Violence for ShowThe young gaucho culture would fight for honor with long knives called a facon. Usually the fight was to save face in a public place sometimes in a Pulperia. Violence was expressive and a measure of their masculinity and success.

Carlota Lucia de Brito, a woman living in a tough society of northeast Brazil in the 19th century. A strong survivor of drought, dead crops and destroyed Fodder. Men would leave their wives and children and turned into Bandits. Carlota would be involved with political scandal, murder and defy social norms by not marrying the politically powerful man with which she lived. She stayed single in order to move upward and would fight against the standards of accepted authority. A woman before her time.

A story of two gauchos, Cardoso and Silveira, living as neighbors and farmers and not at all fond of each other. They would be drafted into the Army and would fight side by side, still with the attitude of despise. They were captured by the enemy and all prisoners would have their throats slashed. These two gauchos had been known for their hatred for each other so the ruling commander decided to make a sport of their death. They were told to walk as far as possible after being cut, to see who would survive the longest. The two would have their necks cut, one from ear to ear, the other small but deep, both doomed to die. Cardoso would throw his arms forward as if to win but really there were no winners. The brutality of war coupled with the attitude of ‘macho man’.

September 17, 1862 the battle of Antietam had begun. General Lee took a stand against General McClellan. If the Union was to win this battle President Lincoln would announce the Emancipation Proclamation. Shoulder to shoulder men would march in ‘boxes’. Killing was intense and thousands lost their lives that day on both sides, a total of 23,000. It would be a draw.

In 1849 the California gold rush was in progress. California was dominated by the Democratic Party. The state legislature enacted a bill to try and split California in half but the Republican Congress said no. California would be admitted as a Free state in 1850. All filibuster efforts to create another slave state, like the battle for Cuba, were in vain. Minnesota, Oregon and Kansas would also become free states. California would be loyal to the U.S. and gold would help finance the Union effort.