André made few comments as the others discussed the possibilities of support for an independence movement. He was thinking about Silva Xavier, who had been a friend of his family’s since his muleteering days. André had been fifteen when Silva Xavier joined the dragoons, and for a time the boy had also wanted to enlist, influenced by the dashing appearance of the alferes. But Senhor Raimundo da Silva had sent him to the seminary at Mariana for three years and had then put him to work in their store, which occupied the ground floor of their house on the rua das Flôres at Vila Rica.
Three years ago, Silva Xavier had introduced André to Constança Oliveira Coutinho, the daughter of a builder Silva Xavier had tried to interest in his canal at Rio de Janeiro. More successful was Silva Xavier’s matchmaking: André and Constança had been married two years and were expecting their first child, to whom Silva Xavier was to be godfather.
Sometimes André had found his friend impulsive and impatient. He feared that this fervent preaching of independence could cause trouble for Silva Xavier, and now, during a moment when the others were silent, André admonished him: “You speak too openly, Joaquim. How will the visconde de Barbacena react if his spies tell him that you carry the message of liberty to the streets?”
“I know that I speak very openly of liberty, and I’ll continue to do so. I know, too, that this war of words is not enough. There isn’t a man in Portugal who will respond ‘Here, Mineiro, take your freedom.’ How can I fear the visconde’s informers when I know that I have to offer much more than words for this struggle? My heart, my soul” — he pressed a hand to his chest and his eyes flashed — “my life, friends, for liberty!”
Two weeks later, on October 11, André was in the shop on the rua das Flôres when Silva Xavier hurried in with a young man whom André had not seen for several years: Fernandes da Rocha Soares, the son of Luis Fialho Soares. When Luis Fialho set up his law practice at Vila Rica after returning from Portugal, Raimundo da Silva had been one of his first clients, and André had continued to consult him since taking responsibility for the business. André and Fernandes had known each other since boyhood, both having attended the seminary at Mariana.
Fernandes had prominent cheekbones, almond-shaped eyes, a slight bronze tinge to his skin, and straight black hair. After obtaining his medical degree in Montpellier, France, he had returned to Minas Gerais, arriving at Vila Rica ten days ago.
Silva Xavier stood by impatiently as the young men plied each other with questions. Finally he interrupted them: “Let Fernandes tell about the students at Montpellier.”
Fernandes Soares began by mentioning José de Maia, the son of a stonecutter at Rio de Janeiro. “There was none so committed to our liberation as José de Maia. At Coimbra and Montpellier, he told us that it was our generation’s calling to free Brazil from Portugal — to break with the past.” Fernandes paused, before adding emotionally, “Oh, God, what a loss! Maia was waiting to sail for Rio de Janeiro when he was struck down — by fever, I think — carried away, with his great dream of independence.”
“His dream did not die with him,” Silva Xavier interjected. “Minas Gerais will be free, and one by one, the other captaincies will follow. Tell André about José de Maia’s mission.”
Fernandes moved across the room and leaned against a long counter at the back of the store. Though it was only noon, the shop was gloomy, the only light coming from the open doorway.
“It was not us alone who shared Maia’s hopes,” Fernandes continued. “He was in contact with men at Rio de Janeiro.”
“Probably the same men I know. Merchants. Militia officers,” Silva Xavier added.
“Two years ago in France,” Fernandes said, “Maia began to seek support for our struggle. He had secret connections with some Frenchmen who had fought in North America.”
“Thomas Jefferson!” Silva Xavier exclaimed, unable to wait for Fernandes to tell what he wanted André to hear. “Maia spoke with Jefferson himself!”
“I was present,” Fernandes said.
André gave a start. “You met Thomas Jefferson?”
Fernandes nodded, eager to continue: “First, Maia wrote to Senhor Jefferson in Paris, where he’d succeeded Dr. Franklin as minister to France.” Fernandes laughed. “Maia didn’t reveal his identity. ‘Vendek,’ he signed himself. I think it was the name of a slave in a book he was reading. He said only that he was a foreigner in France with a matter of the utmost importance to communicate to the minister, and asked how they might secretly correspond. Senhor Jefferson responded with an address Maia should use. I saw a draft of his next letter to the minister. He said that he was from Brazil, whose people could no longer endure the slavery imposed upon them by Portugal and were ready to rebel. But, he added, they couldn’t do this without the support of the United States. It was not only because they sought to follow the Americans’ example: ‘Nature, in making us inhabitants of the same continent, has united us in the bonds of common patriotism!’ said Maia.”
“What was Jefferson’s response?” André asked.
“Maia corresponded with the minister for several months. Senhor Jefferson’s replies were guarded and diplomatic, as you might expect from a man in his position. But it was also a difficult period for him personally.”
“Why?” Silva Xavier asked. Fernandes had not mentioned this to him earlier.
“I was in Paris in December 1786, staying at the home of a friend from Montpellier. His mother knew the comtesse de Tesse, an aunt of the marquis de Lafayette, and learned from her the cause of Minister Jefferson’s distress.”
“He was sick?”
“Struck down, great man that he is — by a painful love!”
“Ai! Such bittersweet pain!” Silva Xavier said. “This woman who gave him pain — she was French?”
“English,” Fernandes said. “Senhora Maria Cosway. She was in her twenties, a beauty. She sang, she played the harp, she painted, she spoke several languages. And she won Senhor Jefferson’s love that summer in Paris. Alas” — Fernandes put a hand to his brow — “Maria was married to an ugly little man, Senhor Richard, a miniaturist of repute. All that summer Senhor Jefferson courted Maria, but when winter came, her husband took her home. Her lover was left behind, with a broken heart and a damaged wrist.” He laughed. “The minister was promenading with lovely Maria in the Cours la Reine along the Seine when, out of joy, he leapt over a fence, fell, and cracked his wrist.”
“So that’s why he went to the mineral waters at Aix,” Silva Xavier said, having been told this earlier by Fernandes.
“Yes.”
“Ai! The poor thing! I love him for it! This god of liberty, with a heart for sweet romance. And now, Fernandes, tell André of your meeting with the senhor.”
“In March, Senhor Jefferson wrote to Maia saying that he was going to Aix and would be visiting Nimes. We met the minister at an inn near the Roman amphitheater at Nimes. I remember how infuriated he was that they were tearing part of it down to pave a road —”
“His response when you brought up Brazil?” Silva Xavier prodded.
“The man is amazingly knowledgeable about living conditions in Brazil, but he didn’t realize how immense our country is. ‘Truly a continent by itself.’ — those were his exact words. ‘In North America, such lands would extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific!’ He confessed to having no interest in lands west of the Allegheny or Appalachian ranges. He said that between those mountains and the Atlantic were thousands of square miles, more than adequate for their new nation.”
“ ‘Here, Your Excellency, is a great difference between our early settlements,’ Maia said. He made a good point. What do we have just beyond the coast? Serra do Mar, the Mantiqueira, Serra do Geral — mountains rearing up thousands of feet. Here a narrow belt of open land; there a wall of rock standing in the sea. In most areas, the mountains kept our settlers clinging like crabs to strips of land. But there’d been men, who explored the sertão, searching for riches and expanding our frontiers. Every
league of land won by them would be liberated from Portuguese tyranny.”
“God willing, Fernandes,” André said. “But Thomas Jefferson — what did he offer to sustain an insurrection?”
“We told him what we need — cannon, ammunition, ships — and that we’d pay with gold and diamonds from Minas Gerais.”
“Yes, Fernandes, it’s possible. But Senhor Jefferson — what help did he offer?”
“The meetings were secret,” Fernandes said, with some irritation. “Maia put forward our ideas; he did not sign a treaty.”
“Fernandes, a rebellion may not be far off. Did Jefferson offer support?”
“He wasn’t speaking for his government, but he said — and I swear — when the revolution is launched, we’ll have hundreds of his countrymen flocking to our shores. Some will come for rewards, but others will have the purest motives. He reminded us that they have many officers with excellent experience in hounding oppressors.”
“André, would Senhor Jefferson suggest we recruit their generals if he didn’t believe in a free and independent Brazil?” Silva Xavier asked.
“I’m sure he’s sympathetic,” André said. “But the United States is a new nation, only five or six years away from their own struggle. Why should they become embroiled in our fight with Portugal?”
“Jefferson didn’t promise a republican legion from Philadelphia marching over the Mantiqueira a month or two hence,” Silva Xavier said. “However, when Minas Gerais openly declares its independence to the world, when our patriots have won their first victories, then I think we can expect help not only from the United States but also from France and England. You heard José Álvares Maciel, André: The English are surprised we haven’t yet struck the first blow.”
“I’ve known you for many years, Joaquim, and don’t doubt your sincerity, but all this talk — a ‘war of words,’ you sometimes call it — a declaration of independence! For the love of God, friend, I see no way these dreams can be realized.”
Silva Xavier put a hand on André’s shoulder. “Promise me something.”
“What?”
“When I come to you not with dreams but decisions . . . promise me, André, that you will cease doubting and questioning and join me.”
“You have my word,” André said solemnly. Then he smiled. “Ah, what a dreamer, Alferes Quixote!”
Silva Xavier himself laughed, but quickly grew serious. “‘Alferes Quixote, yes. But my fantasy — my dream of an independent republic — this will be realized!”
Alferes Joaquim José da Silva Xavier proved there was far more to his vision than fanciful dreams. Within three months, his “war of words” brought Minas Gerais to the brink of revolution against Portugal.
In his double role as officer of the Minas dragoons and part-time dentist, Silva Xavier had come to enjoy a wide circle of acquaintances at Vila Rica, among them many of the poets and intellectuals, magistrates and lawyers, contractors and fazendeiros whose loathing for the regime of Cunha Meneses had left them with contempt for Portuguese authority. Now the Tooth-Puller approached these men, offering a prescription for rebellion.
And during Christmas week of 1788, the plans for the uprising were formulated.
The meeting was held at the house of Silva Xavier’s commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Francisco Paula Freire de Andrade, whom the alferes had flattered with the suggestion that Providence was offering him a role in his people’s liberation, the same as that of General George Washington. Andrade was also responsive to his second-lieutenant’s suggestions because of disdain shown toward the Minas dragoons by the new governor. The visconde de Barbacena was proposing a total reform of the cavalry, whom he accused — not without justification — of aiding the contrabandistas.
Also present at the meeting were the young lawyer José Álvares Maciel; the poet Inácio José Alvarenga Peixoto; Padre José de Oliveira Rolim, the diamond dealer and moneylender; and Carlos Correia de Toledo e Melo, vicar as well as mine owner and fazendeiro.
When these men met at Lieutenant-Colonel Andrade’s house at Vila Rica, it was taken for granted that in February 1789 the visconde de Barbacena would impose the derrama to make up for an anticipated shortfall in the 3,200 pounds of gold due as payment of the annual royal fifth. Already the rumor of this royal extortion was causing widespread public discontent. For the six plotters, the day the derrama was announced seemed ideally suited for the launching of a rebellion.
Alferes Silva Xavier would lead a group of men to provoke a riot against the derrama in the streets of Vila Rica. Lieutenant-Colonel Andrade and the dragoons from the city barracks would offer no resistance to the rioters or to rebels who would infiltrate the city from surrounding hills. While the rioting spread, Silva Xavier and hand-picked accomplices would dash to the governor’s residence at Cachoeira do Campo, where the visconde de Barbacena and his bodyguards would be arrested. Upon Silva Xavier’s return to Vila Rica with confirmation that the governor was in custody, Lieutenant-Colonel Andrade would deliver an address to the rioters in Vila Rica’s main square. When Andrade asked them to state their demands, Silva Xavier himself would be there to lead the response: “Viva a Liberdade!” Andrade would read a declaration of independence and proclaim the Republic of Minas Gerais. The success of these initial actions would be a signal for messengers to ride immediately with orders for rebels waiting to secure the pass across the Mantiqueira and strategic points along the road to São Paulo.
Each man at the meeting was responsible for specific preparations. Silva Xavier was to continue his propaganda; Lieutenant-Colonel Andrade was to secure the support of the dragoons; Alvarenga Peixoto, colonel of the militia in the district of his fazenda, was to have his men ready to hold the Mantiqueira road; Padre Oliveira Rolim, through his connections in the diamond district, would stir up sedition there and provide two hundred men with muskets and ammunition; Padre Carlos Correia would seek support from the Paulistas; and Álvares Maciel was to investigate iron and saltpeter deposits for the manufacture of weapons and munitions.
The conspiracy grew rapidly.
By the second week of January, Judge Tomás Antônio Gonzaga, the poet-lawyer Cláudio Manuel da Costa, the Crown debtors Silvério dos Reis and Rodrigo de Macedo, and the lawyer Luis Fialho Soares and his son Fernandes were attending the secret meetings.
They expected the war of independence to last three years, during which time Judge Gonzaga would serve as head of state. There was to be a constitution for the new American republic, a supreme parliament, and regional assemblies. Because of its favorable location, São João d’El Rei was designated as capital. The fifth and other royal extortions were to be abolished. Free trade was to be permitted, an iron foundry established, and textile industries set up.
Heated debates arose over the slaves, who comprised half the captaincy’s population. Silva Xavier believed that the slaves should be liberated; others argued that this would be disastrous for the economy. A compromise was reached: All slaves born in Minas Gerais were to be given their freedom.
The revolution at Minas Gerais was to be launched independently of actions that might take place at Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, though like-minded men there were expected to follow quickly the Mineiros’ example: A confederation of three states was foreseen. But the immediate objective of the conspirators was the liberation of Minas Gerais, with its gold and diamonds. Deprived of her main plunder from America, Portugal would be hard-pressed to prevent the spread of insurrection throughout Brazil.
Silva Xavier had had several disagreements with Cláudio Manuel da Costa, one of which concerned the flag of the new republic.
“Strike the flags and throw down the arms of Portugal,” Silva Xavier said, “but keep the symbol of our faith.” Five shields emblazoned the arms of Portugal depicting the five wounds of Christ. “Let us have a triangle upon our banner to represent the Holy Trinity.”
“Our crusade is for liberty. It would be better for our patriots to take the field under a fl
ag that proclaims this to the world,” said Cláudio Manuel.
“With respect, Dr. Cláudio, the Trinity will also symbolize a restoration of the pious intent behind the discoverer Cabral’s naming our land ‘Terra de Santa Cruz.’”
“Somewhere among my papers and books, there’s a drawing of a flag,” Cláudio Manuel said. “It was used by a militia company of the rebels of North America. It depicts a genius breaking chains, and bears the motto Libertas Aeque Spiritu — ‘Liberty Through Courage.’ Let’s use the same flag.”
Alvarenga Peixoto disagreed. “Dr. Cláudio, this is our revolution. We must devise our own banner.”
“Then change the inscription,” Cláudio Manuel responded: “Aut Libertas aut Nihil — ’Either Liberty or Nothing.’”
The response to this suggestion was negative, and for some time they continued to argue. Finally, Alvarenga Peixoto looked at Silva Xavier and said, “Alferes, you mentioned Terra de Santa Cruz, the paradise Cabral discovered, with Tupiniquin, Tupinambá, and other savage nations in possession. There is an original symbol: a Tupiniquin breaking the fetters with which his Portuguese conquerors bound him!”
Cláudio Manuel applauded this idea. “And the motto?”
“For our Tupiniquin, rising triumphantly after centuries of slavery and tyranny?” Alvarenga Peixoto was silent as he thought about this, and the others were quiet, too. Then he said emphatically, “I have a quotation from Virgil: ‘Libertas, quae sera tamen’!”
“‘Liberty, even though late,’” Silva Xavier translated. “Liberty celebrating that forgotten Tupiniquin who was there when the great fleet of Cabral hove into sight. Liberty for men who stand and wait in Minas Gerais.” His face was radiant. “Yes, Colonel! For every Mineiro who answers the call — Libertas, quae sera tamen!”
When Silva Xavier came to him with definite plans for the uprising, André kept his promise and joined the conspiracy. In the third week of January 1789, André, Fernandes Soares, and two slaves traveled to Registro Velho, a customs post south of the Mantiqueira, to collect a supply of gunpowder obtained from Rio de Janeiro.
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