Ragamuffin War

War of Tatters (in Portuguese: Guerra dos Farrapos) was a Republican uprising that began in the southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina) in 1835. The rebels led by generals Bento Gonçalves and Antônio de Souza Netto with the support of the Italian warrior Giuseppe Garibaldi surrendered to imperial forces in 1845. The war rushed the coronation of Dom Pedro II, at that time a 15 year old, in direct violation of Brazilian constitution. It is considered the bloodiest civil war to have ever occurred in Brazil.

The War

Apparently the uprising began due to the secondary role that the Rio Grande do Sul state was playing in Brazilian regencial politics, because, unlike the other provinces, the state economy was focused in supplying the internal market rather than exporting of commodities. The state's main product, the charque (bovine dried and salted meat), was suffering the hard competition of the charque from Uruguay and Argentina, which had free access to Brazilian market while the gauchos had to pay high taxes inside Brazil.

To keep the south border safe from foreign invasion, Rio Grande do Sul had a high war awareness and many military outposts. A few years before, the Cisplatine War was fought there, but there was little political gain. The army leaders and province governor were still sent by the Imperial capital, Rio de Janeiro.

In 1835 Antônio Rodrigues Fernandes Braga was nominated as province president. At first his name pleased the liberal farmers, but that soon changed. In his first day in the office, he accused nominally many farmers of being separatists.

On September 19th, 1835, General Bento Gonçalves captured the capital Porto Alegre, beginning the uprising. The province president fled to Rio Grande, 200km south, and the rebels, also known as Farroupilhas, elected Marciano Pereira Ribeiro as the new president. The Brazilian regent, Diogo Feijó, sent a new president to the province, who should have taken office in Porto Alegre; instead he went to Rio Grande to take the presidency. This further upset the rebels.

On September 20th, 1836, Antônio de Sousa Netto declared the independence of the Piratini Republic. Bento Gonçalves was nominated as president. However, soon after it, Bento was arrested by imperial forces and jailed. Bento escaped from prison in 1837, went back to the province and took the revolution to its zenith. It was already possible to imagine an independent Piratini Republic. The war still had many turnarounds. Porto Alegre was recaptured by the empire and the rebels never managed to conquer it again.

The Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the rebels in 1839. With his help the revolution spread to Santa Catarina, in the northern border of Rio Grande do Sul. Laguna (Santa Catarina) was taken but after only four months it fell into imperial hands once again.

Peace

Amnesty was offered to the rebels in 1840, which they refused although it was clear that they had no chances of winning. In 1842 a republican constitution was issued, as a last effort of rebels. This same year general Lima e Silva (soon Duque de Caxias) took office and tried to find a diplomatic settlement to the issue.

In 1845 the peace negotiations led by Lima e Silva and Davi Canabarro (replacing Bento Gonçalves) ended. March 1st, 1845 is celebrated the Ponche Verde Treaty. It included:

• full amnesty;
• the rebel soldiers would be incorporated to the imperial army;
• the Farrouplihas would choose the next province president (they chose Lima e Silva, due to his noble and decent position during the peace talks);
• the debts of the short-lived republic would be paid by the Empire;
• taxation of 25% to the imported charque.