 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Lei Áurea" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Portuguese. (May 2021)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
| Lei Áurea Golden Law | |
|---|---|
 Manuscript of theLei Áurea Brazilian National Archives | |
| General Assembly of the Empire of Brazil | |
| Citation | Law No. 3,353 of 13 May 1888 |
| Territorial extent | Empire of Brazil |
| Passed by | Chamber of Deputies |
| Passed | 10 May 1888 |
| Passed by | Senate |
| Passed | 13 May 1888 |
| Signed by | Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil |
| Signed | 13 May 1888 |
| Legislative history | |
| First chamber:Chamber of Deputies | |
| Introduced by | Rodrigo Augusto da Silva |
| Introduced | 8 May 1888 |
| First reading | 10 May 1888 |
| Passed | 10 May 1888 |
| Second chamber:Senate | |
| First reading | 11 May 1888 |
| Second reading | 13 May 1888 |
| Passed | 13 May 1888 |
| Summary | |
| Declares slavery extinct in Brazil. | |
| Keywords | |
| Abolitionism in Brazil,Slavery in Brazil | |
| Status: In force | |
TheLei Áurea (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈlejˈawɾiɐ]; English:Golden Law), officially Law No. 3,353 of 13 May 1888, is the law that abolishedslavery in Brazil. It was signed byIsabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil (1846–1921), an opponent of slavery, who acted as regent to EmperorPedro II, who was inEurope.[1][2]
TheLei Áurea was preceded by theRio Branco Law of 28 September 1871 ("the Law of Free Birth"), which freed all children born to slave parents, and by theSaraiva-Cotegipe Law (also known as "the Law of Sexagenarians"), of 28 September 1885, that freed slaves when they reached the age of 60. Brazil was the last country in theWestern world to abolish slavery.[1]
Aside from the activities ofabolitionists, there were a number of reasons for the signing of the law: slavery was no longer profitable, as the wages ofEuropean immigrants, whose working conditions were poor, cost less than the upkeep of slaves, and the decline in the arrival of new slaves.
The text of theLei Áurea was brief:[3]
Art. 1.º: É declarada extinta desde a data desta lei a escravidão no Brasil.
Art. 2.º: Revogam-se as disposições em contrário.
(Article 1: From the date of this law, slavery is declared extinct in Brazil.
Article 2: All dispositions to the contrary arerevoked.)
The succinctness of the law was intended to make clear that there were no conditions of any kind to the freeing of all slaves. However, it did not provide any support to either freed slaves or their former owners to adjust their lives to their new status: slave owners did not receive any state indemnification, and slaves did not receive any kind of compensation from owners or assistance from the state.
Before the abolition of slavery, slaves were prohibited from owning assets or receiving an education; but after being freed, former slaves were left to make their own way in the world. Without education or political representation, former slaves struggled to gain economic and social status in Brazilian society.
TheLei Áurea was authored byRodrigo A. da Silva, then Minister of Agriculture in the cabinet headed by prime ministerJoão Alfredo Correia de Oliveira, and member of the Chamber of Deputies. After passing both houses of theGeneral Assembly, it was sanctioned by Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil (1846–1921), who was regent at the time, while her father, emperor Pedro II, was in Europe.
The Golden Law was signed by the princess imperial and countersigned by Rodrigo A. da Silva, in his capacity as Minister of Agriculture. Princess Isabel, who was a staunch supporter of the abolitionist movement, was awarded theGolden Rose byPope Leo XIII and minister Rodrigo A. da Silva received honors from the Vatican, France and Portugal. In August 1888 Rodrigo A. da Silva went on to be chosen for a lifetime seat in the Senate of the Empire.
TheLei Áurea had other consequences besides the freeing of all slaves; without slaves and lacking workers, the plantation owners had to recruit workers elsewhere and thus organized, in the 1890s, theSociedade 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 themonarchy and theestablishment of a republic in 1889 – theLei Áurea is often regarded as the most immediate (but not the only) cause of the fall of monarchy in Brazil.
| General topics | .svg) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monarchy | |||||
| Politics |
| ||||
| Military |
| ||||
| Slavery |
| ||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
