Lei Áurea

The Lei Áurea was preceded by the Rio Branco Law of 28 September 1871 ("the Law of Free Birth"), which freed all children born to slave parents, and by the Saraiva-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 the Americas to abolish slavery.

Background

For over three centuries, Brazil's national economy relied heavily on slave labor, and the Transatlantic slave trade had been deeply ingrained in the country. Of the 10 million African slaves which were forcibly brought to the New World, 40 percent were brought to Brazil. By the mid-19th century, the slave population in Brazil was approximately 2-2.5 million, an increase from approximately 1 million enslaved individuals in 1822. This increase in the slave population was, in part, a result of increased production of coffee in the northeastern regions of Brazil.

Domestic and international pressure to abolish Brazilian slavery began rising decades before the passing of the Lei Áurea. In 1825, José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva, a crucial figure in the Brazilian fight for independence, began advocating for gradual abolition. The continued import of African slaves into Brazil was made entirely illegal following the British-Brazilian Treaty of 1826. The treaty promised British recognition of newly-independent Brazil in exchange for the criminalization of the Brazilian slave trade by 1830. The British Navy had also begun seizing slave ships in the Atlantic Ocean, and attacked a number of Brazilian ports. In response to British pressure, slave traders hurried to sell African slaves to Brazil before the ratification of the treaty. This resulted in a spike in the price of African slaves, and an increase in the slave ships travelling to Brazil. By the 1860's, slavery increasingly entered into the national political agenda. Emperor Pedro II came to the view that slavery could no longer be justified amidst increasing international isolation, and that its decline had to be gradual, so as to minimize economic shocks in a transition to free labor. Pedro II was also influenced by the American Civil War, writing in 1864 that the future of slavery in Brazil must be questioned in fear of internal conflict.

The Paraguayan War (1864-1870) was a significant factor in changing pro-slavery sentiment among Brazilian military members. Officers, having fought alongslide enlisted slaves, became increasingly skeptical of the institution of slavery, and less willing to fulfill the Army's order to find runaway slaves. The conflict, alongside growing positivist and republican philosophical movements, helped to push public sentiment towards modernization. Aside from the work of some 230 abolitionist organizations throughout the 1870's and 80's, there were economic factors making slavery increasingly unprofitable as a labor system. The Rio Branco (1871) and Saraiva-Cotegipe (1885) laws collectively limited the supply of African slaves, and thus their ability to meet agricultural and industrial demands. Landowners became increasingly desperate for alternative sources of labor, and thus focused on encouraging European immigration to Brazil. In 1886, the "Sociedade Promotora da Imgração" (Promotion of Immigration Society) was formed among private citizens through governmental contracts with the aim of encouraging European laborers to come to Brazil.