Felipe dos Santos and Pascoal Guimarães happened to be the first to face the authority of the Portuguese Crown. They were gold miners and rebelled against the establishing of the Royal Casting Mills and the levy of 20% on all extracted gold (called O Quinto- The Fifth). Both were men of considerable influence and carried with them fellow miners, military, clergymen and townspeople. The Sedition of Vila Rica, as the revolt came to be known in history, was violently crushed. Pascoal was condemned and had his properties burned down. The consequences on Felipe dos Santos were even harsher for he was sentenced to death by hanging. Some historians claim that his body was tied to horses and dragged along the streets, before being shredded into pieces. Horror generated the deepest and overwhelming fear that only in years to come would turn into an irresistible cry for freedom.

The Portuguese Crown's overreaction far exceeded the measure of its authority. It could certainly not be complacent, as it sought to perpetuate portuguese control on its distant and rich colony thousands of miles far from the metropolis. The royal authorities were dealing with tough and rude men, who were forged by their reciprocal cruelties, endless ambitions and the harshness of a beautiful but hostile territory. There were also those who did not want to pay taxes at all and took advantage of the turmoil to gain sympathy from the colonial society at large. Vila Rica had no childhood. It grew exceedingly fast. The Portuguese Crown knew better and seemed to foresee the demise of its power. It was necessary to cash in as quickly as possible before the expected finale some day in the future.

By 1783, gold production had already fallen considerably and was consistently going down. In Europe, Enlightenment and other philosophical thoughts had echoed in the minds of opinion leaders. And so, poets, jurists, military, clergy and even sectors of constituted authorities got involved in a libertarian movement in the colony. They wanted Minas Gerais' territory free from Portugal's ruling, they wanted a local university, establishing local industries... The upheaval's triggering signal would be the coming Derrama Tax Collection, the royal planned accumulated charging of all taxes in arrears, taking no account of the clear signs of exhaustion in the mines.

The upcoming revolution reached peak condition in 1789, however, it did not come out as planned. Treachery and the betrayal of fellow inconfidente Joaquim Silvério dos Reis put an end to the dream. Important people stepped back and denied involvement. Some were sentenced and entered history as the "inconfidentes", an intended contemptuous name. The criminal proceedings, named "Autos da Devassa", were opened. Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, nicknamed Tiradentes (Toothpuller, for his practical ability), was the only one to courageously and openly declare responsibility in the plot. He remained in prison for three years, as well as the other inconfidentes. He was also the only one sentenced to death, hang in 1792 and had his body dismembered and scattered along selected sites of Minas Gerais' trails where he used to preach his ideals in search of sympathizers for the planned revolution. His fellow revolutionary inconfidentes were sentenced to exile for life in other portuguese colonies in Africa.