Brazil's Golden Law

On 13 May 1888 Princess Isabel, regent for her father Pedro II, signed the Golden Law (Law No. 3,353), whose first article declared slavery extinct in Brazil, the last country in the Americas to abolish it. The law paid no compensation to the owners and gave no land or help to the freed, and the monarchy fell the next year.

The mechanism

RELEASE

How it was checked

• EvidenceT5 INDEPENDENT SECULAR; Status: ADDED 2026-09-19
• Letter eraTHE SEAT MOVES TO THE BENCH 1713 to 1945
• SourcesRECORD — EBSCO Research Starters, 'Brazil Abolishes Slavery'; Wikipedia, 'Lei Áurea' (the law's text; no compensation either way) · checked 19 September: Lei n. 3.353, de 13 de maio de 1888, official text, Presidencia da Republica (Planalto) (read in a browser)