The fantasy that Brazil's trajectory has been fundamentally peaceful, marked by the cordial relationship between ethnic groupings and social classes, does not stand the slightest historical scrutiny. In fact, the history of violence in the Brazilian tropics begins with the bloody conflicts between indigenous villages. With the arrival of Europeans, the wars intensified, including alliances between French and Tupiniquins, fought by alliances between Luso and Tupinambás. And the fact is that the history of Brazil presents numerous (and serious) cases of armed confrontation. Blacks were the number one enemy of the slave system, contrary to popular belief. They promoted a rosary of rural uprisings and urban uprisings through centuries of slave rule. Palmares and the rebellions of the Males are glowing points of this spirit of refusal from captivity. But we also had other types of armed movements, such as the Cabanos War and the Canudos War, with Antonio Conselheiro's followers facing the Brazilian army. The Invention of Brazil program will focus exactly on this war dimension of our history.