O Leão do Norte
Prologue
In the history of Brazil, no state can claim a history like Pernambuco. In 1530, the King of Portugal D. João III, decided to split his colony in Americas in 13 "Capitânias Hereditárias", large land areas given to Portuguese Nobles. But due to native raids, economical difficulties, and problems of communications caused the failure of all of them, except for Pernambuco that was given to Duarte Coelho Pereira.
Pernambuco found their golden mine, a sweet powder called sugar. The soil of Pernambuco was perfect to plant sugar cane, soon Pernambuco was the largest producer of sugar of the world. But when Portugal was forced into union with Spain, they were also at war with the Spanish enemy that looked greedily to Pernambuco: The Dutch.
In 1630, a Dutch fleet invaded Pernambuco and took Olinda and Recife. Their dominion soon spread to all the northeastern coast, the Dutch control was secured when the Governor of Pernambuco was killed thanks to a traitor that gave the location of the guerrilla headquarters. In 1637, the Dutch brought "Mauricio de Nassau", to govern the lands, as a Patron of Arts he used the money of sugar to bring civility to the colony, building the first observatory, the first museums, inviting several European Artists to paint the beauty of Pernambuco.
But since he wasn't bringing profit, he was removed in 1643 and the Pernambucan struggle restarted after hardline governors started to bankrupt the farmers with massive quotas. In 1645 the rebellion restarted, the own native Pernambucans allied, from blacks to natives to whites, all allied to push the Dutch out.
And as result of the fierce resistance, the independence of Portugal, and the two battles of Guararapes that crippled the army of the West indias company, the Dutch were finally expelled in 1654. But before leaving, they stole a thousand sugar canes to plan in the Caribbean, selling it for a smaller price and ruining the sugar economy of Pernambuco.
After discovering Gold in Minas Gerais, the Portuguese crown stoped focusing on Pernambuco and started to invest in the southeast. During the entire 18th Century, Pernambuco was abandoned by the Portuguese crown.
In 1808, after the invasion of Napoleon, the Portuguese Royal Family transferred their capital to Rio de Janeiro, while the southeast was growing and prospering, Pernambuco was forced to pay the price, literally, they had to pay massive taxes for the pharaonical public projects of the crown while receiving nothing in return. And adding that to the massive drought in 1816 that ruined the plantations, and Liberal ideas of the French Revolution, Pernambuco was now a gunpowder barrel.
And in 6th of March of 1817, it blew up...