History of Pernambuco

Flag of Pernambuco adopted from the 1817 Revolution flag.

Despite established indigenous peoples, numerous revolts, fleeting independence movements, short-term French incursions, and an occupation (1630–1654) by the Dutch West India Company, the history of Pernambuco is conveniently divided into two parts: as a colony of Portugal and (from 1808) as a component of the nation of Brazil. This article will treat pre-colonial and colonial Pernambuco briefly and focus primarily on Pernambuco as a province of, and today a state in, the Brazilian nation.

Pernambuco is located in the Northeast region of Brazil near the eastern end of South America. Despite early successes, first as a source of red dye and then as a sugar producer, Pernambuco languished as part of Brazil’s underdeveloped Northeastern region until the close of the 20th century. The latifundia, monoculture, poor communication, poor transportation, and regionalism were among the several impediments to the re-development of Pernambuco after the expulsion of the Dutch in 1654. In the late 20th century, Pernambuco found success as it developed an industrial sector as improved communication and transportation in Brazil has reduced the affects of regionalism and monoculture.

Name

Recent research indicates that the name Pernambuco was derived from Boca de Fernão (Fernão's Mouth). The place, now known as Canal de Santa Cruz, is where Fernão de Noronha loaded his ships with Brazilian wood to trade in Europe. The name was spoken by the Tupi as Pernãobuka and was recorded by French writers as Fernambouc; the two pronunciations have been combined into the modern name.

Previously, Pernambuco was believed to be a distortion of the Tupi words para-nã (wide river) and Mbuka (hollow or broken), referring to coastal reefs. It came to mean the place where the tree Paubrasilia (Paubrasilia echinata) was discovered, now referred as Pernambuco wood or brazilwood. In pre-industrial times Paubrasilia was the source of a brilliant red dye. The trees grew in abundance on the Atlantic coast of Brazil and were the chief trading commodity of pre-colonial and early colonial times.

Prehistory and antiquity

The northeast section of Brazil has some of the country's most ancient archaeological sites, which date back to more than 40,000 years B.C. In the region that today corresponds to Pernambuco, relics of human occupation from around 9,000 B.C. were identified in the regions of Chã do Caboclo, in Bom Jardim, Furna do Estragon, and Brejo da Madre de Deus. In Brejo da Madre de Deus, an important necropolis was found, from which 83 skeletons were recovered.

Among the indigenous groups that inhabited Pernambuco, the Itaparica are responsible for stone instruments from about 4,000 B.C. and cave paintings that date to around the year zero are attributed to the Cariris people. At the time of Portuguese colonization, the Tabajara, Tupinambá, and the Caetés lived in the area.Indigenous groups, such as the Pankararu and the Atikum, remain in certain parts of the state.

Portuguese arrival and precolonial

Main articles: Indigenous peoples in Brazil and Colonial Brazil

King John III of Portugal

At the time of the discovery of Brazil, the area near Recife was populated chiefly by Tabajara Indians. The Tabajara were members of the Tupi-Guarani linguistic group. The Portuguese had more successful dealings with the Tupi-Guarani speakers than with speakers of other languages.

The cultures of the indigenous peoples of Brazil included aspects that the Portuguese and other Europeans found objectionable. Most of these people were cannibals, bathed often and were nude. In contrast to these cultural differences Tupi-Guarani speakers had a significant cultural attribute that made them valuable to the Portuguese: although still generally hunter-gatherers, Tupi speaking aborigines, including the Tabajara, practiced agriculture.

The brazilwood tree, which gives Brazil its name, has dark, valuable wood and provides red dye.

This attribute was key to the cooperation of the Tupi speakers and the Portuguese during the pre-colonial period, when exploiting Brazilwood was the principal economic activity of the Portuguese, as well as later when colonization began. Throughout much of Brazil, up to modern times, coivara (slash-and-burn) agriculture was common. Among the indigenous peoples, the men did the heavy work of clearing new ground and the women planted, cultivated, and harvested crops. These people were quick to abandon their stone tools for metal tools which made clearing trees much easier. Trading shiploads of Brazilwood for axes and other metal tools was quite advantageous since the metal tools would make clearing the ground much easier.

In turning to the exploitation of Brazilwood, it is a coincidence that modern-day Pernambuco includes the Islands of Fernando de Noronha, which precedes the mainland Pernambuco's history since the islands were granted to Fernão de Loronha by King Manuel in 1502. Moreover, it was Fernão de Loronha to whom King Manuel granted an exclusive license to exploit Brazilwood. As the Portuguese quickly began exploiting Brazilwood, they mostly trans-shipped it to Northern Europe. The red dye from Brazilwood became particularly popular in France and it was not long before other nations, especially the French, began competing with the Portuguese. The Portuguese King soon responded to these violations of what he considered his sovereign territory. In 1516, Cristóvão Jacques was charged with patrolling the coast of Pernambuco against vessels of other nations.

Cristóvão Jacques erected a feitoria (literally 'factory', a Portuguese trading post) at the entrance of the Canal de Santa Cruz, Itamaracá, intended to establish a bond with the natives, seek information about possible riches inland, and repel encroachment by other nations on the Brazilian coast. Later the French under Bertrand d'Ornesan once again tried to establish a French trading post at Pernambuco in 1531. The Portuguese responded by sending an armada led by Pero Lopes de Sousa who burned the French fort and reestablished Portuguese control in the area. Shortly after this success in dislodging the French from Pernambuco's northern border with Itamaricá, the Portuguese began to settle in Brazil. Beginning in 1534 King John III of Portugal granted hereditary captaincies to better secure Brazil against foreign interlopers.

The Early Colonial Period from 1534 to 1630

Main article: Captaincy of Pernambuco

By 1534, it was evident to the King of Portugal, Dom João III, that to retain his rights to Brazil it would have to be settled by Portuguese. At the time the riches of Asia seemed more worthy of royal management and so Dom João used the captaincy system that had be previously used in the Azores and other (mostly Atlantic island) possessions of Portugal. The Captaincy of Pernambuco comprising sixty leagues along the Atlantic Coast the island of Itamaracá to the North to the River Sao Francisco to the South was granted to Duarte Coelho.

Duarte Coelho arrived in Nova Lusitânia (or "New Lusitania") in 1535 along with his wife Dona Brites de Albuquerque, her brother Jeronimo de Albuquerque, and a small armada of settlers and supplies to found his captaincy. Despite historians having few remaining documents relating to Duarte Coelho's governance of what was decidedly the most successful of all the initial captaincies of Brasil, it is clear that the first donatário's initial efforts set Pernambuco on the path to success and established the monoculture and latifundia such that the history of Pernambuco could not be told without reference to sugar. Duarte Coehlo directed military actions against the French-allied Caeté Indians and upon their defeat in 1537 established a settlement at the site of a former Marin Indian village, henceforth known as Olinda, as well as another village at Igarassu. Duarte Coelho, and his heirs, throughout the Sixteenth Century, enjoyed a free hand in developing his captaincy as an enormously successful producer of sugar and Portugals richest Brazilian colony. This success continued up until the invasion of Pernambuco by the Dutch in 1630.

The Dutch Occupation from 1630 to 1654

Main article: Dutch Brazil

From the beginnings of European expansion into the New World, other ‘actors’ both nations and various outlaws vied to loot the wealth of the New World. Portugal colonized Brazil to keep others out, mostly the French. Beginning in 1580 until 1640 Portugal was under the Spanish Hapsburgs. This made Brazil a prime target for the Dutch. After a failed attempt to take Bahia, the Dutch invaded Pernambuco and then expanded Northward to the Amazon. The colonists of the Captaincy of Pernambuco, to a greater or lesser extent resisted the Dutch throughout the Dutch occupation. There were three significant periods. From invasion in 1630 to relative pacification about 1636; during the governorship of Johan Maurits, under whom the Portuguese resisted to lesser extent; and from shortly after the recall of Johan Maurits in 1644 until the final expulsion of the Dutch from Recife in 1654.

The Late Colonial Period from 1655 to 1807

Prior to the occupation by the Dutch, Pernambuco had been the pre-eminent Portuguese captaincy in Brazil. The colonists never succeeded in restoring this primacy. Various factors were involved. During the Dutch occupation Bahia had become a great sugar producer. Moreover, when the Dutch left Brazil they established sugar colonies in the Caribbean and so competition was fierce both within Brazil and internationally. Additionally, in the late Seventeenth Century gold was discovered in Minas Gerais, later diamonds were discovered. Thus when Brazil became a nation, despite the fact that sugar was still a major export, and that Pernambuco was still a major producer, nevertheless Pernambuco was relatively much less important in the new nation.

Pernambuco as Brazil becomes a nation

Main articles: Independence of Brazil and Empire of Brazil

Retrospectively viewed, the independence of Brazil seems almost an inevitable result of the events of the early 19th Century, particularly the arrival of the Portuguese Royal family in Brazil. When the royal family arrived in Brazil it immediately changed the relationship of Brazil in relationship to Portugal, which occupied by Napoleon’s army, could no longer function as the metropole and, immediately no longer a colony Brazil’s ports were opened to foreign trade, government functions became America centered rather than trans-Atlantic, and countless functions and services formerly located in or focused on tiny Portugal necessarily needed to be performed in Brazil. Brazil was no longer a colony and later efforts to ‘re-colonialize’ the nation of Brazil just simply resulted in Brazilian independence. Unlike Spanish American colonies, Brazil would remain territorially intact (save for the loss of what is today Uruguay), and explanations of why are simply speculation. Nevertheless, there were rebellions in regions of Brazil which might have led to the division of Brazil similar to the division of the Spanish-speaking areas of Latin America. A number of these rebellions occurred in Pernambuco, and a brief review of these rebellions along with coeval events in Brazil and the world provides a good way to understand Nineteenth Century Pernambuco as part of the Empire of Brazil. This will be followed by discussion of Pernambuco as it was under the Empire.

Pernambuco's revolts

Main articles: Pernambucan Revolt, Cabanada, and April Revolt (Pernambuco)

See Also Rebellions and revolutions in Brazil

"...Pernambuco, the classic land of revolution...."

Two meaningful themes explaining events in Pernambuco leading up to, directly relating to, or following on the independence of Brazil were, first, regionalism and, second, the continuing conflict between the mozombos (those born in Brazil) and the reinóis (Portuguese: those born in Portugal). The 18th century War of the Mascates can be seen as a precursor of the strife between the Brazilian born and reinóis in the new nation of Brazil.

The 1817 revolution flag, with three stars representing Pernambuco, Paraíba, and Rio Grande do Norte

The Inconfidencia Mineira in 1789; the Inconfidencia of Rio de Janeiro in 1794; the Inconfidencia of Bahia in 1798; and the Inconfidencia of Pernambuco in 1801 were not too consequential rebellions involving mostly intellectuals.

In 1808 the Spanish-American Revolutions began, but more importantly, the Portuguese royal family arrived in Brazil in 1808 fleeing Napoleon's invasion of Portugal. When, on arrival, Prince Regent João opened Brazil's ports it was a big boost to many aspects of the Brazilian economy.

In 1815, Brazil was elevated to a kingdom. In 1816 Queen Maria died and the reign of João VI began. In 1817 Pernambuco rebelled preferring a republic to a monarch, the rebellion was quickly put down by naval and land forces of the monarchy and its leaders were executed.

In 1821 King João acceded to the request of the Portuguese Cortes and returned to Lisbon, leaving his son Pedro as regent in Brazil, but taking all the treasury monies and movable assets with him. In 1822, the Cortes, meeting in Lisbon, imprudently took several actions trying to reduce Brazil to its previous status as a colony and Prince Pedro issued the Grito do Ipiranga, “Independence or death” and the Empire of Brazil was born.

The flag of the Confederation of the Equator.

In 1824 the emperor, Pedro I, promulgated a constitution for the Empire that would hold until the empire ended in 1889. This same year, in reaction to the new constitution, Pernambuco again rebelled, and together with Ceará and Paraíba formed the Confederation of the Equator, once again naval and land forces put down the rebellion in short order and executed the leaders. Additionally, by imperial decree, the size of Pernambuco was substantially reduced, removing the comarca of São Francisco from Pernambuco and reducing the Sertão (backlands) belonging to Pernambuco.

In 1825, Brazil engaged in war with Argentina over what became modern-day Uruguay after the two countries fought to an inconclusive result.

In 1826, Pedro I, abdicated in favor of his five-year-old son. Pedro, like his father, took ship to Lisbon. There he would succeed in installing his daughter on the throne of Portugal and shortly thereafter die.

In 1829, Pernambuco would again rebel and again be quickly subdued.

The War of the Cabanos in 1832–1836, differed from most of the rebellions in Pernambuco because, while there were elements of regionalism and resentment of the Portuguese, this was substantially a popular revolt, whereas the other rebellions in Pernambuco were substantially affairs of the elites. The leader, Vincente Ferreira de Paulo can be considered a populist caudilho, moreover, this rebellion was agrarian based―whereas other rebellions were substantially confined to Recife. (This rebellion also had a link to the 1844 Cabanagem in Alagoas).

The Praieira revolt, the last unsuccessful revolt during the Empire in Brazil, occurred in Pernambuco in 1847–48. This revolt, again due to resentment of the Portuguese and factionalism, was put down by imperial forces though with somewhat fewer reprisals than in earlier revolts.

Geography

The territory of Pernambuco varied considerably during the colonial period and the current borders were set in the Nineteenth Century after 1799 when Ceará was detached from Pernambuco and by the detachment of the comarca of São Francisco in 1824. Most of the history of Pernambuco, especially prior to the nineteenth century pertains to the zona da mata (what was the forest zone along the coast) where sugar cane grows well. There are two other areas, the agreste, a transitional zone atop the Borborema escarpment where cotton grows well, and the sertão, known for its periodic droughts and resulting famines. There is little historical record of the agreste or the sertão, even in the Nineteenth Century.

Social structure

The following groups typify the major social, economic, and political classes prominent in Pernambuco's history from colonial times well into the twentieth century. The elites consisted of governing officials, most often appointed by an external ruler (king, emperor, president), senhores de engenho, (owners of sugar mills), and colonels, (a local landowner/power-broker especially in the backlands). The key group in the elites being the senhores do engenho. On the middle level, lavradores da cana (generally growers of sugar cane who possibly owned land but did not own an engenho, merchants, certain "skilled" workers, for example: mestres de açucar (masters of sugar making). Finally, the lower classes including, slaves, freedmen, share croppers, laborers, etc.

Literacy, education, publishing

During the colonial era printing presses were not allowed in Brazil and education was limited mostly to the colegios of the religious orders, Moreover, in the colonial era, only a few (in all of Brazil somewhat more than 3,000) colonists received degrees in Coimbra. Despite the low literacy rate, even among the free population (15%), a printing press was in operation by 1817. Later the Diario de Pernambuco was established. Today this newspaper claims to be the "oldest continuously circulating daily in Latin America." During the Empire Olinda (later Recife) became the home of the second Law school in Brazil.

Economy

From the time of Portuguese settlement, the economy in Pernambuco had been based on latifundia (large estates), monoculture (one-crop), and slavery. Now that Pernambuco was no longer a colony, producing for the Portuguese metropole, changes in the economy occurred and new institutions appeared. Some of these had been long available only in Portugal and some were a function of factors such as the Industrial Revolution. However, overall, during the Empire, the economy of Pernambuco was dominated by the decline of sugar production. While for Brazil the decline of sugar was offset by the growth of the coffee, this was not the case for Pernambuco.

Sugar

In the beginning years of the Empire, sugar production in Pernambuco was high and sugar was Brazil's primary export. For example, from 1826 to 1830 exports averaged more than 28,000 crates, up from 9,200 crates in the late Eighteenth Century. However, in the second decade of the Empire, sugar, still Pernambuco's primary export crop, had yielded its primacy as a Brazilian export to coffee. Sugar has never again dominated Brazilian exports and Pernambuco was relegated to being one of two regional leaders in a Brazilian Northeast "increasingly uncompetitive with agricultural producers in the Center-South".

Slavery

The suppression of the Praieiria revolt in 1848 and the Eusébio de Queirós Law, effectively eliminating the Transatlantic slave trade in 1850, further exacerbated the shortage of slaves in Pernambuco that had existed in Pernambuco since the discovery of gold in Minas Gerais (in 1795). This provided further motivation to replace the traditional water-driven and oxen sugar mills first with centralized mills and later with usinas. In 1871, the legislature enacted the "law of the free womb" making free all children of slaves. In 1888, under the influence of increasingly urban society and with the advocacy of intellectuals, such as Pernambucan politician Joaquim Nabuco, slavery was abolished.

Industrialization

By the 1850s there was limited industrialization in Pernambuco with 9 textile mills, a candle factory, and a tobacco factory among others. However, Pernambuco remained an export-oriented, sugar-based economy and during the second half of the Ninetheenth Century industrialization in the sugar industry, in response to the closure of the slave trade, was, at best, of limited success.

Banking

In 1851 the first bank in Pernambuco was established, The Commercial Bank of Pernambuco. Brazil had had no banks until the 1840s. The banks would become principal lenders and creditors in Pernambuco displacing the merchants and religious establishments in so doing.

Cotton

Cotton is indigenous to Brazil and has been cultivated in Pernambuco since prehistory. Beginning in the late eighteenth century, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, cotton became an important export for Pernambuco through the beginning of the Empire. The U.S. War of 1812 provided an impetus to cotton cultivation. This war provided a much-expanded market for this export crop. After 1830 United States production largely replaced Brazilian cotton. However, in the decade of the 1860s, during the U. S. Civil War, cotton again became an important export for Pernambuco. Cotton, in contrast with sugar, was grown in the agreste.

Railroads and transportation

In 1858 the first railroad in Pernambuco began operation between Recife and Cabo. The railways would primarily speed exports to the external markets. The effects of the railroads in unifying Brazil and improving internal transportation were less significant.

The abolition of slavery

Main article: Slavery in Brazil

Pernambuco was changed to a slight extent by either the abolition of slavery or the change from empire to republic. The elites within Pernambuco mostly maintained their privileged position and the freed slaves mostly became wage workers in an economy where the cost of labor was cheap. The local elites were able to control Pernambuco and allowed modernization with the condition that modernization and change must not interfere with their rights and privileges. Governor Barbosa Lima listed Pernambuco's significant problems in the beginning years of the Republic. Decades later Pedro Souto Maior listed the same problems. Resistance to abolition in Pernambuco was tempered by the economic conditions. The ascendency of coffee in the Brazilian Center-South and the suppression of the Atlantic slave trade had resulted in an internal slave trade that diminished the number of slaves in Pernambuco and other areas of the Northeast. Limited modernization and consolidation of sugar mills had made the sugar industry less reliant on slave labor, moreover, cheap labor in the local market further reduced the need for slaves. As a result of abolition, despite the benefit of freedom, freed slaves mostly melded into an existing labor supply consisting of impoverished workers.

The (Old) Republic

Main article: República Velha

The demise of the Empire and the institution of the Republic were events whose locus was well to the South of Pernambuco. The republicans of Pernambuco were not well organized nor influential. The monarchists quickly became republicans and Pernambuco was little changed. The federal system established by the Old Republic forced states to compete for central government patronage allowing the states in the Southern regions to benefit and reducing benefits to Pernambuco and other states in Brazil's Northeastern region. The elites of Pernambuco were quite successful in maintaining their privileges and control of Pernambuco's governments. Moreover, these governments were aware of Pernambuco's problems (from poverty and drought to latifundia and monoculture) but these problems remained unresolved or worsened, and efforts to address them encountered resistance including violence. Life for the poor was harsh: there was "high fertility, high mortality, malnutrition, and violence...".

The era of Getúlio Vargas

Main articles: Vargas Era and Brazilian Second Republic

"The figure of Getúlio Vargas dominates the history of Brazil from 1930 to 1954, and his memory still hovers over its politics". Vargas became provisional president in 1930. He was elected constitutional president in 1937. Overthrown in 1945, he was elected president by popular vote in 1954. In contrast to the federalist emphasis of the Old Republic, the Vargas era installed a strong central government. However, Brazil by this time was primarily dominated by São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Pernambuco was still a leading state in the Northeast, but the Northeast as a whole exerted little influence within Brazil.

In 1930, the Democratic Party of Pernambuco was able to seize the opportunity presented at the rise of Getúlio Vargas on the national level to install Lima Cavalcanti as interventor in control of the government of Pernambuco. Cavalcanti would remain in power in Pernambuco until removed by Vargas in 1937. The government of Pernambuco was riven by competition between factions of the elites struggling for control and spoils.

Social and economic conditions

During the early years of Cavalcanti's rule in Pernambuco, one of the periodic droughts that recur in the Northeast of Brazil had great impact on Pernambuco's social and economic life. This drought was unusually severe and municipal warehouses in the interior suffered looting and streams of migrants came from the sertão to the coast. Unfortunately, Pernambuco was initially excluded from federal aid to the Northeast. At the end of Cavalcanti's rule in 1937, the continued primacy of the declining sugar economy left Pernambuco dominated by the local aristocracy with little or no improvement for the lower classes. During the Vargas era an important development in Brazil was the emergence of a middle class. Unfortunately, even in the 1950s, "The middle class was practically non-existent in the economically backward regions of the country....[in] cities, such as Recife...it was difficult to identify...." For the poor of Pernambuco and the Northeast region, the path to a better life was exemplified by the migration of the family of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—much later President of Brazil—from Pernambuco to São Paulo. The trip, over unpaved roads in the back of a truck, took 13 days.

Between Vargas (1954) and Military Dictatorship (1964)

In this period only President Kubitschek served a complete term in office. All national politics remained dominated by the pro-Vargas and anti-Vargas factions. Pernambuco (along with Bahia) in the middle of the twentieth century was one of the two leading states in the Brazilian Northeast. In that period, income averaged $140 per year, per capita, consumption of electricity was about one fifth the Brazilian national average, infant mortality rates ran from 250 to 500 per 1000 live births, about three quarters of the adult population was illiterate, and fewer that 3 percent of students finished primary school. Moreover, while the sugar industry in Pernambuco was recovering from the lows of the early twentieth century, the standard of living for the poorest sugar workers was declining.

In this environment the workers began to organize and the Ligas Camponesas (peasant leagues) emerged. An attorney and member of the Braziian Socialist Party (PSB), Francisco Julião, championed the peasants' cause and the publicity surrounding the ensuing court and political struggle grew the peasant league to an estimated 40,000 members in Pernambuco.

Following so closely on the Cuban revolution the peasant leagues gave rise to a U.S. CIA effort to clandestinely support moderate peasant organizations. One of the most noteworthy of these moderate organizations was the Pernambuco Rural Orientation Service (SORPE) organized by two priests, Paulo Crespo and Antonio de Melo. An outgrowth of SORPE's effort were several unions. In 1963, 200,000 sugar workers in Pernambuco went on strike and won an 80% wage increase.

Beginning during the Kubitchek presidency another important agent for the development of Pernambuco was the Superentendência do Desenvolvimento do Nordeste (SUDENE). Under its director, noted economist Celso Furtado, SUDENE set forth a three-year plan for economic development. Although the military coup of 1964 would interrupt this plan, SUDENE, and the peasant leagues, were significant elements in developing a political voice for the poor of Pernambuco.

The military governance of Brazil (1964 to 1985)

Main articles: Brazilian military government and 1964 Brazilian coup d'état

In 1964 a coup established the military as the government of Brazil. Unlike previous occasions when the military intervened and forced a change in government and then withdrew, this time a military dictatorship was established to last until 1985. While treatment of this period at the national level is beyond the scope of this article, the military governments frequently resorted to violence. A succinct summary germane to Pernambuco is expressed by Alfred Stepan: "There is no doubt that, despite the high economic growth achieved...,there has been a general 'demobilization' of all mass, change-oriented movements, such as the peasant league, the land-reform and trade union movements, and the adult literacy movements.... It appears also that the lower classes have borne the brunt of the fiscal stabilization policy."

Despite the "demobilization" Stepan describes, there were affects of the mass, change-oriented movements that were not undone. Moreover, along with stronger centralized government, some of the affects of the change-oriented movements undoubtedly provided a basis for both development in Pernambuco and betterment of the bulk of the population. For example, a Peace Corps worker recalls attending a meeting in rural Pernambuco in 1967. Of the thirty-five union officers attending thirteen had acquired literacy thru the Popular Culture Movement prior to the military dictatorship. Moreover, some entities, considered to be more moderate were allowed to continue in a limited fashion. Significant among these was the Rural Orientation Service of Pernambuco (SORPE). SORPE identified and developed leaders among the peasants and by 1966 had established fourteen cooperatives. Of these the cooperatives located in the agreste were proving effective in assisting peasants with marketing their produce. SORPE also developed the Tiriri Cooperative in the zone da mata. By 1967 not only was the cooperative producing some of the best sugar cane, but its members also produced food crops, raised live stock and were able to market fruits and vegetables. This directly addressed a continuing problem with development in Pernambuco: the practice of growing only sugar cane on traditional plantations and importing food from other Brazilian states. The lack of locally sufficient food crops was a barrier to development in Pernambuco.

The Opposition

Despite brutal suppression on the part of military dictators opposition arose quickly and samples of how wide spread the opposition spread is illustrated by the popular protest song Carcará, a lament for the hunger and poverty in the Northeast.

Pernambuco as a locus of opposition

Main articles: Hélder Câmara and Liberation theology

Hélder Câmara in 1984

"When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food they call me a communist."_{Archbishop Hélder Câmara}

The church in Pernambuco was not the only center of resistance in the state, nor was Archbishop Hélder Câmara the only bishop in Brazil to oppose the military dictatorship, however, throughout the military rule the Catholic Church was a face of resistance and Pernambuco's Archbishop Helder Camara, a leading exponent of Liberation Theology, became one of Brazil's most well known advocates for the poor and an opponent of the military dictators. Under their archbishops leadership several priests advocated for the impoverished of Pernambuco and at least one priest in Recife was tortured and murdered without government investigation in 1969. Nevertheless, resistance continued. Toward the end of the military dictatorship, along with unions and squatters, the Catholic Church in Brazil participated in organizing the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST). While the initial efforts of MST were in the South of Brazil, in the 1990's MST would become a force for land reform in Pernambuco.

The Ending of Military Dictatorship

Two presidents—one a newly elected military dictator, the other a future Twenty-first Century president—took noteworthy actions toward the end of the military dictatorship. Future president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a son of Pernambuco, led a series of strikes in São Paulo. The other newly elected president and dictator, João Figueiredo, declared an abertura (opening) to democracy. This declaration was followed by an amnesty, elections for governors and legislative elections in 1982 and in 1985 a civilian president of Brazil was elected.

Pernambuco since 1985

Main article: History of Brazil since 1985

From	To	Governor of Pernambuco
1983	1986	Roberto Magalhães
1986	1987	Gustavo Krause Gonçalves Sobrinho
1987	1990	Miguel Arraes de Alencar
1990	1991	Carlos Wilson Rocha de Queirós Campos
1991	1995	Joaquim Francisco de Freitas Cavalcanti
1995	1999	Miguel Arraes de Alencar
1999	2006	Jarbas de Andrade Vasconcelos
2006	2007	Jose Mendonça Bezerra Filho
2007	2014	Eduardo Henrique Accioly Campos
2014	2015	João Soares Lyra Neto
2015		Paulo Henrique Saraiva Câmara

Over the course of the Twentieth Century various forces improved the quality of life in Pernambuco. Particularly important were advances in communication and transportation, but also the centralization of the Vargas era governments and the military dictatorship that came to have greater influence than Brazil’s centuries old regionalism. Since the country pivoted away from military rule and back to democracy, it is evident that while Pernambuco was still very much a state where latifundia, monoculture, and a ruling elite controlled, nevertheless living conditions in the state have greatly improved. One measure of quality of life is infant mortality rates. In the 1970’s observers pointed to Pernambuco as part of the least developed region in the Western Hemisphere with an infant mortality rate variously described as 25 to 50% or that as many as 40% of children died prior to reaching school age. Statistics from the turn of the millennium show a sharp and continuing improvement. Infant mortality declined (using two different measures) by 6.8 or 6.2 percent per annum between 1990 and 2015 from (again using two measures) 77.0 or 90.4 infant deaths per 1000 live births (IDp1kLB) in 1990 to 13.4 or 18.2 IDp1kLB in 2015.

Rural Life

During military rule one earlier effort to improve the lot of the rural poor, the Ligas Camponesas (peasant leagues) was suppressed also, the unions were retained to function as an instrument to oppose the peasant leagues. After the military dictatorship during the beginnings of the New Republic MST provides an example of national movement influences in rural Pernambuco. The Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (MST) was organized in 1984 in the far South of Brazil. MST intentionally sought to organize on a national, not a regional basis.MST began organizing in the South using land occupations and provisions of the Brazilian constitutions. MST experienced considerable success. However when MST began organizing in Pernambuco the process was more difficult due to Pernambuco's historic culture. MST found that the landless poor in Pernambuco’s zona da mata (coastal areas of sugar cultivation) were amenable to organization during the 1990’s largely because during the last decades of the century the market for sugar was in severe decline. Accustomed to regular paychecks, at least when employed, sugar cane workers saw subsistence farming as disadvantageous. Regular paychecks bought food now, whereas subsistence farming produced food only after planting, cultivation, and harvest. However, the due to the shrinking of the market for sugar that began in the 1980’s and continued through the 1990’s, MST was successful in organizing in Pernambuco and would execute land occupations especially during the decade of the 1990’s. Although, in fact, when the market for sugar revived after the turn of the millennium the now landowning peasants promptly abandoned subsistence farming and began growing sugar cane, nevertheless MST represents forces that have improved rural quality of life in Pernambuco.

Urban life

Main article: Recife

The capital of Pernambuco is Recife, the largest city in Northeast Brazil and one of the largest of Brazil’s cities. It is relatively easy to find newspaper articles on Brazil and Recife in particular that discuss the contrast between the cities as tourists see them and the slums that impoverished residents live in. Moreover, there is much scholarly documentation of the migraton to cities and the plight of the poor in Recife and other Brazilian cities. Notwithstanding, the fact that conditions in the slums are bad and much improvement is needed, taking homicides in Recife as a indicator of progress, this very fundamental indicator of quality of life shows that since the return of democracy to Brazil, quality of life has experienced some improvement. Moreover, the trend of decrease in Recife is opposite the trend in Brazil overall which has generally increased from a homicide rate of 28.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2002 and reached 29 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants by 2012. In 2000, the homicide rate in Recife was 97.5 per 100,000 inhabitants and Recife was said to be the most dangerous state capital in Brazil. However by 2012, this rate dropped to 52 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, this decrease in homicides is noteworthy both for its dramatic plunge and because the rate still exceeds the national average by a significant margin.

Recently

As it was evidenced by the discussion in preceding sections Pernambuco has made great strides in improving the quality of life for its citizens. While true to conditions throughout the Northeast coast of Brazil Pernambuco remains an underdeveloped state in Brazil. Recent statistics from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics Foundation (IBGE) show a (prepandemic) 2019 average monthly income of 970 R$ (about US $180) up from just over 600 R$ in 2012. To put this in a purchasing power frame, in 2012 Pernambuco had 2.2 million automobiles and in 2019 the number of automobiles was increased to 3 million.

See also

• Captaincy of Pernambuco 1534 to 1808
• War of the Peddlers 1710 to 1711
• Conspiracy of Suassuna 1801
• Confederation of the Equator 1824
• Praieira Revolution 1848 to 1850
• Timeline of Recife

Further reading

• "Local History, Brazil: Pernambuco". Catalog of the William B. Greenlee Collection of Portuguese History ... in the Newberry Library. Chicago: Newberry Library. 1953. hdl:2027/mdp.39015023946240 – via Hathi Trust.