ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Beckman revolt 1684

Synopsis
In 1684, settlers from the city of São Luís do Maranhão, in eastern Portuguese Amazonia, rebelled against a series of crown policies directed at the region. The Portuguese Amazon, known as the State of Maranhão and Pará, constituted a separate and independent province in northern South America. Settlers objected to the establishment of a monopoly company in 1682, which had the exclusivity of trade with the State of Maranhão; they also opposed a law issued by the crown in 1680, which determined the total freedom of Indians and reinstated the Jesuit political control of missionary settlements. The rebels expelled the priests from their colleges and missions in the captaincy of Maranhão, imprisoned the captain-major of Maranhão, a representative of the governor, and denied the latter's authority (at the time of the revolt, the governor was in the neighbouring captaincy of Pará). However, contrary to what had happened in 1661 (see "Anti-Jesuit revolt in Maranhão 1661"), the settlers from Belém do Pará did not join the rebellion. In São Luís, the rebels formed a Junta government representing the three states (nobility, clergy and the "people"). Owing to the seriousness of the settlers' action opposing the governor's authority, the crown dispatched troops from Lisbon under the command of a new governor, who dismantled the rebellion in May 1685. Two of the leaders were hanged, and others were flogged or exiled. Eventually, the crown dismantled the monopoly company.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 1,3 years. Name in sources: Revolta de Beckman; Motim dos moradores de São Luís. Location: São Luís (State of Maranhão and Pará) Country (current): Brazil. Monarchy: Portuguese. Main participants: Local elites, Settlers/Colonists. Number of participants: 100-250. Main reasons & motivations: Economic, Fiscal, Others. Leadership: Manuel Beckman, Jorge de Sampaio de Carvalho . Relevance: medium.

Further reading
MACNICOLL, Murray Graeme (1978). "Seventeenth-Century Maranhão: Beckman's revolt", Estudos ibero-americanos 4 (1): 129-40. CAETANO, Antonio Filipe Pereira (2009). Entre drogas e cachaça: a política colonial e as tensões na América Portuguesa (1640-1710). Maceió: EdUFAL. COUTINHO, Milson (2004). A revolta de Bequimão. 2nd ed. São Luís: Geia.
Cite this entry

(2023) "Beckman revolt 1684", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. (accessed on ).