An uprising in southern Brazil is believed…

An uprising in southern Brazil is believed to have begun due to the difference between the economy of Rio Grande do Sul and the rest of the country.

Unlike the other provinces, the state economy focuses in the internal market rather than exporting commodities.

The state's main product, charque (dried and salted beef), suffers badly from competition from charque imported from Uruguay and Argentina, which have free access to Brazilian markets while the gauchos (as residents of Rio Grande do Sul are nicknamed, from the Hispano-Portuguese for "cowboys") are charged high tariffs inside Brazil.

In 1835, Antônio Rodrigues Fernandes Braga is nominated president of Rio Grande do Sul and at first, his appointment pleases the liberal farmers, but that soon changes.

In his first day in the office, he accuses many farmers of being separatists.

On September 20, General Bento Gonçalves captures the capital, Porto Alegre, beginning an uprising against the perceived unfair trade reinforced by the state government; the state president flees to the city of Rio Grande, two hundred kilometers to the south.

In Porto Alegre, the rebels, also known as farrapos ("tatterdemalions"), elect Marciano Pereira Ribeiro their new president.

Responding to the situation and further upsetting the "ragamuffin" rebels, the Brazilian regent, Diogo Feijó, appoints a new state president, who is forced to take office in exile in Rio Grande.