Historical Organization
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Organization Timeline
Imperial law regulates service contracts for free workers
📅 13 September 1830The law of 13 September 1830 regulated written service contracts by free Brazilian and foreign workers, with penalties for breach and provisions that could compel performance. It belongs to a wider...
A decree gives judges procedures to enforce the 1831 ban
📅 12 April 1832On 12 April 1832, the Regency issued regulations for carrying out the 1831 law against the slave trade. The decree gave police and judges procedures to investigate suspected trafficking and identify...
Imperial Law 4 intensifies punishment for enslaved people accused of harming owners
📅 10 June 1835On 10 June 1835, Imperial Law 4 prescribed death for enslaved people convicted of killing, poisoning, or seriously injuring an owner, overseer, or members of their households, and created expedited...
Imperial decree regulates service auctions for free Africans
📅 19 November 1835A decree revised instructions for auctioning the services of Africans designated free under the law against the transatlantic trade. These people were legally free but could be assigned long periods...
A decree sets procedures to seize ships involved in trafficking
📅 14 October 1850Decree no. 708, dated 14 October 1850, established procedures connected to the suppression of the slave trade, including the treatment of vessels suspected of illegal importation. The decree...
The Empire bars public auctions and display of enslaved people
📅 15 September 1869Decree no. 1,695 of 15 September 1869 prohibited selling enslaved people at public auction with a public cry and exhibition. The rule curtailed one degrading public practice but did not ban private...
The Empire abolishes judicial sentences of flogging for enslaved defendants
📅 15 October 1886Law no. 3,310 of 15 October 1886 revoked provisions imposing the sentence of lashes on enslaved defendants, including part of the 1835 law that had imposed this punishment for certain offenses. It...
Contract Law is adopted to regulate market transactions
📅 15 March 1999The law established a common framework for economic contracts and took effect in October. It supported a national market, although firms with capital and legal expertise were better placed to use it...