Historical Organization
colonial authorities
colonial authorities
Details
Organization Timeline
The first major Crown law restricts but does not end Indigenous enslavement
📅 20 March 1570On 20 March 1570, the Portuguese Crown issued a law that nominally protected Indigenous freedom while allowing captivity in “just wars” and certain other exceptions. Those exceptions gave colonists...
A law declares Indigenous people free while preserving colonial control
📅 30 July 1609On 30 July 1609, the Crown issued a law declaring Indigenous people in Portuguese America free and condemning unlawful captivity. The law’s language responded to documented abuses, yet colonial...
The Crown again prohibits Indigenous captivity in MaranhĂŁo
đź“… 1 April 1680On 1 April 1680, a royal law prohibited the captivity of Indigenous people in the State of MaranhĂŁo, including cases previously treated as exceptions. It ordered officials to free people held...
Royal report records an enslaved man’s escape from captors
📅 10 March 1684A report to the Crown discussed a dispute involving an enslaved Black man captured by an enemy and then escaped from that captor. The catalog description preserves neither the man’s name nor the final...
A royal law prescribes branding and mutilation for people in quilombos
📅 3 March 1741On 3 March 1741, Portugal issued an alvará ordering that Black people found living in quilombos be branded with an “F”; if already branded, an ear was to be cut off. The language reveals a state...
The Crown declares Indigenous people in Grão-Pará and Maranhão free
📅 6 June 1755On 6 June 1755, a royal law declared Indigenous people in Grão-Pará and Maranhão free, including their persons, property, and commerce. This was a major legal change after generations of Indigenous...