enslaved miners

Mining reform centralizes oversight of Brazil’s gold districts

📅 13 Mei 1803

A royal alvará reorganized mining administration and established mining boards to regulate the extraction economy. Gold and diamond production depended on enslaved labor, but African and...

Mining privileges protect mines and enslaved labor as property

📅 17 November 1813

An alvará extended privileges to small mines and protected mines, equipment, and enslaved workers from seizure by creditors under specified circumstances. Its language shows how the state secured an...

A royal alvará defines enslaved people as part of a mine’s protected assets

📅 8 Juli 1819

The alvará of 8 July 1819 clarified that a mine’s protected productive property could include enslaved workers, homes, mills, food stores, and draft animals. This legal framing preserved the owner’s...