From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (July 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The Lei Áurea ("Golden Law"), adopted on May 13, 1888, was the law that abolished slavery in Brazil. It was preceded by the Rio Branco Law of September 28, 1871, which freed all children born to slave parents, and by Law Saraiva-Cotegipe, of September 28, 1885. The Lei Áurea had only two articles: Article 1: From this date, slavery is declared abolished in Brazil. Article 2: All otherwise dispositions are revoked. The succinctness of the Law aimed at making clear that there were no conditions of any kind to the freeing of all slaves. However, it had the side effect of not providing any support to either slaves or their owners to adjust their lives to their new status; for example, slave owners didn't get any State indemnification, as they claimed, and slaves didn't get any kind of compensation from owners or assistance from the State. Before Abolition of slavery, the slaves were prohibited from having assets or education; slaves were freed, but left alone with their own destinies. Without education or political representation, slaves faced many difficulties to gain economic and social importance in Brazilian society; this explains many of the social unequalities observed in Brazil until today.

The Golden Law was sanctioned by Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil (1846–1921), who was regent at the time, while her father, Emperor Dom Pedro II, was in Europe. For the second she was awarded the "Golden Rose" medal by Pope Leo XIII.

There were a number of reasons for the signing of the law, aside from the activities of abolitionists. Slavery was no longer profitable, with the wages of European immigrants, whose work conditions were poor, costing less than the upkeep of slaves, and the slowing of the incoming of new slaves – Brazil was the last country in the Western world to abolish slavery. The Brazilian government was also under pressure from Britain, that sought to put a stop to slave trade in order to expand production in its own colonies. One example is the sugar, produced both in Brazil and in the British colonies of the West Indies; the British strove to ensure that the Brazilians would get no advantage in the world markets by using slaves.

The Lei Áurea had additional effects besides the freeing of all slaves; bereft of slaves and lacking hands, the plantation owners (fazendeiros) had to recruit workers elsewhere and thus organized, in the 1890s, the Sociedade Promotora de Imigração ("Society for the Promotion of Immigration)". Another effect was an uproar among Brazilian slave owners and upper classes, resulting in the toppling of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic in 1889 – indeed, the Lei Áurea is often regarded as the most immediate (but not the only) cause for the fall of monarchy in Brazil.

• Schwartz, S. B. (1992). Slaves, peasants, and rebels: reconsidering Brazilian slavery. Blacks in the New World series. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252065492

• Slavery in Brazil, UNESCO Memory of the World programme