In order to describe the reasons of the migration to Canudos it is important to understand what Canudos was and was not. The population of Canudos was not a group of religious fanatics that came together to throw off their oppressors. Instead it was a group of people seeking a viable and dignified existence in a time of economic and spiritual alienation. The people of Canudos were not a homogenous group of barbaric savages, but a cross section of the sertanejo population (Levine p.158). While Canudos did threaten the labor supply of the oligarchy and supported the monarchy, it was not violent in nature. It attracted such a wide range of followers because the main purpose was not to undermine the political or economic order, but to provide survival and safety for pious Christians. The development of Canudos can be seen as a "desperate, yet eminently practical, collective...