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Tiradentes Day: Independence for Brazil

April 21 is a national holiday in Brazil known as Tiradentes Day, which honors Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (1746 to April 21, 1792), a Brazilian revolutionary who fought for Brazilian independence and freedom from Portuguese taxation as part of the movement known as the Inconfidência Mineira. He was a dentist, and his nickname, “Tiradentes,” means “tooth puller,” a pejorative name adopted during his trial. He is considered a national hero in Brazil, who spread liberal ideas for which he was martyred, but which ultimately helped lead to Brazilian independence nearly 100 years after his death.

Tiradentes was born poor and lost his parents at the age of 11. He was raised by a tutor, and sent to missions in cities along the road between Vila Rica, the capital of Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro. There, he saw that gold carried along this road left Brazil for Portugal, rather than being used to help Brazilians.

His trips to Rio also put him in contact with the European libertarian ideas that led to American independence in 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789. In 1788, Tiradentes, together with Jose Alvares Maciel, son of the governor of Vila Rica, founded the Inconfidência Mineira to fight for freedom and spread these ideals in Brazil.

At the time, Portugal had become dependent on colonial gold, but the Brazilian mines were falling into decline. The Brazilians were not meeting their yearly quota of gold which should be sent to the crown, and Portugal was trying to collect all the due taxes. The days on which taxes were due were known as “derrama.”

Tiradentes developed a plan to take the streets of Vila Rica and declare independence on a derrama day, when people would be more willing to rebel against the unfair levels of taxation. But his plan was betrayed by Joaquim Silverio dos Reis, who bargained the information in exchange for his own taxes being waived. The governor cancelled the derrama scheduled for February of 1789, and arrested the rebels.

Tiradentes initially fled to Rio, where he tried to reorganize the movement. Not knowing who had denounced the group, he met with Joaquim Silverio dos Reis in Rio and was arrested on May 10, 1789.
His trial lasted almost three years. Tiradentes assumed complete responsibility for the independence movement. Eleven revolutionaries were sentenced to death, but he was the only one to be executed. He died by hanging on April 21, 1792. His body was quartered and his head displayed as a warning to other revolutionaries.

He was considered a hero by the republicans of the late 19th century, and his ideas continued to influence Brazilian thinking until it became independent in 1882. After the republic was proclaimed, the anniversary of his death became a national holiday.

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