The Revolt of the Whip, known as the Revolta da Chibata in Portuguese,[N 1] was a 1910 naval mutiny occurring in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro. It has been called "Brazil's Potemkin incident".[1] The mostly black crews of four Brazilian warships, led by João Cândido Felisberto, mutinied, deposed their white officers, and threatened to bombard Rio de Janeiro. The mutiny was resolved within a week.[2]
Background
editSoon after the arrival of the new dreadnoughts Minas Geraes and São Paulo in Brazil. The racism prevalent in all branches of the Brazilian armed forces[3] and the severe discipline enforced on all navy ships spawned a mutiny known as the "Revolt of the Whip" among sailors on the most powerful ships.[3][4]
Many of the Afro-Brazilian sailors on the dreadnought Minas Geraes were slaves freed under the Lei Áurea or their sons. Forced to enter the navy, they were widely discriminated against. It was common for officers to target black crewmen with "racial abuse and physical violence"; the sailors could not escape this abuse because they were required to serve for 15 years.[3] Officers had the option of sending recalcitrant sailors to a military tribunal on an island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Ilha das Cobras, which served as the navy's headquarters, or administering punishment themselves.[5] Most chose the latter option and were quick and ruthless in administering it with "leather whips tipped with metal balls" [3]
Their actions angered the black sailors aboard the warships in the Brazilian Navy, and plans for a mutiny started as early as 1908.[6] The day chosen first to revolt was 15 November 1910 for its importance in Brazilian culture at the time; it was the anniversary of revolution that ended the Império do Brasil (English: Empire of Brazil) and created the República Velha (English: Old Republic), and it was the date that Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca would ascend to the presidency.[6] This was postponed, but just a day after the original plan (16 November), a black sailor named Marcelino Rodrigues Menezes was brought up in front of Minas Geraes' entire crew for his 250-lash sentence, ordered by the ship's captain João Periera Leite as a punishment for being insubordinate to an officer.[5][6]
They chose an experienced sailor named João Cândido Felisberto end corporal punishment in the Navy, retire incompetent officers, increase sailors’ wages, provide training to new sailors, supply better food, decrease their work load, and guarantee an amnesty for all involved
Unhappy with the treatment, black sailors began planning an uprising early in 1910, and chose João Cândido Felisberto—an experienced sailor later known as the "Black Admiral"—as leader. In mid-November,[3] a sailor was sentenced to be flogged 250 times[7] in front of his fellow sailors,[3] even though the practice had been banned by law.[4] The punishment continued even after the sailor fainted.[3] The incident infuriated the nascent mutineers; they were not ready and could not revolt immediately, but they quickened their preparations and rebelled earlier than originally planned, on 21–22 November. They murdered several officers and the captain; other officers were forced off the ship. British engineers who had sailed with the ship since its completion were kept as hostages. The mutineers then spread the revolt to São Paulo, the older coastal defense ship Deodoro, and the new cruiser Bahia. During this time, discipline on the rebelling ships was not relaxed; daily drills were conducted and Felisberto ordered all liquor to be thrown overboard.[4]
The crews of the torpedo boats remained loyal to the government,[4] and army troops moved to the presidential palace and the coastline, but neither group could stop the mutineers;[3] a major problem for the authorities was that many of the men who manned Rio de Janeiro's harbor defenses were sympathetic to the mutineers' cause.[4] The additional possibility of the capital being bombarded forced the National Congress of Brazil to give in to the rebels' demands.[3] The demands included the abolition of flogging, improved living conditions, and the granting of amnesty to all mutineers.[3][4] The government also issued official pardons and a statement of regret.
Its submission resulted in the rebellion's end on 26 November, when control of the four ships was handed back to the navy. However, the government passed a decree on 28 November that allowed the Minister of the Navy to expel any sailor who was "undermining discipline"; this act was seen by many sailors as a removal of their previous amnesty.[8] Many were jailed and tortured.
Two weeks after the conclusion of the Revolt of the Whip, the marine garrison of the naval base of Ilha das Cobras also mutinied. After a naval bombardment by the two dreadnoughts Minas Geraes and São Paulo caused over 200 casualties, the mutineers surrendered.[9][10]
Aftermath
editThirty-nine years after his death from cancer in Hospital Getúlio Vargas, Rio de Janeiro, João Cândido and others were given the amnesty that had been promised and then denied when on 24 July 2008 the Congress reaffirmed the 25 November 1910 legislative act granting amnesty.[11] The revolt was cited later by labor organizers as an "heroic example of worker struggle".[2] A statue of João Cândido Felisberto was erected overlooking the Ilha das Cobras in Rio de Janeiro.
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/brazil/events/black_potemkin
- ^ a b Andrews, Afro-Latin America, 149
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Smallman, Fear & Memory, 28
- ^ a b c d e f Scheina, Latin America's Wars, 74
- ^ a b Morgan, "The Revolt Against the Lash, 1910", 33
- ^ a b c Schneider, The 1910 Sailors' "Revolt Against the Lash", 4
- ^ Andrews, Afro-Latin America, 148
- ^ Smallman, Fear & Memory, 28–29
- ^ English, Jane's, 109
- ^ Schneider, The 1910 Sailors' "Revolt Against the Lash", 37
- ^ http://www.agenciabrasil.gov.br/noticias/2008/07/24/materia.2008-07-24.3054571943/view | Agência Brasil: Líder da Revolta da Chibata recebe anistia 39 anos após a morte (Leader of the Revolt of the Whip receives amnesty 39 years after death)
Bibliography
edit- Andrews, George Reid (2004). Afro-Latin America, 1800–2000. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195152328. OCLC 52478388.
- English, Adrian J. (1984). Jane's Armed Forces of Latin America. London and New York: Jane's. ISBN 0710603215. OCLC 11537114.</ref>
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870219073. OCLC 12119866.
- Scheina, Robert L. (2003). Latin America's Wars. Washington D.C.: Brassey's. ISBN 1574884522. OCLC 49942250.
- Schneider, Ann. "The 1910 Sailors' "Revolt Against the Lash"" (PDF). University of Chicago. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- Smallman, Shawn C. (2002). Fear & Memory in the Brazilian Army and Society, 1889-1954. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807853593. OCLC 250188940.