Final Emancipation and Lasting Legacies The culmination of this long process arrived on May 13, 1888, with the signing of the Lei Áurea, or Golden Law, by Princess Isabel. Early Restrictions and the Context of Human Bondage Long before the formal abolition movement gained momentum in Europe, Portuguese monarchs issued decrees concerning the treatment of enslaved people.
Portugal Gradual Emancipation and the 1875 Law That Redefined Slavery
Year Event Scope 1515 King Manuel I restricts enslavement of indigenous peoples. More importantly for the transatlantic trade, Pombal banned the importation of enslaved Africans into the Portuguese mainland.
This final decree abolished slavery in Brazil, the last major Portuguese colony to maintain the institution. Inspired by the British Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, Portugal passed the Saraiva-Cotegipe Law in 1875.
Portugal Gradual Emancipation and the 1875 Saraiva-Cotegipe Law
While this move was partly driven by economic strategy and a desire to redirect labor sources, it marked the first time Portugal legally challenged the foundation of the slave system itself. Treaties with Britain, which actively policed the Atlantic to suppress the slave trade, forced Portugal to take further action.
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