Ragamuffin War in the context of "Garibaldi"

Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi (/ˌɡærɪˈbɑːldi/ GARR-ib-AHL-dee, Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe ɡariˈbaldi] ; 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. He contributed to the Unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. He is considered to be one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland", along with Camillo Benso di Cavour, King Victor Emmanuel II and Giuseppe Mazzini. Garibaldi is also known as the "Hero of the Two Worlds" because of his military enterprises in South America and Europe.

Garibaldi was a follower of the Italian nationalist Mazzini and embraced the republican nationalism of the Young Italy movement. He became a supporter of Italian unification under a democratic republican government. However, breaking with Mazzini, he pragmatically allied himself with the monarchist Cavour and Kingdom of Sardinia in the struggle for independence, subordinating his republican ideals to his nationalist ones until Italy was unified. After participating in an uprising in Piedmont, he was sentenced to death, but escaped and sailed to South America, where he spent 14 years in exile, during which he took part in several wars and learned the art of guerrilla warfare. In 1835 he joined the rebels known as the Ragamuffins (farrapos), in the Ragamuffin War in Brazil, and took up their cause of establishing the Riograndense Republic and later the Catarinense Republic. Garibaldi also became involved in the Uruguayan Civil War, raising an Italian force known as Redshirts, and is still celebrated as an important contributor to Uruguay's reconstitution.

The Riograndense Republic, often called the Piratini Republic (Portuguese: República Rio-Grandense or República do Piratini), was a de facto state that seceded from the Empire of Brazil and roughly coincided with the present state of Rio Grande do Sul. It was proclaimed on 11 September 1836 by general Antônio de Sousa Neto as a direct consequence of the victory obtained by gaúcho oligarchic forces at the Battle of Seival [pt] (1836) during the Ragamuffin War (1835–1845). It had a constitution adopted in 1843 and was recognised only by the United Kingdom, France, and Uruguay.

In 1839, the Riograndense Republic formed a confederation with the short-lived Juliana Republic (Portuguese: República Juliana) which proclaimed its independence in the same year. November 1839, however, saw the war result in the defeat and disappearance of the Juliana Republic. The Riograndense Republic had five capitals during its nearly nine years of existence: the cities of Piratini (for which it is often called Piratini Republic), Alegrete, Caçapava do Sul (official capitals), Bagé (for only two weeks), and São Borja. The war between the Gaúchos and the Brazilian Empire was ended by the Ponche Verde Treaty.

The Juliana Republic (Portuguese: República Juliana) or the Catarinense Republic (República Catarinense), fully and officially the Free and Independent Catarinense Republic (República Catarinense Livre e Independente), was a revolutionary state that existed between 29 July and 15 November 1839, in the province of Santa Catarina of the Empire of Brazil. The Republic was proclaimed in an extension of the Ragamuffin War started in the neighboring province of Rio Grande do Sul, where the Rio-Grandense Republic had already been created.

Forces of the revolutionary Riograndense Republic, led by General David Canabarro and Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi, with help from the local population, conquered the harbor city of Laguna on 22 July 1839, in a battle known as the Capture of Laguna [pt]. The Catarinense Republic was then proclaimed on 29 July, at the city's municipal chamber. Canabarro assumed temporarily the office of president until an electoral college was assembled and elections were held on 7 August. For president and vice president were elected, respectively, Joaquim Xavier Neves [pt], a Lieutenant-colonel of the National Guard of São José, and his uncle, the priest Vicente Ferreira dos Santos Cordeiro [pt], who assumed the presidential office due to a blockade by the Imperial Army that prevented Joaquim Xavier Neves from reaching Laguna.

Rio Grande do Sul (UK: /ˌriːuː ˌɡrændi duː ˈsʊl/, US: /- ˌɡrɑːndi duː ˈsuːl/; Portuguese: [ˈʁi.u ˈɡɾɐ̃dʒ(i) du ˈsuw] ; lit. "Great River of the South") is a state in the southern region of Brazil. It is the fifth-most populous state and the ninth-largest by area and it is divided into 497 municipalities. Located in the southernmost part of the country, Rio Grande do Sul is bordered clockwise by Santa Catarina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Uruguayan departments of Rocha, Treinta y Tres, Cerro Largo, Rivera, and Artigas to the south and southwest, and the Argentine provinces of Corrientes and Misiones to the west and northwest. The capital and largest city is Porto Alegre. The state has the highest life expectancy in Brazil, and the crime rate is relatively low compared to the Brazilian national average. The state has 5.4% of the Brazilian population and it is responsible for 6.6% of the Brazilian GDP.

The state shares a gaucho culture with its neighbors Argentina and Uruguay. Before the arrival of Portuguese and Spanish settlers, it was inhabited mostly by the Guarani and Kaingang peoples (with smaller populations of Charrúa and Minuane). The first Europeans there were Jesuits, followed by settlers from the Azores. In the 19th century it was the scene of conflicts including the Ragamuffin War and the Paraguayan War. Large waves of German and Italian migration have shaped the state as well.

Bento Gonçalves da Silva (23 September 1788 – 18 July 1847) was a Brazilian army officer, politician and rebel leader of the Riograndense Republic. He was the first President of the Riograndense Republic and, by all accounts, one of the most prominent figures in the history of Rio Grande do Sul.

Although a staunch monarchist, Gonçalves led the rebel forces in the Ragamuffin War. Radicals within the rebel ranks forced the rebellion to become republican, which Gonçalves opposed. Still, even though he fought against the Empire of Brazil, Gonçalves and his troops celebrated the birthday of the young emperor Pedro II of Brazil. After the conflict ended with the victory of the Empire, Gonçalves paid his respect to Pedro II by kissing his hand during the latter's trip to Rio Grande do Sul in December 1845.

General Antônio de Sousa Neto (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtoni.u d(ʒi) ˈsowzɐ ˈnɛtu, ɐ̃ˈtonju -]; 11 February 1803 – 2 July 1866) was a Brazilian military leader of the Riograndense Republic during the Ragamuffin War. On 20 September 1836, Neto declared the independence of the Riograndense Republic.

He was a famous abolitionist and fought for the release of the slaves who had fought during the revolution.

Alegrete (Portuguese: [a.leˈɡɾe.t͡ʃi] ) is a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul located in southern Brazil. Its medium altitude is 102 m (335 ft). Its estimated population in 2020 was 73,028 inhabitants and its total area is 7,803.967 km (3,013.129 sq mi), making it the largest municipality by area in southern Brazil. Its inhabitants are called Alegretenses.

Alegrete was settled in 1816 and became a municipality in 1857. It is the hometown of the abolitionist leader Franklin Gomes Souto, of the politician, diplomat and statesman Osvaldo Aranha, first President of the United Nations General Assembly, and of the Brazilian poet Mário Quintana. Every 20 September (Ragamuffin War Day), about 8,000 young, adult and old horsemen and horsewomen parade through its streets, using their native costumes and riding their horses with trappings.

The Declaration of majority of Pedro II (Portuguese: Declaração da Maioridade de D. Pedro II ) was a document signed by the General Assembly of Brazil on 23 July 1840 which invested 14-year old Emperor Pedro II of Brazil with legal majority before the normal age of 18, in order to end the troublesome regency that ruled on his behalf and was mired in crises. The Liberal Party had mobilized the public, who pressured the Senate to declare Pedro II of legal age before he turned 15. In an 1834 precedent, the Portuguese Parliament had already declared the majority of Pedro II's sister Maria II, who became Queen of Portugal at age 15 without a regent.

The main purpose of this act was to transfer power to Pedro II in order that he, although inexperienced, could put an end to the political disputes that were affecting Brazil through his authority. They believed that the figure of the Emperor would prevent the revolts occurring in the country, such as the Ragamuffin War, the Sabinada, the Cabanagem, the Malê Revolt and the Balaiada.