Republic of Venezuela

Details

Organization Timeline

Bolívar’s Carúpano decree ties freedom to military service

📅 2 June 1816

Bolívar declared freedom for enslaved people in Río Caribe, Carúpano, and Cariaco, but men aged 14–60 had to enlist within 24 hours. Refusal could return a man and his family to servitude; women,...

Bolívar restates emancipation in the Ocumare proclamation

📅 6 July 1816

A month after the Carúpano decree, Bolívar issued a broader proclamation at Ocumare de la Costa promising freedom to enslaved people who joined the republican cause. Like other wartime emancipation...

Bolívar calls for abolition at the Congress of Angostura

📅 15 February 1819

In his inaugural address to the Congress of Angostura, Bolívar argued for the abolition of slavery and the proscription of privileges. The speech placed emancipation within the design of a new...

Congress of Angostura decrees gradual emancipation

📅 11 January 1820

Responding to Bolívar’s appeal, the Congress of Angostura adopted a gradual abolition measure. The measure framed emancipation as a process and accommodated owners’ claims to compensation. The gap...

Venezuela extends “free womb” service to age 21

📅 2 October 1830

After Venezuela separated from Gran Colombia, Congress revised the manumission law. Children born to enslaved mothers remained legally free, but the required service to their mothers’ enslavers was...