ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Bahian conspiracy 1798

Synopsis
The Bahian conspiracy, also known as the tailors' revolt, was an attempt at sedition against the prevailing colonial order, clearly inspired by Enlightenment, Republican and Masonic ideas and by recent political events such as the Minas conspiracy and the Haitian, American and French revolutions (revolutionary France would have secretly promised support for the movement). The rebels called for more economic freedom, the opening of ports, lower taxes and an end to social and racial discrimination. They used slogans such as “freedom, equality and popular fraternity” and urged the Bahian people to make a revolution that would result in an independent republic. All this was contained in handwritten pamphlets that were posted in various buildings in the city of São Salvador da Bahia on the 12th and 20th of August 1798. However, neither that revolutionary plan nor any action of collective violence came to fruition, because the colonial authorities immediately ordered the opening of an investigation and arrested the main suspects of the sedition. The Lisbon government itself pressed for the movement to be severely repressed. Among the nearly 50 detainees, mostly from subordinate groups in society – craftsmen, soldiers, small traders, slaves and freedmen – the inquiry concluded that the main leaders were two tailors (Lucas Dantas and João de Deus) and two soldiers (Luís Gonzaga and Manuel Faustino), all mixed-race, who would be hanged on 8 November 1799. Another ten people involved were exiled to Africa. Cipriano Barata, a Freemason and one of the main ideologues of the movement, due to his social status (he was a surgeon) was imprisoned for two years only.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 1 week. Name in sources: Inconfidência baiana, Conjuração baiana, Revolta dos alfaiates. Location: Salvador, Captaincy of Bahia Country (current): Brazil. Monarchy: Portuguese. Main participants: Artisans, Others, Soldiers. Number of participants: 50-100. Main reasons & motivations: Anti-colonial, Economic, Political. Leadership: Lucas Dantas, João de Deus, Manuel Faustino, Luís Gonzaga, Cipriano Barata. Relevance: medium.

Further reading
JANCSÓ, István (1996). Na Bahia contra o Império: história do ensaio de sedição na Bahia de 1798. São Paulo: Hucitec. RAMOS, Donald (1976). “Social Revolution Frustrated: The Conspiracy of the Tailors in Bahia, 1798”. Luso-Brazilian Review, 13(1), 74–90. VALIM, Patrícia (2012). Corporação dos enteados: tensão, contestação, e negociação política de 1798. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo (PhD Dissertation).
Cite this entry

(2023) "Bahian conspiracy 1798", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. (accessed on ).