Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the interaction between the abolition of slave trade and African slavery in Portugal and in European trading settlements in perceptions and practises of labour in Portugal and in Portuguese colonial Africa.

Paper long abstract:

The end of the slave trade to Europe and the progressive abolition of african slavery in Portugal and in Portugal's colonial possessions during the XVIII-XIX centuries occurred at the same moment when new labour contracts, first form of welfare states and new forms of racialization emerged in Europe. This paper discusses the interaction between these processes in perceptions and practises. A particular accent will be put on the evolution of the condition of free people of color and on the connections between Portugal, Gorée and the Portuguese settlements on the Petite Côte (Senegal).