Government distributes 50,000 pesos among manumission funds

On 29 November 1851 the provincial deputation of Barquisimeto set aside 10,000 pesos for enslaved people’s freedom. The initiative made emancipation a public budget question but still routed payment...

A circular dated 23 September 1852 asked for quarterly returns on manumisos placed in apprenticeship. The paperwork tracked people whose legal status was described as free while their labor remained...

On 24 September 1852 the Interior ministry requested registers of enslaved people from named governors. The census order made the remaining enslaved population legible to the state as the government...

A Caracas order dated 25 September 1852 requested a table of enslaved people manumitted during the previous Easter period. The request reflects the limited, scheduled operation of manumission...

On 10 December 1852 the Caracas provincial deputation issued an agreement asking Congress to pass a law abolishing slavery. The appeal came after decades of gradual manumission that freed relatively...

A circular dated 30 April 1853 reminded governors that the law barred bringing enslaved people into Venezuela, including as personal servants. Its publication in the Gaceta de Venezuela on 29 May...

On 10 March 1854 President José Gregorio Monagas addressed Congress during debate over abolition. He urged passage of a just law while insisting that abolition not violate slaveholders’ property...

The House approved an abolition decree by a large majority after years of petitions and debate. Arguments centered on ending slavery while compensating enslavers for their alleged property losses. The...

The Senate approved the abolition measure, completing congressional passage. The law declared slavery abolished forever and ended the legal service obligation of manumisos, but it compensated...

President José Gregorio Monagas signed the law, which stated that slavery was abolished forever in Venezuela and freed manumisos from compulsory service. It also barred the importation of enslaved...