1798 Revolt of the Alfaiates
The objectives of the rebelling baianos were, according to Clóvis Moura [pt], "much more radical," and the proposal to liberate the slaves was one of the main goals.
[2] The revolt's beginnings were established in the city of Salvador by a group of disenfranchised workers seeking to initiate an uprising against Portuguese authority.
[2][3] These marginalized groups resented the Portuguese “for their domination of the country, as well as the apparent wealth that had been accumulated by a handful of free Brazilians”.
[5] To add to the narrative of civil discontent were the various accusations of corruption and wrongdoing made toward the Relação, Salvador's High Court, which Portuguese authorities failed to properly investigate.
Current evidence suggests that the initial plot began through conversation in 1797 between Francisco Moniz Barreto, Lucas Dantas d'Amorim Tôrres, and Manuel de Santa Anna.
[2] The conspiracy, largely inspired by the events of the French Revolution, had three specific demands: “full independence, the creation of a republic, racial equality, and the complete abolition of slavery”.
Poor whites, freed-men, slaves, interracial artisans, and radical members of the upper class were among those who joined in the uprising.
"[6] These demands for equality threatened to undermine Brazil's race-based hierarchy for political and social privileges and were swiftly repressed by crown authorities.
According to Manuel Faustino dos Santos Lira, one of the revolt's coconspirators, the goal was to convince the governor to become the president of the new republic through means of minimal violence.
[4] Brazil during the eighteenth century was characterized by revolts taking place in many of its cities, notably Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, and Salvador.
The northeastern state of Bahia was the center of Brazil's Afro-Brazilian culture during this period, and hosted a large population of slaves.
Lieutenant d’Aguilar, Luís Gonzaga and Lucas Dantas were known to have actively attempted to destabilize the military by recruiting members to the revolutionary movement.
Borges and d’Aguilar were assigned to guard M. Larcher, who was a Frenchman allowed to stay in Salvador as long as he agreed to be under military watch.
[2] On the 8 of November 1799, the government proceeded to the execution of those sentenced for the beginning of the revolt to capital punishment by hanging, in the following order: soldier Lucas Dantas Amorim Torres, an apprentice tailor Manuel Faustino dos Santos Lira, soldier Luís Gonzaga dos Virgens and master tailor João de Deus Nascimento.
When he got to prison, he did not confess, but he did say that “the propaganda was an excellent way to initiate the projected revolution because in this way the people would be encouraged and they would become accustomed little by little to the ideas of liberty and independence”.
Cipriano Barata de Almeida was a surgeon that graduated from the University of Coimbra; he was a member of the Knights of Light, and spread propaganda throughout the lower classes, despite his own status.
Of these there was one university graduate, one of noble heritage, two junior officers in the army, eight military men, and the remainder self-employed artisans including ten tailors.
[2] "The plot and resultant repression demonstrates the divergent goals that previously silent social groups were bringing to the foreground, and the importance of class position in determining the depth of commitment of individual insurgents.
