Independence is proclaimed while slavery continues

On 13 November 1814 tribunal ruling documented the Haussá-led revolt and imposed harsh punishment on survivors, including whipping, branding, forced sale, and deportation. The ruling is a state record...

On 22 January 1815, Portugal and Britain signed a treaty prohibiting Portuguese subjects from trading enslaved people along the African coast north of the Equator. The measure constrained a portion of...

A royal charter approved statutes for the Cuiabá Mining Company. Shareholders were required to supply the enslaved laborers they had promised, or provide substitutes under the company rules; a failure...

On 6 March 1817, a republican revolt broke out in Recife against Portuguese royal authority. Its leaders challenged imperial government and pursued regional independence, yet many belonged to...

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...

On 25 March 1824, Pedro I imposed Brazil’s first constitution. It defined political membership and rights while leaving slavery intact; its language of citizenship did not make enslaved people free or...

On 23 November 1826, Brazil and Britain signed a convention committing Brazil to end the African slave trade after a three-year transition. The agreement became enforceable in 1830, but Brazilian...

On 17 December 1826, troops and militia attacked the Quilombo do Urubu, a community near Salvador that included fugitives, freed people, and Indigenous residents. Contemporary police correspondence...

The imperial law of 1 October 1828 reshaped municipal councils and assigned them responsibilities in local administration, including public works, markets, streets, and public order. In slaveholding...

The 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...