The Riograndense Republic, largely encompassing the Brazilian…
September 1836 CE
The economy of the then Province of of Rio Grande do Sul of the Empire of Brazil was mainly focused on the production of charque (dried and salted beef), and leather, but suffered badly from competition from charque imported from Uruguay and Argentina.
The province returned its production to the domestic market, on which it depended entirely, but with the overvalued exchange rate and the tariff benefits then offered, the imported beef had a lower cost than the national one.
The people that benefit from these markets are called "Gauchos": nomadic cowhands and farmers that live in Rio Grande do Sul; Gauchos also live in Argentina and Uruguay.
The estancieiros of the region, among then the famous Bento Gonçalves, had began a rebellion against the Imperial Government.
After a meeting, it was decided that armed militias would be formed inside the province to take over the government under Bento's leadership.
At first the objective was to take over the province's government, which was successfully done, and enter into negotiations with the imperial government of the regent Diogo Antônio Feijó to explain the reason for the rebellion with the requirement that a new government be appointed to the province that would please the regional elite.
Antônio Rodrigues Fernandes Braga had been names president of Rio Grande do Sul in 1835, and at first, his appointment pleased the liberal farmers, but that soon changed.
On September 20, 1835, General Bento Gonçalves had captured the capital, Porto Alegre, beginning an uprising against the perceived unfair trade reinforced by the state government.
The state president fled to the city of Rio Grande, three hundred and thirty-four kilometers (two hundred and eight miles) to the south.
In Porto Alegre, the rebels, also known as "ragamuffins" (farrapos) after the fringed leather worn by the gauchos, had elected Marciano Pereira Ribeiro their new president.
The Brazilian regent, Diogo Feijó, responding to the situation and further upsetting the rebels, had appointed a new state president, who was forced to take office in exile in Rio Grande.
The new President of the Province, Araújo Ribeiro, began a hunt for ragamuffins, gathered his army, ordered the Provincial Assembly to be closed and removed Bento Gonçalves from the command of the National Guard.
In Rio de Janeiro the imperial government banned the use of the Porto Alegre customs as long as the city was in the hands of the rebels, restricting the arrival of ships.
Soon the conflicts began, with the resumption of the provincial capital by the imperial forces in retaliation of the rebels against the government.
With the overwhelming victory of the rebels, led by Antônio de Sousa Neto, the separatist idea took shape.
At night ideological questions were revised and Lucas de Oliveira and Joaquim Pedro, ardent republicans, catechized Neto, arguing that there was no other way out but to embark on the path of independence and that there was no other popular desire but desire of freedom, of abolition of slavery and of democracy under the republican system.
Neto came to sympathize with the idea, but resisted before a probable disapproval of his peers. He thought that such a proclamation of a new Republic should start from Bento Gonçalves, the great commander of all ragamuffins.
Finally, by acquiescing to Colonel Neto, they began to write the Proclamation of the Riograndense Republic that would be read and carried out by him before the assembled troops on September 11, 1836.
The other Brazilian provinces are called to unite as federated entities in the republican system.
A national anthem and flag of the new state is created from the State of Rio Grande do Sul.
The capital is established in the small city of Piratini, from which comes a new nickname, the Republic of Piratini.
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