Revolt of the Lash

João Cândido Felisberto with reporters, officers and sailors on aboard Minas Geraes on 26 November 1910, the final day of the "Revolt of the Whip"

The Revolt of the Lash^{[Note 1]} (Portuguese: Revolta da Chibata), was a 1910 naval incident that exploded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Despite the two-year organization and strategies of the movement against the lash, the mostly black crews of four Brazilian warships, led by João Cândido Felisberto, mutinied on 22 November, shortly after a sailor publicly received 250 lashes. The crews deposed their white officers and threatened to bombard Rio de Janeiro. The mutiny was resolved within a week,^[1] with an amnesty that the Brazilian Government then did not honour. Consequently, a climate of unrest lasted for months. The navy discharged 2000 sailors and government forces (Police, Army, Navy, etc) killed hundreds of them, but this was the last occasion on which the Brazilian navy used the lash.

Background

Soon after the dreadnought Minas Geraes arrived in Brazil, a severe depression hit the Brazilian economy.^[2] The economic hardship, 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 major warships.^[3][4]

Many of the black sailors on Minas Geraes were slaves freed under the Lei Áurea, or their sons. They were forced to enter the navy, where the faced wide-spread discrimination. It was common for officers to direct "racial abuse and physical violence" at the sailor; the sailors could not escape this abuse because they were required to serve for 15 years. Officers were quick to administer punishment with "leather whips tipped with metal balls" for even minor infractions.^[3] Early in 1910, black sailors unhappy with their situation began planning an uprising; they chose João Cândido Felisberto — an experienced sailor later known as the "Black Admiral" — as their leader.

In mid-November,^[3] a sailor received a sentence of 250 strokes of the whip,^[5] 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.

Mutiny

The sailors on Minas Geraes rebelled on 21–22 November, earlier than originally planned. They murdered several officers and the captain; other officers they forced off the ship. They also kept British engineers who had sailed with the ship since its completion as hostages.

The revolt spread to São Paulo, the older coastal defense ship Deodoro, and the new cruiser Bahia. During this time, discipline remained tight on the ships undergoing mutiny; daily drills were conducted and Cândido ordered all liquor to be thrown overboard.^[4]

Minas Geraes' gun trials before the revolt

The crews of the torpedo boats remained loyal to the government,^[4] and army troops moved to the presidential palace and the coast, 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][Note 2]} 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 the mutineers returned control of the four ships 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"; many sailors saw this act as a repudiation of their amnesty.^[6] Many were jailed and tortured. João Cândido himself was held at Hospital de Alienados (hospital for the insane).^[7]

Two weeks after the conclusion of the Revolt of the Lash, the marine garrison of the naval base of Ilha das Cobras also mutinied. This mutiny the government quickly suppressed.^[8][9]

Aftermath

Thirty-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.^[10] The revolt was cited later by labor organizers as an "heroic example of worker struggle".^[1] A statue of João Cândido Felisberto was erected overlooking the Ilha das Cobras in Rio de Janeiro.

Notes

1. ^ Other names for the mutiny include the "Revolt of the Whip" or the "Revolt against the Lash."
2. ^ The government had started modernizing Fort Copacabana but that fort would not be ready until 1914. On 5 July 1922, the fort was the centre point of the 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt. The rebellious officers turned the fort's guns on Rio de Janeiro. To suppress the revolt, the government brought up São Paulo and the Minas Geraes. On 6 July São Paulo bombarded the fort, firing five salvos and obtaining at least two hits; the fort surrendered half an hour later. Minas Geraes did not fire.

References

Citation

1. ^ ^{a b} Andrews, Afro-Latin America, 149
2. ^ Gardiner and Gray, Conway's, 404
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Smallman, Fear & Memory, 28
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Scheina, Latin America's Wars, 74
5. ^ Andrews, Afro-Latin America, 148
6. ^ Smallman, Fear & Memory, 28–29
7. ^ http://www.suapesquisa.com/historiadobrasil/revolta_chibata.htm | (In Portuguese) Revolta da Chibata – A História da Revolta da Chibata
8. ^ English, Jane's, 109
9. ^ Schneider, The 1910 Sailors' "Revolt Against the Lash", 37
10. ^ 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

• Andrews, George Reid (2004). Afro-Latin America, 1800–2000. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195152328. OCLC 52478388. http://books.google.com/books?id=s8Nlhj528pwC. 
• English, Adrian J. (1984). Jane's Armed Forces of Latin America. London and New York: Jane's. ISBN 0710603215. OCLC 11537114. http://books.google.com/books?id=uL4dAAAAMAAJ. </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. http://books.google.com/books?id=V2r_TBjR2TYC. 
• Scheina, Robert L. (2003). Latin America's Wars. Washington D.C.: Brassey's. ISBN 1574884522. OCLC 49942250. http://books.google.com/books?id=8aWQ_7oKJfkC. 
• Schneider, Ann. "The 1910 Sailors' "Revolt Against the Lash"" (PDF). University of Chicago. http://humanrights.uchicago.edu/Baro/Schneider.pdf. 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. http://books.google.com/books?id=cfSvR6tQgLYC. 

Filmography

• Marcos Manhães Marins (writer and director). "[Memories of the Whip]" (in Portugese). Memórias da Chibata (Motion picture). http://www.memoriasdachibata.com.br. Retrieved March 31, 2011. 
• Marcos Manhães Marins (writer and director). "[One Century Without the Whip]" (in Portugese). Cem Anos Sem Chibata (Documentary movie). http://tvbrasil.org.br/novidades/?p=18367. Retrieved March 31, 2011. 

Further reading

• Morel, Edmar. A Revolta da Chibata. Rio de Janeiro: Pongetti, 1959. OCLC 562139061.
• Martins, Hélio Leôncio, A Revolta dos Marinheiros, 1910. Rio de Janeiro. Revista Naval.OCLC 21593461.