The “War of the Peddlers ” was an armed confrontation that took place in the Captaincy of Pernambuco , between the years of 1709 and 1714, involving the great planters of Olinda and the Portuguese merchants of Recife, pejoratively called “peddlers”, due to their profession.
However, despite the autonomist and anti-Portuguese feeling of the people of Pernambuco in Olinda, who even proposed that the city become an independent Republic, this was not a separatist movement.
However, there is no consensus in stating that it is a nativist movement, since the “peddlers” involved in the dispute were predominantly Portuguese traders.
Main Causes and Consequences
The War of the Peddlers should be seen as a conflict for local political power, without any social claim. In reality, it was a dispute between Olinda, who held the political power , and Recife, holder of the economic power , for the supremacy in the Captaincy of Pernambuco.
In fact, the ascendancy of commerce in relation to colonial production was evident, since commercial activity enriched the Portuguese, giving them control of all commerce in the region, at the expense of the impoverishment of landowners in Olinda, who contracted debts to maintain your production.
However, the international drop in sugar prices made it impossible for planters to honor those debts. In turn, the Crown sold the right to collect these debts to the bidders of Recife (the Portuguese “peddlers”), who profited from the interest of the debtors of Olinda.
To make matters worse, the planters did not accept the political-administrative emancipation of Recife, since it was a great source of tax collection for Olinda.
On the other hand, this conflict resulted in the political emancipation of Recife, which is also elevated to the category of capital of Pernambuco, explicitly demonstrating the Crown favoring Portuguese merchants in the colony. Thus, to appease the situation, those involved were granted amnesty and it was determined that the captain-major should stay six months in each district.
To learn more:Brazil Colony, State of Pernambuco.
Historical Context
From 1654 onwards, when the expulsion of the Dutch began, the planters were left without capital for investment and, to make matters worse, the same Batavians who were expelled began to produce sugar in the Antilles, competing with Brazilian sugar and causing a drop in prices. product prices on the international market.
Thus, while Olinda declined and suffered from the consequences of the wars that expelled the Dutch, Recife became rich and became an important commercial center, due to its port, considered one of the best in the colony.
In 1703, merchants from Recife obtained the right of representation in the Chamber of Olinda, but it was only in 1709 that they asked the Portuguese Crown for the village to become a village, which was granted. That same year, Recife residents established the Pelourinho and the City Hall building, becoming officially autonomous in relation to Olinda.
However, in 1710, under the leadership of Bernardo Vieira de Melo and the Captain-General, Pedro Ribeiro da Silva , the disaffected planters of Olinda, claiming that Recife did not respect the borders between the regions, invaded the city of peddlers, destroyed the Pelourinho and freed the prisoners.
In the year 1711, the peddlers regroup and counterattack, invading Olinda and forcing the planters to take refuge. In the same year, the metropolis nominates a new governor for the captaincy and sends troops to put an end to the conflicts and arrest the leaders of the rebellion. The following year, in 1712 , Recife becomes the administrative headquarters of Pernambuco.
In 1714, King João V grants amnesty to those involved in the confrontation, also allowing the planters of Olinda to keep all their properties and have their debts forgiven in exchange for not carrying out new aggressions.
To learn more:
- Sugarcane cycle
- Hereditary Captaincies
- History of Pernambuco