O Homem de Côr opens a space for free Black political argument

Rio’s municipal code of postures regulated street life, commerce, sanitation, and public order. Such rules shaped the conditions under which enslaved people hired out their labor, including porters,...

On 7 April 1831, Pedro I abdicated the Brazilian throne amid political crisis and popular demonstrations in Rio de Janeiro. The abdication ushered in the Regency, a period of intense provincial...

On 7 November 1831, an imperial law declared that Africans brought into Brazil from abroad would be free and penalized those involved in the traffic. The law followed the 1826 treaty, but the state...

On 12 April 1832, the Regency issued regulations for carrying out the 1831 law against the slave trade. The decree gave police and judges procedures to investigate suspected trafficking and identify...

On 13 May 1833, enslaved people on farms owned by the Junqueira family began a revolt at Fazenda Campo Alegre in Carrancas. Led by enslaved people including Ventura and others whose names survive...

O Crioulinho began publication in Rio in the same charged political season as other Black periodicals. Its appearance shows that O Homem de Côr was not an isolated voice: printers and readers built...

The first issue of Brasileiro Pardo appeared in Rio de Janeiro. It criticized color discrimination and argued within the political language of the Regency period. Together with O Homem de Côr and...

The fifth and final issue of O Homem de Côr appeared on 4 November 1833, ending a short but consequential publication. The surviving papers show that Black political journalism confronted a racial...

On 7 January 1835, the Cabanagem began in Belém and spread into the interior of Pará. Indigenous, Black, and mestiço people joined a popular challenge to local elites and briefly took control of the...

During the early hours of 25 January 1835, Muslim Africans, largely Nagô, led an uprising in Salvador. Enslaved and freed participants coordinated across neighborhoods, sought to free the imprisoned...