The story in brief
For more than three centuries, Brazil is built by people taken by force from Africa, more than any other country in the Americas. From the Valongo wharf to Palmares, from Luiz Gama’s courtrooms to the rafts of Ceará, the story of those who fought for freedom. And of a two-sentence law that, on 13 May 1888, set people free and gave them nothing else.
The chapters
-
Chapter 1 · 5 min · Free
The Valongo Wharf
Under Rio’s asphalt, a stone wharf keeps the memory of hundreds of thousands of arrivals.
Sources: SlaveVoyages; Baquaqua, Biography (1854)
-
Chapter 2 · 5 min · Free
Palmares
For almost a century, in the hills of Pernambuco, people who fled the sugar mills lived free.
Sources: Relação das guerras feitas aos Palmares (1678)
-
Chapter 3 · 5 min
For the English to See
A law frees every African brought to Brazil. No one obeys it. Until a man once enslaved takes it to court.
Sources: Laws of 1831, 1850 and 1871; João José Reis
-
Chapter 4 · 5 min
The Abolitionists
Deputies, engineers, journalists and raftsmen. And thousands of people who simply walk away.
Sources: Joaquim Nabuco, O Abolicionismo (1883); Angela Alonso
-
Chapter 5 · 5 min
The Thirteenth of May
Two sentences end more than three centuries of slavery. And say nothing else.
Sources: Law 3.353 of 13 May 1888 (Golden Law)
Who’s who
The people you meet. Each one is a hero card you can collect.
- Mahommah Gardo BaquaquaSurvivor · Author · Escapee from Slavery
- Ganga ZumbaKing of Palmares · Negotiator · Lord of Macaco
- Luiz GamaThe Enslaved’s Lawyer · Poet · Journalist
- Dragão do MarRaftsman · Harbor Pilot · Hero of Abolition
- Princess IsabelImperial Princess · Regent · The Redeemer
- Zumbi dos PalmaresLast Leader of Palmares · Warrior · Hero of the Nation
What you’ll be able to tell
This story belongs to the journey “Independence and Empire”. By the end of it, you can tell why Dom Pedro gave his famous cry from the back of a mule, and why Brazilians say a law was made “for the English to see”.
Stories in this journey
- Dom Pedro I: Independence or Death
- The Golden Law: The End of Slavery
Sources
- Mahommah G. Baquaqua, Biography (1854)
- Law of 7 November 1831
- Eusébio de Queirós Law (1850)
- Free Womb Law (1871)
- Sexagenarian Law (1885)
- Golden Law (1888)
- Luiz Gama, letter to Lúcio de Mendonça (1880)
- Joaquim Nabuco, O Abolicionismo (1883)
- SlaveVoyages
