The creation of a myth

Abstract

How and why myths are created – whether they be about a person, a fact or a circumstance – and get established in History as being true. Brazil is fostering the myth of a hero, João Cândido, a humble sailor who confronted the government, leading to the abolition of the “cat of nine tails”, a form of punishment that used to be administered in the Navy. What caused the Revolt of 1910, supposedly led by João Cândido, how it developed, and his role in it. The Navy’s condition after the “amnesty”, with its ships unarmed, but in dangerous situation as it became dominated by radical elements. The second rebellion. The part João Cândido’s played in it. His profile and the press. The punishments. The myth. The inappropriateness of, in History, viewing a century ago from a present-day point of view.