Post by Bruno Cava on Aug 12, 2009 15:57:12 GMT 10
"Canudos was a town founded in the racially diverse [1] Bahia state of northeastern Brazil in 1893 by Antônio Vicente Mendes Maciel, an itinerant preacher from Ceara [2] who had been wandering through the backroads and lesser-inhabited areas of the country from the 1870s onwards, followed by a band of loyal supporters. As his following swelled, he took on the name Antonio Conselheiro (Antonio the Counselor) and increasingly began to trouble the local authorities, who saw him as a Monarchist [3] and thus a rival to their legitimacy.
n 1893, following a protest over taxation and a violent melee with the police forces in Masseté, Conselheiro and his band settled on an abandoned farm called Canudos, so called because a plant, canudo-de-pita (scientific name Ipomoea carnea, its popular name referring to its hollow tubes, used for manufacturing smoking pipes) was common in the region. The place was named Belo Monte (Beautiful Mount) by Antonio Conselheiro, but the old name, Arraial de Canudos, prevailed. Over the years people from across Bahia, including landless farmers, former slaves and indigenous people, flocked to join him, and within a few years the fledgling settlement numbered 30,000 people (which made it the second largest urban center in Bahia behind Salvador[4]) and had developed a leather exporting business [5].
Neither the local nor national government supported the settlement in Canudos.
The local government of Bahia felt pressure from landowners to take action against the settlement because of labor shortages caused by migration.[6] The Brazilian national government wanted a military expedition sent to destroy Canudos in the name of liberalism and progress.[7] "The mere existence of autonomous movements not subject to state control was antithetical to the national interest. Canudos stood for such autonomy, and therefore had to be destroyed."[8]
The first three invasions were amply defeated by the villagers.
(...)"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canudos
Portuguese:
pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerra_de_Canudos
n 1893, following a protest over taxation and a violent melee with the police forces in Masseté, Conselheiro and his band settled on an abandoned farm called Canudos, so called because a plant, canudo-de-pita (scientific name Ipomoea carnea, its popular name referring to its hollow tubes, used for manufacturing smoking pipes) was common in the region. The place was named Belo Monte (Beautiful Mount) by Antonio Conselheiro, but the old name, Arraial de Canudos, prevailed. Over the years people from across Bahia, including landless farmers, former slaves and indigenous people, flocked to join him, and within a few years the fledgling settlement numbered 30,000 people (which made it the second largest urban center in Bahia behind Salvador[4]) and had developed a leather exporting business [5].
Neither the local nor national government supported the settlement in Canudos.
The local government of Bahia felt pressure from landowners to take action against the settlement because of labor shortages caused by migration.[6] The Brazilian national government wanted a military expedition sent to destroy Canudos in the name of liberalism and progress.[7] "The mere existence of autonomous movements not subject to state control was antithetical to the national interest. Canudos stood for such autonomy, and therefore had to be destroyed."[8]
The first three invasions were amply defeated by the villagers.
(...)"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canudos
Portuguese:
pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerra_de_Canudos