1798 Revolt of the Alfaiates

Flag of the Revolt of the Tailors. Bahia, 1798.

The Bahian Conspiracy, also known as Revolt of the Tailors (after the trade of many of the leaders) and recently also called Revolt of Buzios, was a late eighteenth century slave rebellion in the then Captaincy of Bahia, in the State of Brazil. Unlike the Inconfidência Mineira of 1789, it was a separatist movement with a popular base and extensive black participation.

The objectives of the rebelling baianos were, according to Clóvis Moura [pt], "much more radical," and the proposal to liberate the slaves was one of the main goals. Its leaders and members included "freed blacks, black slaves, pardo slaves, freed pardos, artisans, tailors; those who were from the most oppressed or discriminated classes of Bahia colonial society".[1] With many slaves living in Bahia, the probability of revolts and rebellions ran high. The elites of the area were frightened that if rebellion or revolts did happen, they would be similar to the Haitian Revolution. Because of the significant participation of Bahia's lower classes, the revolt has also been called “The First Brazilian Social Revolution”.[2]

  1. ^ Clóvis, Moura (1989). História do negro brasileiro. São Paulo: Editora Atica. ISBN 8508034520. OCLC 21576455.
  2. ^ Ramos, Donald (Summer 1976). "Social Revolution Frustrated: The Conspiracy of the Tailors in Bahia, 1798". Luso-Brazilian Review. 13 (1): 74–90. JSTOR 3512717.