May 13, 1888

The law that freed people fit in two sentences.

From the date of this law, slavery in Brazil is declared extinct.Lei Áurea, Article 1. See the source

Article 2 only stated that any provisions to the contrary were revoked. The law ended there.

It says nothing about land, school, housing, income, work or reparation for those leaving slavery.

In Congress, the debate about money was a different one: whether the owners should be compensated. Senator Paulino de Souza called abolition the destruction of “a legal property without prior compensation.” The law passed without paying the owners anything. Five senators and nine deputies voted against it.

In December 1890, the government ordered the books and documents of slavery to be collected and destroyed, to block claims for compensation.