History of Pernambuco

See Also Rebellions and revolutions in Brazil

"...Pernambuco, the classic land of revolution...."[24]

Two meaningful themes explaining events (in Pernambuco) leading up to, directly relating to, or following on the independence of Brazil were, first, regionalism and, second, the continuing conflict between the mozombos (Brazilians: those born in Brazil) and the reinóis (Portuguese: born in Portugal).[25] The previously described War of the Mascates can be seen as a precursor of the strife between the Brazilian born and reinóis in the new nation of Brazil.

(The U. S. War for Independence, 1776; the French Revolution, 1789; and the slave rebellion in Haiti, 1792, exerted influence in Brazil.)

The 1817 revolution flag, with three stars representing Pernambuco, Paraíba, and Rio Grande do Norte

The Inconfidencia Mineira,1789(; the Inconfidencia of Rio de Janeiro, 1794; the Inconfidencia of Bahia, 1798;) and the Inconfidencia of Pernambuco, 1801 were not too consequential rebellions involving mostly intellectuals.

(In 1808 the Spanish-American Revolutions began, but more importantly, the Portuguese royal family arrived in Brazil in 1808 fleeing Napoleon's invasion of Portugal. When, on arrival, Prince Regent João opened Brazil's ports it was a big boost to many aspects of the Brazilian economy.)

(In 1815, Brazil was elevated to a kingdom. In 1816 Queen Maria died and the reign of João VI began.) In 1817 Pernambuco rebelled preferring a republic to a monarch, the rebellion was quickly put down by naval and land forces of the monarchy and its leaders were executed.[25]

(In 1821 King João acceded to the request of the Portuguese Cortes and returned to Lisbon, leaving his son Pedro as regent in Brazil, but taking all the treasury monies and movable assets with him. In 1822, the Cortes, meeting in Lisbon, imprudently took several actions trying to reduce Brazil to its previous status as a colony and Prince Pedro issued the Grito do Ipiranga, “Independence or death” and the Empire of Brazil was born.)[26]

The flag of the Confederation of the Equator.

(In 1824 The emperor, Pedro I, promulgated a constitution for the Empire that would hold until the empire ended in 1889.) This same year, in reaction to the new constitution, Pernambuco again rebelled, and together with Ceará and Paraíba formed the Confederation of the Equator, once again naval and land forces put down the rebellion in short order[26] and executed the leaders.[25] Additionally, by imperial decree, the size of Pernambuco was substantially reduced, removing the comarca of São Francisco from Pernambuco and reducing the Sertão (backlands) belonging to Pernambuco.[27]

(In 1825, Brazil engaged in war with Argentina over what became modern-day Uruguay after the two countries fought to an inconclusive result.)[26]

(In 1826, Pedro I, abdicated in favor of his five-year-old son. Pedro, like his father, took ship to Lisbon. There he would succeed in installing his daughter on the throne of Portugal and shortly thereafter die.)[26]

In 1829, Pernambuco would again rebel and again be quickly subdued.[26]

The War of the Cabanos, 1832–1836, differed from most of the rebellions in Pernambuco because, while there were elements of regionalism and resentment of the Portuguese, this was substantially a popular revolt, whereas the other rebellions in Pernambuco were substantially affairs of the elites. The leader, Vincente Ferreira de Paulo can be considered a populist caudilho, moreover, this rebellion was agrarian based-whereas other rebellions were substantially confined to Recife. (This rebellion also had a link to the 1844 Cabanagem in Alagoas).[26]

The Praieira revolt, the last unsuccessful revolt during the Empire in Brazil, occurred in Pernambuco in 1847–48. This revolt, again due to resentment of the Portuguese and factionalism, was put down by imperial forces though with somewhat fewer reprisals than in earlier revolts.[23]

The territory of Pernambuco varied considerably during the colonial period and the current borders were set in the Nineteenth Century after 1799 when Ceará was detached from Pernambuco and by the detachment of the comarca of São Francisco in 1824. Most of the history of Pernambuco, especially prior to the Nineteenth Century pertains to the zona da mata (what was the forest zone along the coast) where sugar cane grows well. There are two other areas, the agreste, a transitional zone atop the Borborema escarpment where cotton grows well, and the sertão, known for its periodic droughts and resulting famines.[28] There is little historical record of the agreste or the sertão, even in the Nineteenth Century.

The following groups typify the major social, economic, and political classes prominent in Pernambuco's history from colonial times well into the Twentieth Century. The elites consisted of governing officials, mostly appointed by an external ruler, senhores de engenho, (owners of sugar mills), and coroneis (colonels), especially in the backlands a local landowner/power-broker. The key group in the elites being the senhores do engenho. On the middle level, lavradores da cana (generally growers of sugar cane who possibly owned land but did not own an engenho, merchants, certain "skilled" workers, for example: mestres de açucar (masters of sugar making). Finally, the lower classes including, slaves, freedmen, share croppers, laborers, etc.[29][30][31]

During the colonial era printing presses were not allowed in Brazil and education was limited mostly to the colegios of the religious orders, Moreover, in the colonial era, only a few (in all of Brazil somewhat more than 3000[32]) colonists received degrees in Coimbra. Despite the low literacy rate, even among the free population (15%)[33]) A printing press was in operation by 1817[34] Later the Diario de Pernambuco was established. Today this newspaper claims to be the "oldest continuously circulating daily in Latin America." During the Empire Olinda (later Recife) became the home of the second Law school in Brazil[35]

From the time of Portuguese settlement, the economy in Pernambuco had been based on latifundia (large estates), monoculture (one-crop), and slavery. Now that Pernambuco was no longer a colony, producing for the Portuguese metropole, changes in the economy occurred and new institutions appeared. Some of these had been long available only in Portugal and some were a function of factors such as the Industrial Revolution. However, overall, during the Empire, the economy of Pernambuco was dominated by the decline of sugar production.[36] While for Brazil the decline of sugar was offset by the growth of the coffee, this was not the case for Pernambuco.

In the beginning years of the Empire sugar production in Pernambuco was high and sugar was Brazil's primary export. For example, from 1826 to 1830 exports averaged more than 28,000 crates, up from 9,200 crates in the late Eighteenth Century.[37] However, in the second decade of the Empire, sugar, still Pernambuco's primary export crop, had yielded its primacy as a Brazilian export to coffee. Sugar has never again dominated Brazilian exports[38] and Pernambuco was relegated to being one of two regional leaders in a Brazilian Northeast "increasingly uncompetitive with agricultural producers in the Center-South".[39]

The suppression of the Praieiria revolt in 1848 and the Eusébio de Queirós Law, effectively eliminating the Transatlantic slave trade, in 1850[40] further exacerbated the shortage of slaves in Pernambuco that had existed in Pernambuco since the discovery of gold in Minas Gerais (in 1795). This provided further motivation to replace the traditional water-driven and oxen sugar mills first with centralized mills and later with usinas.[41] In 1871, the legislature enacted the "law of the free womb" making free all children of slaves[42] In 1888, under the influence of increasingly urban society, and with the advocacy of intellectuals, such as Pernambucan, politician Joaquim Nabuco slavery was abolished.[43]

By the 1850s there was limited industrialization in Pernambuco with 9 textile mills, a candle factory, and a tobacco factory among others. However, Pernambuco remained an export-oriented, sugar-based economy and during the second half of the Ninetheenth Century industrialization in the sugar industry, in response to the closure of the slave trade, was, at best, of limited success.[44]

In 1851 the first bank in Pernambuco was established, The Commercial Bank of Pernambuco. Brazil had no banks until the 1840s. The banks would become principal lenders and creditors in Pernambuco displacing the merchants and religious establishments in so doing.[45]

Cotton is indigenous to Brazil and has been cultivated in Pernambuco since prehistory. Beginning in the late Eighteenth Century, as a result of the Industrial Revolution cotton became an important export for Pernambuco through the beginning of the Empire. (The U.S. War of 1812 provided an impetus to cotton cultivation, this war provided a much-expanded market for this export crop.) After 1830 United States production largely replaced Brazilian cotton. However, in the decade of the 1860s, during the U. S. Civil War, cotton again became an important export for Pernambuco.[46] Cotton, in contrast with sugar, was grown in the agreste[47]

In 1858 the first railroad in Pernambuco began operation between Recife and Cabo. The railways would primarily speed exports to the external markets. The effects of the railroads in unifying Brazil and improving internal transportation were less significant.[48]

Especially during the early years of Cavalcanti's rule in Pernambuco one of the periodic droughts that recur in the Northeast of Brazil had great impact on Pernambuco's social and economic life. This drought was unusually severe and municipal warehouses in the interior suffered looting and streams of migrants came from the sertão to the coast. Unfortunately, Pernambuco was initially excluded from federal aid to the Northeast.[60] At the end of Cavalcanti's rule in 1937, the continued primacy of the declining sugar economy left Pernambuco dominated by the local aristocracy with little or no improvement for the lower classes.[61] During the Vargas era an important development in Brazil was the emergence of a middle class. Unfortunately, even in the 1950s, "The middle class was practically non-existent in the economically backward regions of the country....[in] cities, such as Recife...it was difficult to identify...."[62] For the poor of Pernambuco (and the Northeast region) the path to a better life was exemplified by the migration of the family of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—much later President of Brazil—from Pernambuco to São Paulo. The trip (over unpaved roads in the back of a truck) took 13 days. [63]

In this period only President Kubitschek served a complete term in office. All national politics remained dominated by the pro-Vargas and anti-Vargas factions.[64] Pernambuco (along with Bahia) in the middle of the Twentieth Century was one of the two leading states in the Brazilian Northeast. In that period income averaged $140 per year, per capita, consumption of electricity was about one fifth the Brazilian national average, infant mortality rates ran from 250 to 500 per 1000 live births, about three quarters of the adult population was illiterate, and fewer that 3 percent of students finished primary school.[65] Moreover, while the sugar industry in Pernambuco was recovering from the lows of the early Twentieth Century, the standard of living for the poorest sugar workers was declining.[66]

In this environment the workers began to organize and the Ligas Camponesas (peasant leagues) emerged. An attorney and member of the Braziian Socialist Party (PSB), Francisco Julião, championed the peasants' cause and the publicity surrounding the ensuing court and political struggle grew the peasant league to an estimated 40,000 members in Pernambuco.[67]

Following so closely on the Cuban revolution the peasant leagues gave rise to a U.S. CIA effort to clandestinely support moderate peasant organizations. One of the most noteworthy of these moderate organizations was the Pernambuco Rural Orientation Service (SORPE) organized by two priests, Paulo Crespo and Antonio de Melo. An outgrowth of SORPE's effort were several unions. In 1963 200,000 sugar workers in Pernambuco went on strike and won an 80% wage increase.[68]

Beginning during the Kubitchek presidency another important agent for the development of Pernambuco was the Superentendência do Desenvolvimento do Nordeste (SUDENE).[69] Under its director, noted economist Celso Furtado SUDENE set forth a three-year plan for economic development. Although the military coup of 1964 would interrupt this plan, SUDENE, and the peasant leagues, were significant elements in developing a political voice for the poor of Pernambuco.[70]

Despite brutal suppression on the part of military dictators opposition arose quickly and samples of how wide spread the opposition spread is illustrated by the popular protest song Carcará, a lament for the hunger and poverty in the Northeast.[77]

Hélder Câmara in 1984

"When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food they call me a communist."_{Archbishop Hélder Câmara}

The church in Pernambuco was not the only center of resistance in the state, nor was Archbishop Hélder Câmara the only bishop in Brazil to oppose the military dictatorship, however, throughout the military rule the Catholic Church was a face of resistance[78] and Pernambuco's Archbishop Helder Camara, a leading exponent of Liberation Theology, became one of Brazil's most well known advocates for the poor and an opponent of the military dictators.[79][80] [81] Under their archbishops leadership several priests advocated for the impoverished of Pernambuco and at least one priest in Recife was tortured and murdered without government investigation in 1969.[82] Nevertheless, resistance continued. Toward the end of the military dictatorship, along with unions and squatters, the Catholic Church in Brazil participated in organizing the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST).[83] While the initial efforts of MST were in the South of Brazil, in the 1990's MST would become a force for land reform in Pernambuco.

Two presidents—one a newly elected military dictator, the other a future Twenty-first Century president—took noteworthy actions toward te end of the military dictatorship. Future president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a son of Pernambuco, led a series of strikes in São Paulo.[84] The other newly elected president and dictator, João Figueiredo, declared an abertura (opening) to democracy. [85] This declaration was followed by an amnesty, elections for governors and legislative elections in 1982 and in 1985 a civilian president of Brazil was elected.[86]

During military rule one earlier effort to improve the lot of the rural poor, the Ligas Camponesas (peasant leagues) was suppressed[91] and another, the unions were retained to function as an instrument to oppose the peasant leagues. After the military dictatorship during the beginnings of the New Republic MST provides an example of national movement influences in rural Pernambuco. The Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (MST) was organized in 1984 in the far South of Brazil.[92] MST intentionally sought to organize as a national, not a regional basis.[93]MST began organizing in the South using land occupations and provisions of the Brazilian constitutions MST experienced considerable success. However when MST began organizing in Pernambuco the process was more difficult due to Pernambuco's historic culture. MST found that the landless poor in Pernambuco’s zona da mata (coastal areas of sugar cultivation) were amenable to organization during the 1990’s largely because during the last decades of the century the market for sugar was in severe decline. Accustomed to regular paychecks, at least when employed, sugar cane workers saw subsistence farming as disadvantageous. Regular paychecks bought food now, whereas subsistence farming produced food only at after planting, cultivation, and harvest. However, the due to the shrinking of the market for sugar that began in the 1980’s and continued through the 1990’s, MST was successful in organizing in Pernambuco and would execute land occupations especially during the decade of the 1990’s. Although, in fact, when the market for sugar revived after the turn of the millennium the now landowning peasants promptly abandoned subsistence farming and began growing sugar cane, nevertheless MST represents forces that have improved rural quality of life in Pernambuco.[94]

The capital of Pernambuco is Recife, the largest city in Northeast Brazil and one of the largest of Brazil’s cities. It is relatively easy to find newspaper articles on Brazil and Recife in particular that discuss the contrast between the cities as tourists see them and the slums that impoverished residents live in. [95][96] Moreover, there is much scholarly documentation of the migraton to cities and the plight of the poor in Recife and other Brazilian cities.[97][98] Notwithstanding the fact that conditions in the slums are bad and much improvement is needed, taking homicides in Recife as a indicator of progress, this very fundamental indicator of quality of life shows that since the return of democracy to Brazil, quality of life has experienced some improvement. Moreover, the trend of decrease in Recife is opposite the trend in Brazil overall which has generally increased from a homicide rate of 28.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2002 and reached 29 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants by 2012. In 2000, the homicide rate in Recife was 97.5 per 100,000 inhabitants and Recife was said to be the most dangerous state capital in Brazil. However by 2012, this rate dropped to 52 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, this decrease in homicides is noteworthy both for its dramatic plunge and because the rate still exceeds the national average by a significant margin.[99]

As is evidenced by the discussion in preceding sections Pernambuco has made great strides in improving the quality of life for its citizens. While true to conditions throughout the Northeast coast of Brazil Pernambuco remains an underdeveloped state in Brazil. Recent statistics from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics Foundation (IBGE) show a (prepandemic) 2019 average monthly income of 970 R$ (about US $180) up from just over 600 R$ in 2012. To put this in a purchasing power frame, in 2012 Pernambuco had 2.2 million automobiles and in 2019 the number of automobiles was increased to 3 million.[100]