Golden Law

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.
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