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What caused the revolt in Sicily that led Giuseppe Garibaldi to launch the Expedition of the Thousand?

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Portrait of Giuseppe Garibaldi wearing a beret and cloak, with a full beard and mustache, looking toward the camera. — Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Garibaldi, c. 1860–82.

The revolt in Sicily that prompted Giuseppe Garibaldi to launch the Expedition of the Thousand in 1860 was driven by a combination of long-standing political and social grievances.

While there was limited evidence of widespread nationalist sentiment in the south at the time, the population suffered under the brutal persecution of the Bourbon rulers, which generated a deep-seated desire for change. Specifically in Sicily, this discontent was fueled by a bitter, age-old resentment toward being governed from Naples.1

These tensions were easily exploited by Francesco Crispi and other associates of Giuseppe Mazzini, who prepared and initiated the insurrection on April 4, 1860. Garibaldi, impatient with the cautious diplomatic approach of Piedmont’s leadership, seized upon this uprising as the catalyst to intervene, ultimately leading his volunteer force to the island to support the revolt and overthrow the Bourbon kingdom.21