Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (Pombal do Rio Abaixo estate, São João del-Rei, August 16, 1746 - Rio de Janeiro, April 21, 1792), better known as Tiradentes -Sacamuelas in Portuguese- was a Brazilian dentist, military man, miner, merchant and political activist, considered a national hero of his country for having assumed sole responsibility for the Mining Conspiracy, considered the first large-scale attempt at Brazilian independence from the Kingdom of Portugal, at the end of the 18th century.

Born in an agricultural estate in the municipality of São João del-Rei, in the current state of Minas Gerais, Tiradentes was the son of Domingos da Silva Santos, a rural landowner born in Celorico de Basto (in the district of Braga, Portugal), and Maria Antônia da Encarnação Xavier, born in São João del-Rei, to a Portuguese father and a Brazilian mother of Portuguese descent. He was the fourth of seven siblings. In 1755 and 1757 died, respectively, his mother and father. He did not study formally, but was placed under the tutelage of a godfather, who was a surgeon. He worked occasionally as a miner and in various tasks related to pharmacy and dentistry, which earned him his nickname 'Tiradentes'.

With the knowledge acquired in his work as a miner he became a technician in land reconnaissance and exploration of its resources, and began working for the government. In 1780 he enlisted in the army of Minas Gerais, and in 1781 he was appointed by Queen Maria I, patrol commander of Caminho Novo, which led to Rio de Janeiro and guaranteed the transportation of gold and diamonds from the region. In that period, he began to criticize the exploration missions of Brazil by the metropolis, which was evident when comparing the volume of riches taken by the Portuguese and the poverty in which the people continued to live. Dissatisfied for not being promoted in his military career (in which he only reached the rank of second lieutenant), he was discharged in 1787. This happened because in the Portuguese Colonial Police, as well as in all the Armed Forces of the Lusitanian metropolis, all military ranks above "alférez" (lieutenant) were reserved to those born in Portugal, in a very common practice during colonialism in Latin America.

For a year Tiradentes lived in the capital of the colony, Rio de Janeiro. But the impossibility of making a profit in large canalization projects that were being developed there made his anti-Portuguese feelings grow. Back in Minas Gerais, he began to advocate in Vila Rica and its surroundings the creation of an independence movement for Brazil. This movement was joined by members of the clergy and prominent social figures, such as the poets Cláudio Manuel da Costa, former government secretary, Tomás Antônio Gonzaga and Inácio José de Alvarenga Peixoto.

The movement gained ideological support with the independence of the British colonies in North America and the formation of the United States. Regional and economic factors also played a role in consolidating the rebellion in Minas Gerais, as the region produced less and less gold. The settlers were no longer able to meet the annual payment of one hundred arrobas of gold destined for the Real Fazenda, which is why they joined the rebellion.

The feeling of rebellion reached its peak with the implementation of a new tax by the colonial government: a compulsory levy of 538 arrobas of gold in back taxes (since 1762), was to be executed by the new governor of Minas Gerais, Luís Antônio Furtado de Mendonça, Viscount of Barbacena. The movement began on the night of the insurrection when the leaders of the conspiracy went out through the streets of Vila Rica giving cheers to the Republic, thus gaining the immediate support of the population. However, before the conspiracy turned into a revolution, it was betrayed by the Portuguese: Colonel Joaquim Silvério dos Reis, Lieutenant Colonel Basílio de Brito Malheiro do Lago and the Azorean Inácio Correia de Pamplona, in exchange for the cancellation of their debts with the Royal Treasury.

The Viscount of Barbacena suspended the tax and ordered the imprisonment of the conspirators (1789). Tiradentes hid at a friend's house in Rio de Janeiro, but was betrayed by Joaquim Silvério dos Reis, who later, for his betrayal, among other things, would receive from the crown the title of fidalgo.

Among the conspirators were the religious Carlos Correia de Toledo e Melo, José de Oliveira Rolim and Manuel Rodrigues da Costa; the lieutenant colonel Francisco de Paula Freire de Andrade, the colonels Domingos de Abreu and Joaquim Silvério dos Reis - at the time, informer of the movement - and the aforementioned Cláudio Manuel da Costa, Inácio José de Alvarenga Peixoto and Tomás Antônio Gonzaga.

The inconfidentes' greatest desire was to establish an independent government from Portugal, create a university in Vila Rica, form industries and make São João Del-Rei the new capital of the region.

Legacy

Tiradentes remained, after the Brazilian Independence, a relatively obscure historical personality since, during the Empire of Brazil, the two monarchs, Dom Pedro I and Dom Pedro II, belonged to the male line of the House of Bragança, and were, respectively, grandson and great-grandson of Queen Maria, who had issued Tiradentes' death sentence. Moreover, the republicanism attributed to Tiradentes made him unacceptable as a national hero, since the independence of Brazil had had as its main protagonist Prince Pedro I of Bragança.

It had to be the Old Republic, or more precisely the positivist ideologues who presided over its foundation, who sought in the figure of Tiradentes a personification of the republican identity of Brazil, and mythologized his biography. This explains his traditional iconography since the end of the 19th century, with beard and camisole, next to the scaffold, which gives him a certain resemblance to Jesus Christ and which, apparently, lacks plausibility. As a military man, the most that Tiradentes allowed himself was a discreet mustache. In prison, where he spent the last three years of his life, prisoners were obliged to shave, and even a razor and a mirror were found in his cell after his death. All this reduces the credibility of the historical image formed about the hero at the beginning of the 20th century.

Although he never married, Tiradentes had two children, João, with the mulatto Eugênia Joaquina da Silva, and Joaquina, with the red-haired Antonia Maria do Espírito Santo, who lived in Vila Rica.

He is considered Civic Patron of Brazil and the date of his death is a public holiday throughout the country. The Captaincy of Minas Gerais, where he lived, with the advent of the Republic, became the state of Minas Gerais, and to this day many inhabitants of this region of the country like to hear with great respect the story of their illustrious compatriot Tiradentes, the first revolutionary leader of truly republican hue in Brazil.

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