Manuel Congo is publicly executed after the Vassouras uprising

On 6 November 1837, the Sabinada began in Salvador as a rebellion against the Regency. Free Black and mestiço residents supported it as a chance to challenge discrimination, and enslaved...

A municipal posture required licenses for people working in the ganho economy, including enslaved and free workers. Licenses made street labor legible to authorities and exposed workers to fees,...

Around midnight on 5 November 1838, enslaved people at Fazenda Freguesia in the Vassouras region broke out of the quarters and moved to free their families. Manuel Congo, Marianna Crioula, and other...

At 10 a.m. on 12 November 1838, police forces captured Manuel Congo and Mariana Crioula, leaders identified in the records as the “king” and “queen” of a quilombo formed by people who had fled...

On 13 December 1838, a group of men attacked the jail at Vila da Manga in Maranhão, an event often used to date the start of the Balaiada. The wider revolt drew in poor rural people, Black...

On 8 August 1845, Britain passed the Aberdeen Act, authorizing British courts to try slave-trading vessels and crews under its interpretation of existing treaty rights. The act followed Brazil’s...

On 19 March 1849, enslaved builders at São José do Queimado in Espírito Santo rose after a promise of emancipation for constructing a church was not honored. Chico Prego, Elisiário, João da Viúva, and...

On 11 January 1850, Chico Prego was hanged publicly in Serra after being captured for his role in the Queimado uprising. Authorities used the execution to make an example of a leader who had mobilized...

On 4 September 1850, Law no. 581 strengthened the imperial state’s authority to suppress the landing of enslaved Africans brought into Brazil by sea. It came after decades of treaty promises and...

Law no. 601 of 18 September 1850 defined rules for public lands and regularizing existing occupation. It restricted new land claims through occupation alone and made purchase central to access to...