Brazil History Part 11

And in 1711 the new governor, sent from Lisbon, could easily restore order and calm, limiting himself to the arrest and deportation of the most heated. The Recife then regained its dignity as a municipality. The revolt against the with various events in which the famous slave trader Bernardo Vieira de Mello took part, in the government of the rebel captaincy, until moderate ideas ended up prevailing. And in 1711 the new governor, sent from Lisbon, could easily restore order and calm, limiting himself to the arrest and deportation of the most heated. The Recife then regained its dignity as a municipality. The revolt against the with various events in which the famous slave trader Bernardo Vieira de Mello took part, in the government of the rebel captaincy, until moderate ideas ended up prevailing. And in 1711 the new governor, sent from Lisbon, could easily restore order and calm, limiting himself to the arrest and deportation of the most heated. The Recife then regained its dignity as a municipality. The revolt against the mascates does not really have the appearance of a nationality struggle, being simply municipal jealousies and resentment of debtors against creditors: however it, together with that of Bekman, begins to dig a deep abyss between the Portuguese and the children of the Brazilian land. We will see another example immediately.

According to BAGLIB, with the first news of the discovery of gold in the area, which since then began to be called Minas, in 1694, expeditions for the exploitation of the precious metal immediately began. The first traces of which were found in Itaberaba; coming to light then, the mines called Ouro branco and Ouro preto, which were a source of inexhaustible wealth; and those of Rio das mortes, of S. João d’El-Rei etc. The emigration to the mining districts, as you can easily imagine, was massive, despite the restrictions placed by the central government, which was beginning to seriously legislate on the subject of mines. Together with the adventurous Paulistas, the first discoverers of those sources of wealth, the Portuguese also flocked, disdainfully called “foreigners” or emboabas. And among them, there were continuous fights, personal vendettas, ambushes, crimes of all sorts; in short, an anarchy that spread rapidly from Caeté to the Rio das velhas. At first, the emboabas got the worst of it; but then, growing in number, they gathered under a spirited leader, Emanuele Nunes Vianna, who organized the resistance, overpowered the Paulistas in Rio das mortes, and stood up to the governor Ferdinando de Lencastre, who, having come from Rio de Janeiro to re-establish the order, he was forced to go back. The “foreigners”, therefore, triumphed over the Paulistas, led by their valiant fellow countryman Amador Bueno. But then things gradually calmed down: redeemed by the Crown, the captaincy of S. Paulo and Minas was created, then Minas Geraes (1720). Even in this contest, the real reason was the greed for gold; but in it we must equally see the manifestation of a tenacious spirit of autonomy and then of independence.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century there was another appearance of the French in the bay of Rio de Janeiro. Captain Du Clerc landed, with six ships, in Guaratiba, and landed there 1000 men who, after seven days of marching through the woods and mountains, and overcome the heroic resistance opposed by a handful of students led by Bento do Amaral Gurgel, entered the city. The field teacher Gregorio de Moraes, with the aforementioned students, organized the resistance and managed to surround the French, who had to surrender and were then largely massacred by the populace (1710-11). A more powerful French squad, composed of 16 ships, with about 4000 men and 738 pieces of artillery, under the command of the illustrious Du Guay Trouin, appeared before Rio on 12 September 1711 to take revenge on the countrymen. For the governor’s weakness, cruzados and fleet procurement; not to count the big booty.

During the century. XVIII the upward movement of Brazil is accentuated. With 1714, it was raised to vice-kingdom, continuing Bahia to be the capital, until 1763, when it was moved to Rio de Janeiro, closer to the theater of war in the south. There was no lack of disturbances in the life of the town. Following the Treaty of Utrecht (1715), the famous Colonia del Sacramento remained in Brazil; but, in 1735, she was besieged by the governor of Buenos Aires, Michele de Salcedo, and only after two years could she be freed. The subsequent treaty of Madrid (1750) established the cession of the colony to Spain, which, in exchange, ceded the territory of Misiones to Portugal, so called by the missions established there by the Spanish Jesuits, and formed by Guarani Indians. But these, out of inveterate hatred against the Brazilians, and especially against the Paulistas, opposed the execution of the treaty, and victoriously repulsed the troops that guarded the frontier. The treaty was later canceled; but later the attempt against Sacramento was resumed by Pietro de Cevallos (see argentina).

Brazil History 11