Portuguese Ban on Slave Trade

Background. Portugal had been a leading participant in the Atlantic slave trade since the 15th century, when its explorers established trading posts on the African coast dealing especially in gold and slaves. By the mid-18th century, the kingdom's slave commerce was administered through royal institutions in Lisbon, the Casa de Guiné and the Casa dos Escravos.

Pombal's Ascendancy. The 1755 earthquake and tsunami, one of the kingdom's worst recorded natural disasters, devastated Lisbon and destroyed the fiscal records of the Casa de Guiné and the Casa dos Escravos. In the aftermath, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, emerged as the country's de facto ruler, positioning him to reshape Portuguese policy.

The 1761 Ban. In 1761 the Marquis of Pombal banned the importation of African slaves to Portugal and Portuguese India. The measure was not intended as an anti-slavery measure; rather, it aimed to ensure that enslaved Africans were sent to Brazil instead, a trade Pombal encouraged with his support and direct involvement.

Legal Status and Limits. The 1761 prohibition applied to European Portugal's import of black slaves, but it did not end slavery itself: slavery in Portugal was only abolished in 1869, and Portugal's involvement in the Atlantic slave trade continued until 1836. The ban therefore redirected rather than dismantled the Portuguese slave system.