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111-620: The twentieth century historian C. R. Boxer , in describing the coeval accounts of the War of the Mascates commented: "So much hard lying is involved in this conflict of evidence that the exact truth is probably unascertainable..." The War of the Mascates evidences the tensions between the landed elites in colonial Brazil and the mascates (merchants) of Recife. The "war" (there was considerable shooting but little loss of life) has elements of class struggle . Moreover, although Recife and Olinda were far from

222-497: A Governor to the city, preferring to keep things as they were. It was during the period of Habsburg control of Portugal that Macau reached great prosperity, entering its "golden age". Some historians point to the period between 1595 and 1602 as the height of its "golden age". In this period, Macau became one of the busiest commercial cities in the Far East and served as an entrepot for many Portuguese and Spanish trade routes, mainly for

333-708: A constitutional part of Portuguese territory. Chinese sovereignty during this era was mainly nominal. Finally, the third was the transition period or post-colonial period , after the Carnation Revolution in 1974 until the handover in 1999. Wu Zhiliang more specifically identified six periods: Macau was officially known as the Province of Macau ( Portuguese : Província de Macau , Chinese : 澳門省 ) until 1976, and subsequently Territory of Macau ( Portuguese : Território de Macau , Chinese : 澳門地區 ). In 1277, about 50,000 supporters and some members of

444-523: A decree, the Emperor sanctioned the construction of fortifications in Macau. The Portuguese managed to build their desired and necessary fortifications, thanks to the magnificent gifts offered to the mandarins in charge of watching the city. The most famous Dutch invasion took place on 22 June 1622. On the morning of 24 June, 800 soldiers from the invading army landed at Cacilhas beach. They advanced cautiously towards

555-800: A fortress in Tamão), Tomé Pires was arrested and killed by the Chinese authorities in Beijing and the Chinese Emperor forbade trade with the Portuguese. Despite this order, Portuguese traders continued their activity, and the area's mandarins allowed the Portuguese to settle on the island of Sanchuão to continue their business. In 1542, the Portuguese, who already frequented the eastern coasts of China, settled in Liam Pó. In 1545, this community, which had about 3,000 inhabitants,

666-516: A hundred years. In these circumstances, the Portuguese monopolized trade between China, Japan, and Europe. From 1550 onwards, this commercial monopoly was exercised and ensured by the Captain-Major of the Voyage of China and Japan, who also enjoyed the right to sell his post to others. In 1580, the position of ouvidor ("ombudsman") was created. The first magistrate was sent from Lisbon to Macau, under

777-404: A local temple of the goddess A-Má . A-Ma Gao would become, Amacao, Macao and, finally, Macau. At the time, the Portuguese commercial establishment of Macau was only a small village with a few blocks, churches, and residences, joined by a small number of streets. Most of the population lived on trade, so many left Macao for months and sometimes years to carry out their trading. At that time, it had

888-472: A municipal and senatorial body more representative than the oligarchic Junta, was founded to administer Macau better and to maintain Macau's autonomy from the Spanish authorities. The Senate, which feared the interference of Chinese authorities in the administration, the economy (mainly in commerce) or even in the statute or in the very existence of Macau, prepared large sums of gifts for the Chinese authorities, with

999-413: A necessary result of political liberty, stating that the most important task of government was to manage and adjust for 'the spirit of party'. In his Philosophy of Right , Hegel expressed concern that the standard of living of the poor might drop so far as to make it even easier for the rich to amass even more wealth. Hegel believed that, especially in a liberal country such as contemporary England,

1110-474: A prerequisite for successful revolution is class solidarity . Marx's theory of history asserts that in the history of economic systems such as capitalism and feudalism , class struggle is "the central fact of social evolution." Indeed, the first sentence of Chapter 1 of the Communist Manifesto reads: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Marxists view

1221-540: A public holiday and was virtually forgotten. After this attempted Dutch invasion, the Portuguese authorities, from 1623 onwards, sent a Governor to Macau . Before his arrival, the Loyal Senate administered and governed this small town. Macau's small military garrison was also reinforced. These measures revealed a greater concern and participation of the Portuguese authorities in the administration and protection of this distant and small Portuguese establishment. But, even so,

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1332-551: A rent or bribe. In 1554, the custom house was moved to Lampacao , likely due to threats of piracy. After the Portuguese helped the Chinese defeat the pirates, they were allowed to settle in Macau. By 1557, they established a permanent settlement, paying an annual ground rent of 500 taels. The name of Macau seems to have originated in one of the first places accessed by the Portuguese, the Bay of A-Má ("A-Ma Gao" in Cantonese), named after

1443-519: A vaguely defined political-administrative organization, as the Portuguese Crown had not yet properly planned for Macau. Therefore, at that time, the Captain-Major of the Voyage of China and Japan was responsible for the affairs of the Portuguese during his stay in Macau. As the only existing authority, he sought to maintain order among the Portuguese while his great merchant ship was in port. Over time, issues emerged whose resolution could not wait for

1554-565: A year during the annual fair. This ended the privileged position of the Portuguese in trade with the Chinese Empire, as the only and exclusive intermediaries in the China-Europe trade. From that date onwards, Macau ceased to be the exclusive entrepôt for Chinese trade, thus altering Macau's economic role in trade with China. However, European merchants of other nationalities, who were also able to participate in direct trade with China along with

1665-409: Is a core tenet and a practical means for effecting radical sociopolitical transformations for the majority working class . It is also a central concept within conflict theories of sociology and political philosophy . Class conflict can reveal itself through: In the economic sphere, class conflict is sometimes expressed overtly, such as owner lockouts of their employees in an effort to weaken

1776-425: Is a great property, there is great inequality. For one very rich man, there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of the few supposes the indigence of the many. The affluence of the rich excites the indignation of the poor, who are often both driven by want, and prompted by envy to invade his possessions. It is only under the shelter of the civil magistrate, that the owner of that valuable property, which

1887-407: Is acquired by the labour of many years, or perhaps of many successive generations, can sleep a single night in security. He is at all times surrounded by unknown enemies, whom, though he never provoked, he can never appease, and from whose injustice he can be protected only by the powerful arm of the civil magistrate, continually held up to chastise it. Writing The Wealth of Nations , Smith's concern

1998-499: Is also on this day that Saint John the Baptist , the patron saint of the city, is celebrated. Legend has it that by his cloak, the enemy's shots were deflected, saving the city from the Dutch invaders. This day was a public holiday and celebrated every year with great parties and joy until 1999, the date when Macau's sovereignty was transferred to China. After the transfer, this day was no longer

2109-399: Is the parent of revolution", but did not consider poverty to be the only cause of revolution. In a society where property is distributed equally throughout the community, "the nobles will be dissatisfied, because they think themselves worthy of more than an equal share of honors; and this is often found to be a cause of sedition and revolution." Moreover, Aristotle said that it was wrong for

2220-502: The Conflict of the Orders and the slave revolt led by Spartacus . In his History , Thucydides describes a civil war in the city of Corcyra between the pro- Athens party of the common people and their pro- Corinth oligarchic opposition. Near the climax of the struggle, "the oligarchs in full rout, fearing that the victorious commons might assault and carry the arsenal and put them to

2331-719: The Diocese of Macau on 23 January 1576. Due to the lack of priestly vocations, the seminary was closed and the College was destroyed by fire in 1835. On several occasions, the Jesuits who regularly attended the Court in Peking used their influence to save Macau from various dangers and from various exaggerated demands imposed by the Chinese authorities in Canton or by the Emperor himself. From its founding until

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2442-544: The Santa Casa da Misericórdia . These religious Catholics also contributed to the development of social assistance, creating orphanages and even a leper colony , and education in Macau. The Colégio de São Paulo was founded in the 16th century and the Seminary of São José in the 18th century. These two institutions had the function of training missionaries and priests. Due to the great importance of Macau, Pope Gregory XIII created

2553-503: The Senate into giving the plebs the right to choose one of the two consuls. Tacitus believed that the increase in Roman power spurred the patricians to expand their power over more and more cities. This process, he felt, exacerbated pre-existing class tensions with the plebs, and eventually culminated in a civil war between the patrician Sulla and the populist reformer Marius . Marius had taken

2664-744: The Song dynasty , fleeing the Mongol invaders, arrived in Macau and built several settlements, the largest and most important being in the Mong-Há region in the north of Macau. It is believed that the oldest temple in Macau, the Temple of Kun Iam (Goddess of Mercy), was located in Mong-Há. During the Ming dynasty , many fishermen from Guangzhou and Fujian settled in Macau and built the Temple of A-Ma . The first Portuguese to visit China

2775-414: The bargaining power of the employees' union ; or covertly, such as a worker slowdown of production or the widespread, simultaneous use of sick leave (e.g., " blue flu ") to protest unfair labor practices , low wages, poor work conditions , or a perceived injustice to a fellow worker. When Marxists speak of class struggle, they define a class primarily in economic terms, i.e., by its relationship to

2886-455: The free-men to be admitted into the tribes , not by the force of his eloquence, but by a word, by a gesture; which had he not effected, the republic, whose drooping head we are at present scarce able to uphold, would not even exist. Tiberius Gracchus weakened the power of the Senate by changing the law so that judges were chosen from the ranks of the knights , instead of their social superiors in

2997-430: The means of production . When anarchists like Bakunin speak of class struggle, they have a broader definition of "social class" which encompasses "notions of domination and privilege" in the political and cultural spheres as well as the economic. Bakunin believed the successful struggle of the dominated classes would achieve a revolution to depose the ruling elites and create a stateless or libertarian socialism , and that

3108-402: The "chief enemy to the people" and "a very dog to the commonalty" while the leader of the mob speaks out against the patricians thusly: They ne'er cared for us yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act established against the rich, and provide more piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain

3219-471: The "violence of the great lords" : In order to understand this, it must be remembered, that, in those days, the sovereign of perhaps no country in Europe was able to protect, through the whole extent of his dominions, the weaker part of his subjects from the oppression of the great lords. Those whom the law could not protect, and who were not strong enough to defend themselves, were obliged either to have recourse to

3330-437: The 'severity of the patricians their creditors, the debts due to whom they had to discharge by slave-work, drove the plebs to revolts.' Gibbon also explains how Augustus facilitated this class conflict by pacifying the plebs with actual bread and circuses . The economist Adam Smith noted that the poor freeman's lack of land provided a major impetus for Roman colonisation , as a way to relieve class tensions at home between

3441-427: The Captain-Major's return from his trips to Japan, so a kind of triumvirate was formed, which began to direct the administration of the establishment. It was composed of three representatives of the residents, called homens-bons ("good men"), chosen by vote. In 1562, one of those elected became, by choice, Land Captain. These three representatives continued to be nevertheless dependent on the Captain-Major. Specifically,

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3552-471: The Chinese Celestial Empire, so the Portuguese had been obligated to pay annual rent (about 500 taels of silver) and certain taxes to the Chinese since 1573. The governor of Canton, the highest Chinese authority in the region, ordered some mandarins in the vicinity of Macau to watch and supervise the Portuguese commercial establishment, namely with regard to the collection of rent and taxes levied by

3663-566: The Chinese authorities, losing their monopoly on trade with China. It was mainly for this reason, but also for the patriotic spirit of the Portuguese residents, that the Portuguese flag remained always hoisted during this period. The new state of affairs in Portugal established a more organized, effective and representative administration. In 1583, on the initiative of the Bishop of Macau, the Leal Senado,

3774-556: The Chinese captured weapons from the Portuguese which they then reverse engineered and mass produced in China. These included matchlock arquebuses , which they named bird guns , and breech loading swivel guns which they named Folangji ( Frankish ) cannons because the Portuguese were known to the Chinese as "Franks" at this time. The Portuguese later returned to Tamão and the islands of Sanchuão and Lampacau to conduct their commercial transactions. They began establishing trade relations with

3885-521: The Chinese from the port of Hou-Quiang (Macau). They presented themselves as Portuguese instead of Franks in the Luso-Chinese agreement (1554) and rented Macau as a trading post from China by paying annual lease of hundreds of silver taels to Ming China. Macau as a commercial port dates back to 1535 during the Ming dynasty , when local authorities established a custom house, collecting 20,000 taels in annual custom duties. Sources also call this payment

3996-640: The City of the Name of God. Having an important strategic position, Macau was attacked several times by the Dutch during the Eighty Years' War . King Philip III of Spain , who was at war with the Dutch, put an embargo on Dutch trading ships in all his territories including Portugal, so these ships headed east, causing many problems for the Portuguese settled in this region. In 1601, a Dutch fleet led by Admiral Van Neck appeared in Macau. In 1603, warships from Holland bombarded

4107-499: The East. When Macau had financial problems, which it did with some frequency, the city would ask for loans from other neighboring countries or from wealthy merchants in the Far East. The Portuguese commercial system centered in Lisbon began to suffer a growing decline in the 17th century, due to the competition between it and the other systems developed by other European powers, namely England and

4218-558: The European governments. Among the former, public opinion is in the place of law, & restrains morals as powerfully as laws ever did anywhere. Among the latter, under pretence of governing they have divided their nations into two classes, wolves & sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe. Cherish therefore the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them. If once they become inattentive to

4329-456: The Guangzhou authorities on all Chinese products and on all products exported by the Portuguese. These Chinese officials exercised great influence over the administration of Macau and also exercised control and ultimate jurisdiction over all Chinese residents in Macau. Many of them lived in the north of the peninsula. In 1573 or 1574, the Chinese authorities ordered the construction of a barrier on

4440-499: The Japanese authorities in 1614, contributed to the fact that Portuguese trade in Japan was conducted with increasing difficulties. In 1636, the Portuguese were transferred from Nagasaki to the secondary trading port of Dejima . In 1638–1639, the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu implemented Japan's exclusionary policies, intended to protect it from possible European occupation, and ruthlessly ordered

4551-511: The Jesuits, also promoted ethical, cultural, and scientific exchange between the West and the East; and contributed in an important way to the development of Macao. Belchior Carneiro Leitão , the first Governor of the Bishopric of Macau, founded, in 1569, the first hospital in Macau, Hospital dos Pobres (later to be called "Hospital de São Rafael"), and the first European institution charity in this region,

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4662-546: The Netherlands. These European powers, with large and powerful fleets of merchant and warships, attacked the great but weakened Portuguese Empire, occupying and/or looting its colonies and trading bases and intercepting many of its trade routes . In the end, these emerging powers created, at the expense of the Portuguese Empire, their own empires and secured many markets and trade routes that were once dominated exclusively by

4773-721: The Portuguese flag. Therefore, after the restoration of Portugal's independence and sovereignty in 1640, King John IV of Portugal rewarded this trust and loyalty in 1654, by granting Macau the title "No other is more loyal". Therefore the full name and title of Macau under Portuguese administration would read: "City of the Holy Name of God of Macau – No Other is More Loyal". From the mid-17th century onwards, Macao's prosperity began to decline, caused by various factors and events. But, even so, this commercial establishment rarely asked for subsidies from its metropolis (Portugal), and even sometimes gave financial aid to other Portuguese territories in

4884-413: The Portuguese settlement in 1557 to 1849. The Portuguese had jurisdiction over the Portuguese community and certain aspects of the territory's administration but no real sovereignty . Next came the colonial period , which scholars generally place from 1849 to 1974. As Macau's importance among other territories grew within the Portuguese Empire, Portuguese sovereignty over Macau strengthened and it became

4995-528: The Portuguese, also started to temporarily visit and use Macau as a trading post and intermediary in this lucrative trade. This is because, at that time, foreigners could not reside and move freely in Guangzhou, and they had to reside in Macau for most of the year. With the sudden increase in foreign competition in trade with China and the decline of the Portuguese trading system, merchants based in Macau, in order to continue with their commercial activities and with their profits, had to cooperate more frequently with

5106-480: The Portuguese, but they did not achieve what they sought, partially due to the pro-Portuguese actions of the Jesuits based in those Asian countries. In fact, the Jesuits were at the service of the Portuguese Empire at that time, within the scope of the Portuguese Padroado agreement. Portuguese-Spanish relations were characterized more by distrust and rivalry than by cooperation and unity. For example, in 1589,

5217-450: The Portuguese. The profitable trade with Japan began to undergo gradual changes as early as the end of the 16th century. In 1587, Japanese authorities began to implement measures to expel Catholic missionaries, who had become increasingly powerful and influential in the Kyushu region. This led to their loss of control over Nagasaki . This event, combined with the prohibition of Christianity by

5328-405: The ability to give a magistrate the power of dictatorship , meaning he could bypass public law in the pursuit of a prescribed mandate. Montesquieu explains that the purpose of this institution was to tilt the balance of power in favour of the patricians. However, in an attempt to resolve a conflict between the patricians and the plebs, the dictator Camillus used his power of dictatorship to coerce

5439-464: The aristocrats, the mass of Athenians chose Solon to be the lawgiver to lead them to freedom from their creditors. The philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said that Solon's constitution of the Athenian popular assembly created a political sphere that balanced the competing socio-economic interests of the social classes of Athens: Participating in a war among the social classes of Ancient Greece

5550-471: The center of the city, suffering heavy bombardment from cannons at the Fortaleza do Monte . A Jesuit priest fired a cannon shot and accurately hit a wagon loaded with gunpowder belonging to the Dutch, disconcerting the invading forces. It is also on this day that Macau's small military garrison (consisting of approximately 200 soldiers and a few fortresses, namely Fortaleza do Monte and Fortaleza da Guia) defeated

5661-407: The city; and in the years 1604 and 1607 came, respectively, the expeditions led by Admirals Wybrand van Warwijck and Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge . These Dutch invasion attempts forced the Portuguese authorities to build a defensive system for the city. But the Chinese authorities through threats prevented the fortification of Macau at all costs, fearing a possible coup against China. In 1614, through

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5772-400: The conflict between rich and poor, commenting that "the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are debtors, fall under a like discrimination." He welcomed class-based factions into political life as

5883-451: The courage of necessity, [...] so long will the impulse never be wanting to drive men into danger." In the Politics , Aristotle describes the basic dimensions of class conflict: "Again, because the rich are generally few in number, while the poor are many, they appear to be antagonistic, and as the one or the other prevails they form the government.". Aristotle also commented that "poverty

5994-421: The discovery of gold and the subsequent demand for slaves had driven up the cost of slaves significantly, which further indebted the planters to the merchants. The governor, Sebastião de Castro e Caldas, was appointed by the crown. The local municipal offices were controlled by the planters. The wealthy merchants resented the political controls exercised by the planters, and the planters resented being indebted to

6105-426: The discussion around class conflict between employers and employees. It was with bitter sarcasm that Rousseau outlined the class conflict prevailing in his day between masters and their workmen: You have need of me, because I am rich and you are poor. We will therefore come to an agreement. I will permit you to have the honour of serving me, on condition that you bestow on me the little you have left, in return for

6216-554: The establishment of a Macau– Acapulco trade route greatly angered the Spaniards of Manila . In another example, some Spaniards even wanted the King of Spain (and Portugal) to order the destruction of Macau, transferring the silver and silk trade between Japan and China to Manila; this proposal was not put into practice. Alongside this, trade between Macau and Manila grew and was gradually regulated, also becoming an important source of income for

6327-461: The extravagant consumption of the aristocracy, he remarked that: All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind. In the third book of The Wealth of Nations , Smith explains that in the medieval period , after the fall of the Roman Empire, governments were unable to protect commoners, and their property, from

6438-478: The forces of the new imperial dynasty, the city was also flooded in the 1640s with refugees fleeing the Qings, depleting Macao's resources and giving rise to famine in the 1640s, also due to the dwindling and unstable food supply from Chinese merchants. It was only with the re-establishment of imperial peace in southeastern China that Macau's trade prospered again. The Portuguese, not wanting Macau's status to be changed by

6549-414: The form of disputes over hours of work, amount paid in wages, division of profits, culture in the workplace, cost of consumer goods, cost of rent, control over parliament or government bureaucracy , and economic inequality . Even a seemingly benign humanitarian program such as government-provided disaster relief can exacerbate class conflict if the relief is seen as being unequally distributed depending on

6660-403: The function of these three representatives was to regulate all matters of public order and politics. In addition to the triumvirate, there was also a judge, and four merchants elected by the people who participated in the administration. These elements together formed a kind of council. Although the Portuguese remained in Macau, the Chinese authorities maintained that Macau was an integral part of

6771-628: The goldfields, to an arguable extent the War of the Mascates can be seen as a parallel to the War of the Emboabas between people born in Brazilian and newcomers. To the extent that is true, it shows effects of the gold rush were felt in Pernambuco, many miles from the goldfields. After the expulsion of the Dutch, Olinda, then the capital of Pernambuco and the civic and religious center, was left in shambles. Yet Olinda

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6882-482: The governor reacted, the governor was shot at and decamped to Bahia. The planters attacked Recife, although serious violence was averted by clerical intercession. The planters and their allies regrouped in Olinda where, in a precursor to the declaration of an independent republic in the nineteenth century, there was at least a minimally credible suggestion that Pernambuco be declared an independent republic. For several months

6993-450: The hands of too few men. Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) led the U.S. as president from 1801 to 1809 and is considered one of America's Founding Fathers . Regarding the interaction between social classes, he wrote: I am convinced that those societies (as the Indians ) which live without government enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under

7104-460: The husbandman, during the term of his military service, was obliged to abandon the cultivation of his farm. The lands of Italy which had been originally divided among the families of free and indigent proprietors, were insensibly purchased or usurped by the avarice of the nobles; and in the age which preceded the fall of the republic, it was computed that only two thousand citizens were possessed of an independent substance. Hegel similarly states that

7215-592: The intention of trying to distance them from Macao's internal affairs. This situation of subservience on the part of Macau would only be overcome with the measures imposed during the mandate of Governor João Ferreira do Amaral (1846–1849), although Macau continued to depend on China. Due to the growing prosperity and importance of Macau, this commercial establishment was elevated to the status of city in 1586 or 1587, by decision of King Filipe II of Spain (Filipe I of Portugal), changing its name to Cidade do Santo Nome De Deus de Macao . This Spanish monarch decided not to send

7326-420: The invading forces. The Dutch, defeated, threw themselves overboard in an attempt to reach the boats. Many drowned and one of the boats, overcrowded, sank. Portuguese records say that a few dozen Portuguese died and that around 350 Dutch died in combat or drowned. For Macau, unprepared, the victory was considered a miracle. After the victory, Macao residents celebrated the 24th of June, Victory Day, as City Day. It

7437-1047: The king. The king issued a new set of instructions to Governor Felix Machado, freeing a shipload of planters who were already chained and on board a ship about to sail to Portugal. In 1715 the crown dispatched a new governor to replace Felix Machado and residents of Pernambuco finally felt the troubles were ended, though many families of the colony's elites were ruined. 15th century 16th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 16th century 17th century 15th century 16th century Portuguese India 17th century Portuguese India 18th century Portuguese India 16th century 17th century 19th century Portuguese Macau 20th century Portuguese Macau 15th century [Atlantic islands] 16th century [Canada] 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century Class struggle In political science ,

7548-462: The large social class of impoverished commoners; and used the analogy of a maritime pilot , who, like the power-holder in a polis , ought to be chosen for political office for his skill, not for the amount of property he owns. The historian Plutarch recounts how the Greek people participated in the class conflict between the aristocrats and the common folk. Financially oppressed by their indebtedness to

7659-503: The local power, residing in the Leal Senado, continued to maintain a great autonomy in relation to the central metropolitan power of Lisbon, represented in Macau by the Governor, and continued to play a fundamental role in the administration of the city. That's why the Loyal Senate and the Governor often came into conflict over disagreements. Although Portugal was ruled by a Spanish monarch between 1580 and 1640, Macau continued to loyally hoist

7770-529: The loss of trade with Japan in 1639, Macau survived and prospered due to the China–Macau–Japan triangular trade. This lucrative trade, based on the exchange of silk and gold from China for silver from Japan, began when, in the 1540s, Portuguese merchants began selling Chinese products in Japan. Within a decade, Macau became a key entrepot and intermediary in trade between China and Japan, especially after Chinese authorities banned direct trade with Japan for over

7881-400: The lucrative route to Japan. At that time, the Portuguese, although increasingly dependent on the capital of the great Chinese and Japanese merchants and also suffering from increasing Dutch competition, had exclusivity on this route because Japan did not allow the entry of other foreign ships. This route, especially when the Dutch began to disturb the routes to Goa and Malacca , became one of

7992-504: The main sources of income for Macau and provided a key support to Portuguese trade in the China Seas. During this period, the Church of São Paulo and many other architectural works, built mostly according to European-inspired architectural styles, were completed, giving a strong touch of splendor and grandeur to the city. During this period, the Leal Senado was able to avoid open conflicts with

8103-451: The mandarins, bribing them with significant sums, and compromises with the Spaniards, who wanted to end the commercial monopoly that the Portuguese enjoyed in China (at that time, Portuguese ships, when entering Canton, paid two-thirds less than other ships of the same tonnage). The Spaniards, based in Manila, even sent embassies to China and Japan, in an attempt to end the privileged position of

8214-558: The men who bear arms, and expose their lives for the safety of their country, enjoy in the meantime nothing more in it but the air and light; and having no houses or settlements of their own, are constrained to wander from place to place with their wives and children." Following this observation, he remarked that these men "fought indeed and were slain, but it was to maintain the luxury and the wealth of other men." Cicero believed that Tiberius Gracchus's reforming efforts saved Rome from tyranny, arguing: Tiberius Gracchus (says Cicero) caused

8325-418: The merchants. The governors frequently favored wealthy merchants. In 1710, after many denied requests, the crown granted Recife municipal status. The governor, anticipating resistance from the planters, decided on a secret and clumsy strategy to implement the new municipality. The planters seized upon his secrecy to contend that the new status for Recife had not been authorized by the king. The planters reacted,

8436-405: The new imperial Qing dynasty and not wanting their privileged position to end, sent several embassies to Beijing, establishing friendly diplomatic relations with China's new sovereigns. In 1685, despite successive Portuguese embassies to Beijing, the Portuguese monopoly on trade with China came to an end because the Chinese Emperor authorized trade with all foreign countries in Canton, at least once

8547-618: The northern border of the Peninsula, in a place very close to the present-day "Frontier Post of Portas do Cerco", to prevent the expansion of the Portuguese through the island of Xiangshan (modern Zhongshan), to supervise better the collection of taxes on goods entering or leaving the city, and to control Macau's supply. Macau also became an important point of departure for Catholic missionaries to different countries in Asia, namely China and Japan. In addition to evangelization, these missionaries, especially

8658-444: The other side of the class war, for the patricians and against the plebs. When grain arrived to relieve a serious shortage in the city of Rome, the plebs made it known that they felt it ought to be divided amongst them as a gift, but Coriolanus stood up in the Senate against this idea on the grounds that it would empower the plebs at the expense of the patricians. This decision would eventually contribute to Coriolanus's undoing when he

8769-402: The pains I shall take to command you. Rousseau argued that the most important task of any government is to fight in class warfare on the side of workmen against their masters, who he said engage in exploitation under the pretence of serving society. Specifically, he believed that governments should actively intervene in the economy to abolish poverty and prevent the accrual of too much wealth in

8880-416: The persecution of all missionaries and priests, and of hundreds of thousands of Japanese Christians. As a result, Portuguese trade with Japan came to an abrupt end, seriously affecting Macau, which quickly went into economic decline. The Dutch also contributed to the end of this lucrative trade, making the Japanese authorities increasingly suspicious of the commercial activity of the Portuguese and especially of

8991-410: The planters. He too like his predecessor, Sebastiåo de Castro, accrued an attempted assassination. However accurate or exaggerated the descriptions of the depravity of governor Felix Machado, his excesses were eventually quelled when António de Albuquerque, twice governor of Rio de Janeiro, stopped in Pernambuco en route to Lisbon. Apprised of the situation he presented his Pernambucan relative's case to

9102-458: The poor to seize the wealth of the rich and divide it among themselves, but he said that it is wrong for the rich to impoverish the multitude. Moreover, Aristotle further discussed a middle way, between laxity and cruelty, in the treatment of slaves by their masters, averring that "if not kept in hand, [slaves] are insolent, and think that they are as good as their masters, and, if harshly treated, they hate and conspire against them." Socrates

9213-482: The poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and there's all the love they bear us. Enlightenment -era historian Edward Gibbon might have agreed with this narrative of Roman class conflict. In the third volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , he relates the origins of the struggle: [T]he plebeians of Rome [...] had been oppressed from the earliest times by the weight of debt and usury; and

9324-427: The poorest will politicise their situation, channelling their frustrations against the rich: Against nature man can claim no right, but once society is established, poverty immediately takes the form of a wrong done to one class by another. Class conflict is most commonly described as occurring within capitalist societies. The conflict manifests itself as clashes between the capitalist class and working class, and takes

9435-454: The pretext of putting an end to the rivalries existing in the settlement. In 1581, the residents of Macau learned of the accession of Philip II of Spain to the throne of Portugal, which took place in the year 1580. This news saddened the citizens of Macau because it placed Macau in a dangerous situation, as the Chinese authorities had granted Macau to the Portuguese Crown and not to the Spanish. The Portuguese feared that they would be expelled by

9546-538: The profitable and important trade, the Portuguese residents of Macau decided to send an embassy to Japan but not only did they not getting what they wanted, the members of the embassy were all executed, by order of the powerful Tokugawa shogun. In 1641, another event affected Macau's declining economy: the Portuguese lost Malacca to the Dutch, who had already captured several Portuguese possessions, areas of influence and trade routes. The loss of this important city and commercial base caused disturbances and deviations from

9657-456: The protection of some great lord, and in order to obtain it, to become either his slaves or vassals; or to enter into a league of mutual defence for the common protection of one another. The inhabitants of cities and burghs, considered as single individuals, had no power to defend themselves; but by entering into a league of mutual defence with their neighbours, they were capable of making no contemptible resistance. Portuguese Macau Macau

9768-464: The public affairs, you & I, & Congress & Assemblies, judges & governors shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions; and experience declares that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the governments of Europe, and to the general prey of the rich on the poor. In his Federalist No. 10 , James Madison revealed an emphatic concern with

9879-443: The recipient's class. Like Rousseau, the classical liberal Adam Smith believed that the amassing of property in the hands of a minority naturally resulted in a disharmonious state of affairs. He said that "avarice and ambition in the rich, in the poor the hatred of labour and the love of present ease and enjoyment, are the passions which prompt to invade property", requiring a government to protect property rights: Wherever there

9990-413: The religious activity of Catholic missionaries, accused of being the vanguard of a powerful European and Catholic invading force. With the Portuguese expelled, a small number of Dutch, who gained the trust of the Japanese authorities, were able to visit the port of Dejima, although with many restrictions, becoming the only Europeans who were allowed to trade with Japan. In 1640, in an attempt to reestablish

10101-594: The rich and the landless poor. Hegel described the same phenomenon happening in the impetus to Greek colonisation . Writing in pre-capitalist Europe, the Swiss philosophe Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Federalist statesman James Madison across the Atlantic Ocean made significant remarks on the dynamics of class struggle. Later, German idealist Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel would also contribute his perspective to

10212-507: The senatorial class. Contrary to Shakespeare's depiction of Julius Caesar in the tragedy Julius Caesar , historian Michael Parenti has argued that Caesar was a populist, not a tyrant. In 2003 The New Press published Parenti's The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome. Publishers Weekly said "Parenti [...] narrates a provocative history of the late republic in Rome (100–33 BC) to demonstrate that Caesar's death

10323-420: The situation was subdued, but then the merchants and their allies rebelled. After some minimal violence, the planters and their adherents laid siege to Recife, and additionally to some other areas adhering to the mascates , such as the fortress of Tamandaré. The siege succeeded in isolating and inconveniencing the residents of Recife but despite a need to subsist mostly by eating shellfish and other seafood, Recife

10434-591: The step of enlisting capite censi , the very lowest class of citizens, into the army, for the first time allowing non-land owners into the legions . Of all the notable figures discussed by Plutarch and Tacitus, agrarian reformer Tiberius Gracchus may have most challenged the upper classes and most championed the cause of the lower classes. In a speech to the common soldiery, he decried their lowly conditions: "The savage beasts," said he, "in Italy, have their particular dens, they have their places of repose and refuge; but

10545-450: The struggle's resolution in favor of the working class to be inevitable under plutocratic capitalism. Where societies are socially divided based on status, wealth, or control of social production and distribution, class structures arise and are thus coeval with civilization itself. The rise of class structures eventually leads to class conflict. It is a pattern that has repeated since at least European classical antiquity as illustrated in

10656-400: The sword, fired the houses round the market-place and the lodging-houses, in order to bar their advance." The historian Tacitus would later recount a similar class conflict in the city of Seleucia , in which disharmony between the oligarchs and the commoners would typically lead to each side calling on outside help to defeat the other. Thucydides believed that "as long as poverty gives men

10767-492: The term class conflict , or class struggle , refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequalities of power in the socioeconomic hierarchy. In its simplest manifestation, class conflict refers to the ongoing battle between rich and poor . In the writings of several leftist , socialist , and communist theorists, notably those of Karl Marx , class struggle

10878-479: The traders left. The Portuguese were not yet allowed to stay, obtaining only visitor status. In 1517, Fernão Pires de Andrade , the head of a Portuguese expedition to China, managed to negotiate with the Chinese authorities in Canton for the entry of the Portuguese ambassador Tomé Pires to Beijing and the establishment of a trading post in Tamão . Due to the aggressive attitudes of his brother Simão de Andrade (who built

10989-564: The usual route between Macau and Goa and a decrease in the supply of tradable products with China. In 1640, when the Crowns of Portugal and Spain were once again separated, trade with Manila and with the Spaniards based there ended, causing more economic and financial problems for Macau. It was only with the end of the Portuguese-Spanish rivalry that trade was reactivated. The loss of several commercial markets, although very harmful to Macau,

11100-497: Was Jorge Álvares in 1513, during the Age of Discovery . He erected a padrão with the arms of Portugal in the port of Tamau, located on the neighboring island of Sancho (or Sanchoão) at the mouth of the Pearl River , near Macau. This visit was followed by the establishment of numerous Portuguese traders in the area, who would erect temporary wooden buildings that would be destroyed when

11211-470: Was a Portuguese colony from the establishment of the first official Portuguese settlement of Macau in 1557 to its handover to China in 1999. It comprised the Municipality of Macau and the Municipality of Ilhas . Macau was both the first and last European holding in China. Macau's history under Portugal can be broadly divided into three distinct political periods. The first was the establishment of

11322-406: Was a dangerous political endeavour. In his book Parallel Lives , Plutarch wrote of two Spartan kings, Agis and Cleomenes , who "being desirous to raise the people, and to restore the noble and just form of government, now long fallen into disuse, [they] incurred the hatred of the rich and powerful, who could not endure to be deprived of the selfish enjoyment to which they were accustomed." It

11433-405: Was able to sustain itself until the crown-appointed new governor arrived. The new governor, Felix Machado, came with a pardon for the rebels and relative peace was restored temporarily. However, the municipal status of Recife was also affirmed and the planters again took offense. Felix Machado, who would be remembered as one of the worst governors of Pernambuco, sided with the merchants and persecuted

11544-446: Was impeached following a trial by the tribunes of the plebs . Montesquieu recounts how Coriolanus castigated the tribunes for trying a patrician, when in his mind no one but a consul had that right, although a law had been passed stipulating that all appeals affecting the life of a citizen had to be brought before the plebs. In the first scene of Shakespeare's Coriolanus , a crowd of angry plebs gathers in Rome to denounce Coriolanus as

11655-550: Was not fatal for the merchants and inhabitants of the city. The transition from the Chinese Ming dynasty to the Manchu Qing dynasty , which lasted several years, caused strong instability in the Chinese Empire and made the internal markets of China and all of Southeast Asia uncertain, fatally affecting the commercial activity of the residents of Macau. In addition to living in uncertainty and fear of being destroyed or occupied by

11766-643: Was razed by a Chinese army of 60,000 in five hours. The Portuguese attempted to settle in Chin-Cheu , but were expelled again in 1549. The Portuguese were defeated by the Ming Chinese at the Battle of Sincouwaan at Lantau Island and Shuangyu in 1548, where several Portuguese were captured and near the Dongshan Peninsula in 1549, where two Portuguese junks and Galeote Pereira were captured. During these battles

11877-483: Was similarly difficult for the Romans to maintain peace between the upper class, the patricians , and the lower class, the plebs . French Enlightenment philosopher Montesquieu notes that this conflict intensified after the overthrow of the Roman monarchy . In The Spirit of Laws he lists the four main grievances of the plebs, which were rectified in the years following the deposition of King Tarquin : The Senate had

11988-415: Was the culmination of growing class conflict, economic disparity and political corruption." Kirkus Reviews wrote: "Populist historian Parenti... views ancient Rome's most famous assassination not as a tyrannicide but as a sanguinary scene in the never-ending drama of class warfare." The patrician Coriolanus , whose life William Shakespeare would later depict in the tragic play Coriolanus , fought on

12099-478: Was the first Greek philosopher to describe class conflict. In the Republic , by Plato , Socrates said that "any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other [the city] of the rich; these [cities] are at war with one another." Socrates disapproved of oligarchies , in which members of a small class of wealthy property owners take positions of political power in order to dominate

12210-426: Was the municipality of the planters, the local aristocracy. Recife, the port facility for Olinda, had formerly consisted of a few modest dwellings, warehouses, and businesses catering to ships and seamen. It had been developed by the Dutch into a thriving center of commerce populated by wealthy, mostly recently arrived merchants. The investment required to build, operate, and maintain an engenho had always been high and

12321-426: Was the welfare of the ordinary workers who make up society and provide for it: No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable. It is but equity, besides, that they who feed, clothe, and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labour as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed, and lodged. Regarding

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