Summary

In the context of the political instability that characterized the Portuguese conquest and colonization of America, disputes often took the extreme form of rebellions, as rivals took up arms in defense of the principles of justice and law. These uprisings were numerous and varied widely in their social composition, causes, and duration, as well as in the responses and repression they provoked. There were a variety of rebellions from the earliest days of Brazil’s conquest in the 16th century until 1808, when Brazil’s colonial status was altered by the relocation of the seat of the Portuguese monarchy to Rio de Janeiro. Rather than classifying revolts by their typology, conjunctures, regions, or dominant political ideas that has become common in historiography, it may be instructive to view these events through an interpretation that draws together the diverse political cultures that were mobilized in the rebels’ discourses and practices, such as indigenous beliefs, Central African traditions, Islamic religion, Iberian contractualism (natural law), and the Enlightenment. Certain social groups tended to adhere progressively to the moral arguments of contractualist ideas; an examination of rebel languages and political practices shows a dynamic in which protagonists acted in defense of rights over the course of advances and retreats during the colonial conquest, affirming principles, and establishing exchanges and interactions between political cultures.