Tiradentes
Encyclopedia
Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, known as Tiradentes (August 16, 1746–-April 21, 1792), was a leading member of the Brazil
ian revolutionary movement known as the Inconfidência Mineira
whose aim was full independence from the Portuguese
colonial power and to create a Brazilian republic. When the plan was discovered, Tiradentes was arrested, tried and publicly hanged. Since the 19th century he has been considered a national hero of Brazil and patron of the Polícia Militar de Minas Gerais (Minas Gerais Military Police).
, Tiradentes was adopted by his godfather
and moved to Vila Rica (now Ouro Preto
) after the deaths of his parents (mother in 1755; father in 1757).
Tiradentes was raised by a tutor, who was a surgeon. His lack of formal education didn't stop him from working in several fields, including dental medicine; Tiradentes means "tooth puller", a pejorative denomination adopted during the trial against him. He practiced several professions — cattle driver
, miner
, dentist
— and was a member of the Regimento dos Dragões de Minas Gerais militia. As Tiradentes was not a member of the local aristocracy, he was systematically overlooked for promotion and never rose above the rank of alferes (2nd lieutenant).
; this road was the "open vein"
used to export most of the gold to Portugal
.
Tiradentes soon noticed the exploitation to which Brazilians were subjected; he saw how much gold, and other valuable resources were being pillaged for export to Portugal.
His trips to Rio put him in contact with people who had lived in Europe and brought from there the libertarian ideas (the American colonies had become independent in 1776, and French Revolution
would be in 1789, the cauldron of freedom hard boiling). In 1788, Tiradentes met José Alvares Maciel, son of the governor of Vila Rica, who had just returned from England; they could compare the British industrial progress with the Brazilian colonial poverty. They created a group of freedom aspirers, led by clerics and other Brazilians with some social presence, like Cláudio Manuel da Costa
(staff of government and important writer), Tomás Antônio Gonzaga
(staff of government) and Alvarenga Peixoto
(eminent businessman); the group propagated their ideas among Brazilians.
At that time, Portugal was hungry for gold; however, the production of Brazilian mines was declining. The Brazilians were not meeting the yearly quota of gold that was requested by the crown, and there was pressure from Portugal to ensure all the due taxes were paid. The days of payment of taxes were called derrama.
Influenced by the writings of Rousseau
, and by the American Revolution
, Tiradentes joined with a number of like-minded citizens in the Inconfidência Mineira
. They wanted to found a republic
with its capital at São João del Rei
and to create a university. The proposed flag for the new republic was white
with a green
triangle
surrounded by the Latin
motto
"Libertas quae sera tamen" (Freedom, even if it be late.). The flag later became the state flag of Minas Gerais
, the only modification was the color of the triangle which was changed to red
.
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Tiradentes fled to Rio, where he tried to reorganize the movement. Not knowing who had denounced the group, he went to meet Joaquim Silverio dos Reis in Rio; Tiradentes was arrested on May 10, 1789.
The trial lasted almost three years. Tiradentes assumed the entire responsibility for the movement. Ten members of the group were sentenced to death; all of them – except Tiradentes – had their sentences, by mercy of the Queen, commuted from death to degradation.
On April 21, 1792 (today the date of a national holiday in Brazil), Tiradentes was hanged
in Rio de Janeiro, in the plaza today named Praça Tiradentes. His body was quartered
into several pieces. With his blood, a document was written declaring his memory infamous. His head was publicly displayed in Vila Rica and pieces of his body were exhibited in the cities between Vila Rica and Rio to terrorize the populace and those who had sympathized with Tiradentes' ideas of independence.
.
As of now there is a city in the state of Minas Gerais
bearing his name and major avenues and streets in countries like the Dominican Republic
.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian revolutionary movement known as the Inconfidência Mineira
Inconfidência Mineira
The Inconfidência Mineira of 1789 was an unsuccessful Brazilian independence movement.It was a result of the confluence of external and internal causes...
whose aim was full independence from the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
colonial power and to create a Brazilian republic. When the plan was discovered, Tiradentes was arrested, tried and publicly hanged. Since the 19th century he has been considered a national hero of Brazil and patron of the Polícia Militar de Minas Gerais (Minas Gerais Military Police).
Family and early occupation
Born to a poor family in a farm in Pombal, close to the settlement of Santa Rita do Rio Abaixo, near to São João del Rey, Minas GeraisMinas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
, Tiradentes was adopted by his godfather
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
and moved to Vila Rica (now Ouro Preto
Ouro Preto
-History:Founded at the end of the 17th century, Ouro Preto was originally called Vila Rica, or "rich village," the focal point of the gold rush and Brazil's golden age in the 18th century under Portuguese rule....
) after the deaths of his parents (mother in 1755; father in 1757).
Tiradentes was raised by a tutor, who was a surgeon. His lack of formal education didn't stop him from working in several fields, including dental medicine; Tiradentes means "tooth puller", a pejorative denomination adopted during the trial against him. He practiced several professions — cattle driver
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
, miner
Miner
A miner is a person whose work or business is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance....
, dentist
Dentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
— and was a member of the Regimento dos Dragões de Minas Gerais militia. As Tiradentes was not a member of the local aristocracy, he was systematically overlooked for promotion and never rose above the rank of alferes (2nd lieutenant).
Political ideas
Living in a state rich in gold, Tiradentes used the knowledge he acquired about minerals to enter the public service (he achieved the ranks of alferes, low in the hierarchy of the epoch), and he was sent to missions in cities along the road between Vila Rica (the capital of Minas Gerais) and Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
; this road was the "open vein"
Open Veins of Latin America
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent is a book written by Uruguayan journalist, writer and poet Eduardo Galeano, and published in 1971.- Summary :...
used to export most of the gold to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
Tiradentes soon noticed the exploitation to which Brazilians were subjected; he saw how much gold, and other valuable resources were being pillaged for export to Portugal.
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
would be in 1789, the cauldron of freedom hard boiling). In 1788, Tiradentes met José Alvares Maciel, son of the governor of Vila Rica, who had just returned from England; they could compare the British industrial progress with the Brazilian colonial poverty. They created a group of freedom aspirers, led by clerics and other Brazilians with some social presence, like Cláudio Manuel da Costa
Cláudio Manuel da Costa
Cláudio Manuel da Costa was a Brazilian poet and musician, considered to be the introducer of the Neoclassicism in Brazil...
(staff of government and important writer), Tomás Antônio Gonzaga
Tomás Antônio Gonzaga
Tomás Antônio Gonzaga was a Portuguese poet. One of the most famous Neoclassic Brazilian writers, he was also the ouvidor and the ombudsman of the city of Ouro Preto , as well as the desembargador of the appeal court in Bahia...
(staff of government) and Alvarenga Peixoto
Alvarenga Peixoto
Inácio José de Alvarenga Peixoto was a Colonial Brazilian Neoclassic poet and a lawyer. He wrote under the pen name Eureste Fenício.-Biography:Peixoto was born in Rio de Janeiro, to Simão Alvarenga Braga and Maria Braga...
(eminent businessman); the group propagated their ideas among Brazilians.
At that time, Portugal was hungry for gold; however, the production of Brazilian mines was declining. The Brazilians were not meeting the yearly quota of gold that was requested by the crown, and there was pressure from Portugal to ensure all the due taxes were paid. The days of payment of taxes were called derrama.
Influenced by the writings of Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
, and by the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, Tiradentes joined with a number of like-minded citizens in the Inconfidência Mineira
Inconfidência Mineira
The Inconfidência Mineira of 1789 was an unsuccessful Brazilian independence movement.It was a result of the confluence of external and internal causes...
. They wanted to found a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
with its capital at São João del Rei
São João del Rei
São João del-Rei also spelled São João del Rey or São João del Rei is a historical city in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.Population: 40,600 inhabitants....
and to create a university. The proposed flag for the new republic was white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
with a green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
triangle
Triangle
A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
surrounded by the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
"Libertas quae sera tamen" (Freedom, even if it be late.). The flag later became the state flag of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
, the only modification was the color of the triangle which was changed to red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
.
Discovery, trial and execution
The plan of Tiradentes was, in a day of derrama (when the sentiment of revolt among Brazilians would be stronger), to take the streets of Vila Rica and proclaim the Brazilian Republic. The movement, however, was denounced to the governor, who canceled the derrama scheduled for February of 1789 and ordered the imprisonment of the rebels. The person who denounced the movement was Joaquim Silverio dos Reis; he was a participant of the movement, and betrayed the group in exchange for waiving of his due taxes.The trial lasted almost three years. Tiradentes assumed the entire responsibility for the movement. Ten members of the group were sentenced to death; all of them – except Tiradentes – had their sentences, by mercy of the Queen, commuted from death to degradation.
On April 21, 1792 (today the date of a national holiday in Brazil), Tiradentes was hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
in Rio de Janeiro, in the plaza today named Praça Tiradentes. His body was quartered
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
into several pieces. With his blood, a document was written declaring his memory infamous. His head was publicly displayed in Vila Rica and pieces of his body were exhibited in the cities between Vila Rica and Rio to terrorize the populace and those who had sympathized with Tiradentes' ideas of independence.
National hero
He began to be considered a national hero by the republicans in the late 19th century, and after the republic was proclaimed in Brazil in 1889 the anniversary of his death (April 21) became a national holidayPublic holidays in Brazil
In Brazil, public holidays may be legislated at the federal, statewide and municipal levels. Most holidays are observed nationwide, but each state and city may have its own holidays as well....
.
As of now there is a city in the state of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
bearing his name and major avenues and streets in countries like the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
.
Further reading
- Cheney, Glenn Alan, Journey on the Estrada Real: Encounters in the Mountains of Brazil, (Chicago: Academy Chicago, 2004) ISBN 0-89733-530-9
- Maxwell, Kenneth R, Conflicts and Conspiracies: Brazil & Portugal 1750-1808 (Cambridge University Press, 1973)
External links
- Museu da Inconfidência
- Tiradentes at about.com