This article deals on the problems related to the involvement of subordinate sectors in the Praiera Insurrection (184849) and the street demonstrations that precede. It tries to appraise this participation and investigate the probable motivations. Fifteen low and medium rank workers of the state apparatus and twenty-two craft workers were charged in the inquest. Among them, there were "persuasive elements" that lead meetings in their shops. The boldest ones even shot at the imperial troops in the Recife combat. The Praieira serves as the angle to study the client's compliance to the ruling network and the forming of grassroot leaderships able to mediate the relationship between the haute politique and the immediate interests of free deprived urban workers.
Praiera Insurrection; free workers; grassroots leadership