What is "cabanagem"

The Cabanagem (; 1835–1840) was a social revolt that occurred in the then-state of Grão-Pará, Empire of Brazil.

Among the causes for this revolt were the extreme poverty of the Paraense people and the political irrelevance to which the province was relegated after the independence of Brazil.

The name "Cabanagem" refers to the type of hut used by the poorest people living next to streams, principally mestizos, freed slaves, and indigenous people. The elite agriculturists of Grão-Pará, while living much better, resented their lack of participation in the central government's decisionmaking, which was dominated by the provinces of the Southeast and Northeast.

It is estimated that from 30 to 40% of the population of Grão-Pará, estimated at 100,000 people, died. In 1833 the Province had 119,877 inhabitants, being 32,751 Amerindians and 29,977 black slaves. Mixed-race people were 42,000. The White minority was 15,000, over half of them Portuguese. The revolt had a strong racial background. The Amerindian, Black and mixed majority, which lived under deep poverty, fought against the White minority that dominated the economy and culture, not only in Grão-Pará, but in the rest of Brazil as well.