History of Manaus

The population grew so much that in 1695, the missionaries (Carmelite, Jesuit, Franciscan) built a nearby chapel dedicated as Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Our Lady of the Conception), who in time became the patron saint of the city. The Royal Charter of March 3 of 1755, created the capitancy of São José do Rio Negro, with capital in Mariuá (now Barcelos), but the governor, Lobo D'Almada, fearing Spanish invasions, the seat went back to Lugar de Barra in 1791. Being located at the confluence of the Rio Negro and Amazon Rivers, it was a strategic point. On November 13 of 1832, Lugar da Barra was elevated to town and named Manaus. On October 24 of 1848, with Law 145 of the Provincial Assembly of Para, was renamed City of Barra do Rio Negro. On September 4 of 1856 the governor Herculano Ferreira Pena finally gave it the name "Manaus".

Cabanagem

The Cabanagem was the revolt in which blacks, Indians and mestizos fought against the white political elite and took power in 1835. The Cabanagem reduced the population of Grão-Pará from about 100,000 to 60,000. The entry of the High Amazonas (Manaus today, which was the cradle of the city in the Western Amazon) in Cabanagem was crucial for the birth of the current state of the Amazon. During the brief period of revolution, the Cabanos of the High Amazon, bands of rebels, roamed throughout the region, and in most settlements their arrival was greeted by the non-white population's spontaneously joining their ranks and there was a greater number of adherents to the movement. With that there was an integration of people in the region thus forming the state.