page_title: Military history of South America
section_title: Native revolts and slavery
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of South America / European hegemony in the 18th century / Native revolts and slavery
caption_attribution_description: English: A native American chief (tribe of Charrúa). Peter Mitchell writes: Living in Uruguay and Brazil's southernmost Rio Grande do Sul, Charrúa acquired horses from the late 1500s.
context_page_description: The military history of South America can be divided into two major periods - pre- and post-Columbian - divided by the entrance of European forces to the region. The sudden introduction of steel, gunpowder weapons and horses into the Americas would revolutionize warfare. Within the post-Columbian period, the events of the early 19th century, when almost all of South America was marked by wars of independence, also forms a natural historical juncture. Throughout its history, South America has had distinct military features: it has been geographically separated from many major military powers by large oceans; its unique terrain has imposed major logistical challenges, and privileged naval lines of communications.
context_section_description: As large-scale slavery was introduced into South America, it began to impact military events. In the north-east, in modern-day Suriname and Guyana, escaped African slaves began to form a military buffer zone between the hostile inland tribes and the coastal areas. These so-called Maroons formed bands and in some cases armed camps. Amongst the slaves which remained, uprisings occurred throughout the period, the most famous, the Berbice Slave Uprising, began in 1763. Led by Cuffy, the slave revolt came to number about 3,000 and threatened European control over the Guianas before being crushed. In Brazil, these runaway slave communities, emerging from the 16th century onwards, were termed Palmares. By the 1690s, these communities numbered approximately 11,000, living in fortifications called macocos.  Six Portuguese expeditions tried to conquer the Palmares between 1680-6, but failed, only retaking the territories in 1694.
  Despite the huge losses of the previous centuries, the native peoples of South America were not entirely suppressed. In the Andes, several major revolts occurred, with their leaders claiming authority by their descent from the Inca ruling family. In the 1650s, Pedro Bohórquez had himself crowned as the Inca emperor of the Calchaquíes Indians, fooling both Indians and Spanish alike. From 1742 onwards, Juan Santos Atahualpa led a revolt from the jungle settlement of Quisopango and Spain was not able to reassert control over the region until the 1780s. In 1780 another large-scale revolt occurred, under the leadership of Tupac Amaru II; his revolt spread quickly across the southern Andes, placing La Paz under siege, before Tupac Amaru II was captured and executed by the Spanish.
  Many other tribes attempted to revolt against their colonial rulers. The Wayuu along the Venezuela-Colombia border had never been very subjugated by the Spanish and between 1701 and 1769 there were six rebellions, during which the Wayuu became famous for their use of firearms and horses in battle. In 1769, the largest of these, there were as many as 20,000 Wayuu under arms. In the south, another major revolt, the 'War of the Seven Reductions', occurred in 1754, when the Guarani tribes rose up against Spanish-Portuguese rule. The Guarani lived along the contested border in South America; when the colonial powers decided to redraw the boundaries at the Treaty of Madrid, the decision was taken to relocate the Guarani. Led by Sepé Tiaraju, the Guarani fought to avoid removal from 1754-6, ultimately being defeated by the combined forces of Spain and Portugal.
  Not all the revolts were indigenous in origin. The revolt of the Communeros broke out in Paraguay from 1721 to 1732, forming one of the first uprisings against Spanish colonial rule. Led by José de Antequera y Castro, the revolt formed around grievances between the settlers and the Spanish crown.  In 1724 Viceroy José de Armendáriz sent in troops, who defeated the Comuneros. Antequera was captured, brought to Lima and executed. Further revolts in Asunción in 1730 and 1732 were also quelled.
caption: A native soldier depicted by Jean-Baptiste Debret, by this period mounted on horseback.
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