Chico Prego is executed after the Queimado uprising

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 4 September 1839, Manuel Congo was hanged in Vassouras after the trial of participants in the 1838 escape and uprising. Authorities denied him burial as an additional public punishment. The trial...

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 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...

Decree no. 708, dated 14 October 1850, established procedures connected to the suppression of the slave trade, including the treatment of vessels suspected of illegal importation. The decree...

Decree no. 731 of 14 November 1850 provided additional implementation rules for Law no. 581. Its place in the rapid sequence of regulations shows the imperial government building administrative...

Decree no. 731-A of 14 November 1850 set percentages of proceeds from seized trafficking vessels and their cargo, and from payments made after captures of Africans, for a Navy auditor and clerk....