Giuseppe Garibaldi:
The Red Gaucho
HIST 230: Modern Latin America
Why the Red Gaucho?
• Ever wonder why liberals, socialists, and
communists are associated with the color
red?
• Just sit back and let me tell you a
wonderful story.
Garibaldi - the Hero
• Pictured is the
Garibaldi Monument
in Washington Square
Park, New York City.
• Garibaldi was offered
command of the
Union Army by a
desperate Abraham
Lincoln in 1862. Why?
•http://www.reformation.org/garibaldi.html
Beginning at the End
• Giuseppe Garibaldi is known as the Hero of the
Risorgimento, the unification of Italy in the 1860s
(because):
• Italy was united in 1861 with the capitulation of
the Papal States (after):
• Garibaldi led an army of volunteers, the
Thousand, in an invasion of Italy, wearing red
shirts. After conquering Sicily and the Kingdom
of Naples, Garibaldi handed over southern Italy
to Victor Emmanuel, King of Sardinia-
Piedemont.
The Long Road
• But in truth, this was Garibaldi’s third attempt at
unifying Italy.
• As a youth, Garibaldi learned seafaring from his
father, traveling to exotic ports of the
Mediterranean and Black Seas.
• Enlisting in the Sardinian Navy, Garibaldi fought
in the abortive attempt to unify Italy in 1834.
• Barely escaping with his life, he lived under an
assumed name for two years in Marseilles,
France.
Latin American Roots
• Having fought in an abortive revolution in Italy in
1834, Garibaldi goes into exile in Brazil. Buys a
ship to earn a living as a trader.
• Volunteers to fight with his ship for the fledgling
Republic of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil).
• After the defeat of the Uruguayan Army,
organizes the Italian Legion from freed slaves
and European immigrants.
• Defeats the Argentine Army of dictator Rosas,
ensuring Uruguayan independence.
Garibaldi - the Revolutionary
• Pictured is Guiseppe
Garibaldi wearing his
trademark gaucho
costume with a red shirt.
• Nicknamed El Diablo,
Garibaldi learned to fight
an unconventional war
while in South America.
•http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rodcuff/garibald.htm
The Story of the Red Shirts
• During the fight for Uruguayan
independence, Garibaldi purchased in bulk
red shirts which had been made for
butchers in Argentina.
• The red shirts were issued as a military
uniform to identify friendly combatants and
to make anyone who fled from the battle
stand out.
Anita - the loving wife
• Garibaldi’s constant
companion, Anita is
said to have fought like
a man, killing three
men during a battle on
her wedding night.
• Anita is said to have
given birth four times
while in the saddle.
•http://www.reformation.org/garibaldi.html
Garibaldi - the Revolutionary
• Pictured is Giuseppe
Garibaldi, the guerrillero.
Note again the red shirt.
• Noted for his audacity,
European armies were ill-
prepared to meet his
unconventional tactics.
•http://www.reformation.org/garibaldi.html
Anita Dies (1848)
• Pursued by 100,000
men of the Papal
Army, Garibaldi
escapes to
Piedmontese.
• Pregnant and ill, Anita
is carried on
Garibaldi’s back; but,
dies on the beach.
•http://www.reformation.org/garibaldi.html
Defeat in 1848
• Garibaldi returned to Italy with 100 plus Italians
from South America in 1848.
• Fought in the social revolutions of 1848 which
were influenced by Karl Marx.
• Note: Concurrently, revolutions were ongoing in
Germany and other European principalities.
• Fled to New York City where he worked in a
candle factory, becoming an American citizen.
Garibaldi (the Legacy)
• hjh. • Garibaldi at
the Battle of
Calatafimi,
Sicily, in
1860.
• Note the red
shirts.
http://www.italiankits.it/history.html
Garibaldi - the Socialist
• Pictured is Giuseppe
Garibaldi by the time
of Italian unification.
• Garibaldi’s greatest
adversary was the
Pope and the Papal
States, which
prevented Italian
unification for years.
•http://library.thinkquest.org/19592/Persons/garibald.htm
Garibaldi: Hero of Two Worlds
• Pictured is the
Garibaldi Monument
in Rome.
• Italian-American,
socialist, agnostic
Catholic,
revolutionary.
• Hero of two worlds.
•http://www.reformation.org/happy_birthday_america.html