History of South America

Ecuadorian Confederation

The Confederation of Ecuador (1824) was a revolutionary and emancipationist movement of republican and separatist nature among the monarchists and the liberals .

Abstract

The Confederation of Ecuador took place in the northeast region of the country in 1824, during the period of the First Reign , when Dom Pedro I granted the Magna Carta of 1824 , which culminated in the elaboration of the Brazilian Constitution in March 1824.

In addition, the monarch carried out the dissolution of the National Constituent Assembly , dismissing from the position Manuel Carvalho Pais de Andrade , who had been elected by the population and, putting in his place, to exercise the position of governor, Francisco Pais Barreto , which reinforced the idea that dissatisfied a large part of the population regarding the distribution of public offices to figures of aristocratic origin.

In addition to this arbitrary way of governing, the event dawned once the new constitution largely favored the Portuguese, with centralizing measures , thus generating strong dissatisfaction among the population, mainly of the rural aristocracy , that is, cotton producers in the north of the state, which were imbued with liberal ideals and influenced by the Industrial Revolution.

On the other hand, theagrarian elite and the workers of the sugar mills in the south, an economic activity that had been suffering with the drop in sugar exports, even so, fought for the permanence of D. Pedro I in power, since the abolitionist ideas were favorable to their business.

Therefore, led by Manuel Carvalho Pais de Andrade and Joaquim do Amor Divino Rabelo Mug , popularly known as Frei Caneca , the Confederation of Ecuador sought to build an independent State , with capital in Recife (at the time the capital of the Empire was Rio de Janeiro) since they criticized slavery and the centralization of power exalted by the absolutism, conservatism and authoritarianism of the monarch.

Thus, after the Pernambucan Revolution of 1817, the State of Pernambuco was once again the scene of agitation of a republican and liberal nature, since they were uncomfortable with the presence of the Portuguese Court, installed in the country since 1808, which inferred a lot in the life of the population that had already been suffering with the hunger, misery and drought that ravaged the region.

Note that the denomination of the movement “Confederação do Ecuador” is related to the name that would be coined the new republican, federalist and anti-Portuguese State (based on the North American model and the Constitution of Colombia), so it was close to the line from Ecuador.

Thus, movements opposed to the government of Dom Pedro I united against the imperial forces, in a great separatist movement and with the central objective of acquiring more political and economic autonomy about the provinces.

Initially, the revolt broke out in the state of Pernambuco, expanding to others, such as Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba. The end result of the confrontation was the execution and imprisonment of most of its leaders, as they were repressed by the imperial forces commanded by the British admiral Thomas Cochrane .

Finally, the journalist Cipriano Barata was arrested, Father Mororó was executed and Frei Caneca, intellectual mentor of the movement, was shot on January 13, 1825 in the Cinco Pontas square, in Recife, thus weakening the Confederation of Ecuador.

To learn more :

  • Pernambucan Revolution
  • State of Paraíba
  • Industrial Revolution
  • Abolitionism
  • Absolutism
  • Brazil Empire
  • Moderating Power
  • History of Pernambuco
  • First Reign
  • Curiosities
  • According to the two main groups involved in the revolt, the flag of this movement under the motto “Religion, Independence, Union and Liberty”, consisted of a cotton branch (rural aristocracy), which represented the liberal republicans, the which sought the end of the Portuguese presence in the country; and sugarcane (agrarian elite), representing the monarchist group that supported Dom Pedro I.
  • In 1817, Frei Caneca participated in the Pernambuco Revolution known as the Fathers' Revolution.