The Other Confederates: Brother Mug, Activist Carmelite, and Federalist Revolt in Nineteenth Century Brazil

Antônio Parreiras (1860-1937). Study for “Frei Caneca.” Oil on canvas, c. 1918. Museu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

After declaring independence from European powers in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries, the fledgling nations of North and South America struggled to find a suitable form of national organization. In the United States, Argentina, and Gran Colombia, movements supporting a confederation structure with a virtually powerless central authority clashed with advocates for a stronger central government (Fernández and Rondina 81, 82, 84-88; Lynch 143-44; Storing 10-12). In the US, the anti-federalists opposed a strong central authority and the federalists supported a stronger federal government. In Latin America, the federalistas or federales struggled for greater regional autonomy while the unitarios believed in a stronger central authority.

Brazil, however, faced a unique situation when compared to North and South American nations obtaining their independence during this period of time. When armies affiliated with Napoleon invaded Portugal, the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil and remained there from 1807 to 1821 in a royal palace built in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Despite the fact that Napoleon’s armies were largely defeated in 1815, the British exercised influence over Portugal until a revolution there allowed the Braganzas to return to Lisbon. In 1822, the Portuguese prince-regent Dom Pedro (King Peter I) of the House of Braganza, the heir to the throne, spontaneously declared Brazil an independent kingdom from Portugal. The precise reasons for King Peter’s decision to forge a separate country from his father’s nation have never been accurately determined.

Brazil, however, became an independent monarchy through King Peter’s act. King Peter and then his son ruled as Emperors in Rio de Janeiro, creating a South American monarchy lasting from 1822 until the declaration of a republic in 1891. Throughout the nineteenth century, movements for federalism in Brazil waged wars against the Rio monarchy for more regional autonomy, demanding the right to elect state governors in a country where governors were appointed by the government in Rio. The Cabanos (“shack dweller”) revolt occurred in the northeastern state of Pará from 1835 to 1840. The Sabinada (named after its leader, Francisco Sabina) revolt lasted from 1837 to 1838 and occurred in the northeastern state of Bahia. The Farroupilha (“raggamuffin”, a name frequently applied to federalistas) revolt took place in the Southern state of Rio Grande do Sul from 1835 to 1845. Finally, the Praieira (“beach,” named after the street where rebel periodicals were published) revolt took place in Pernambuco and lasted from 1848 to 1850. Participants in each of these revolts published short, ideological newspapers arguing for a structure with more regional autonomy and a smaller government in Rio.

In these rebel newspapers, anti-centralist journalists frequently mentioned another revolt as an inspiration—the 1824 Confederação do Equador (“Confederation of the Equator”) movement. The Confederation of the Equator movement was led by journalists dedicated to federalism, including a Carmelite friar named Frei Caneca (“Brother Mug”) who elaborated a political philosophy these journalists termed the fé da liberdade (“liberty faith”). Brother Mug was part of a group of classical liberal thinkers attempting to get their message across. It was only in the 1820s, as Brazil moved towards independence, that publishing without prior restraint became possible for journalists, giving rise to political debates involving small farmers as well as wealthier plantation owners.

The objective here is to introduce the reader to Brother Mug’s philosophy. As discussed below, scholars in Brazil have labeled Brother Mug’s philosophy a classical liberal ideology but have failed to present the specific beliefs held by Brother Mug. Latin American political thought is not limited to colonial era treatises, support for authoritarian regimes, or liberation theology. Understanding Brother Mug’s liberty faith helps us grasp the diversity found in political philosophy in Latin America, particularly political philosophies which fall under the rubric of classical liberal philosophies.

As the texts referenced...