Búzios revolutionary notices call for an end to slavery

On 3 September 1759, the Portuguese Crown promulgated a law proscribing and expelling the Society of Jesus from Portugal and its overseas domains. In Brazil, Jesuits had held extensive mission estates...

On 19 September 1761, an alvará prohibited transporting enslaved Black people from ports in the Americas, Africa, and Asia to mainland Portugal and declared those who arrived there free after the...

The royal alvará of 5 January 1785 ordered most factories and manufactures in Brazil closed, protecting metropolitan commercial interests. Coarse cotton production for enslaved people’s clothing was...

On 21 April 1792, Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, known as Tiradentes, was hanged in Rio de Janeiro for his role in the 1789 Minas conspiracy. He was the only one of the principal accused whose death...

On 12 May 1798, a royal charter abolished the Diretório in the captaincy of Pará and set out new rules for Indigenous people in colonial towns and settlements. It criticized abuses by directors and...

On 20 August 1798, two letters signed by “anonymous republicans” were found at Salvador’s Carmo religious complex. They urged a revolution and invoked equality, liberty, and popular fraternity....

On 27 August 1798, Joaquim José da Veiga, Joaquim José de Santana, and José Joaquim de Siqueira gave public denunciations identifying João de Deus do Nascimento and Lucas Dantas as conspirators. Their...

On 8 November 1799, colonial authorities hanged four participants in the Conjuração Baiana in Salvador: Lucas Dantas, Manuel Faustino, Luiz Gonzaga das Virgens, and João de Deus Nascimento. The...

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...

A Hausa-led uprising was planned to begin on 28 May 1807 during Corpus Christi celebrations. Enslaved workers in Salvador and the Recôncavo built communication links, raised money for weapons, and...