged in the province, and soon other names began to stand out in the popular unrest.
Two other important names were Manuel Francisco dos Anjos Ferreira, known by the nickname of Balaio, because he was a countryman who produced straw baskets, the baskets. Also, there was CosimoBlack, a representative of the freed and enslaved blacks who took part in the balaiada.
The popular revolt, at first, had the support of the bem-te-vis, who saw in the opportunity a chance to weaken the cabanos in power in Maranhão. Thus, the bem-te-vis allied themselves with the cabanos because they began to fear that the popular revolt would become too radical and turn against their interests.
In fact, the popular revolt in Maranhão gained strength, and the balaios managed to occupy the second largest city in the province, the city of Caxias. In addition, the popular uprising was taken to the border region of Maranhão with Piauí. At that moment, the baskets decided to form a JoinsProvisional in the city of Caxias.
From then on, negotiations were opened with the provincial government to put an end to the popular rebellion. The balaios demanded terms such as amnesty (pardon) from everyone involved in the revolt and the repeal of the Mayors' Law, for example. The provincial government refused to negotiate with the Balaios, and the revolt ran its course.
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how did the balaiada end
From 1840 onwards, a decisive figure became the protagonist in the balaiada: the colonel Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, military man who became famous as Duke of Caxias. In that year he was appointed to the presidency of the province and became responsible for leading a troop of thousands of men whose function was to repress the rebellious sertanejos.
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva took advantage of the existing disagreements between the leaders of the balaios to weaken the revolt. He also took advantage of the fact that the Balaios weakened considerably with the end of the alliance with the bem-te-vis. The military also reformed the troops in Maranhão, improving working conditions for soldiers generally.
Thus, the leadership of the balaios began to fall. Manuel Francisco dos Anjos Ferreira was wounded by a projectile and ended up dying as a victim of the wound; Black Cosme Bento, who led three thousand slaves during the balaiada, was arrested and sentenced to be hanged. His execution was carried out in September 1842.
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva also granted amnesty to the balaios, which caused many to abandon the armed uprising. The result of the military action meant that, in the first half of 1841, the balaiada had already been contained in Maranhão. With the restoration of normality, Luís Alves de Lima e Silva received the noble title of Baron of Caxias.
Image credits
[1] Zoltan Katona and Shutterstock