Paper short abstract:

In my paper I intend to discuss the different meanings of D. José’s decrees on slavery and how they were transformed by nineteenth century Portuguese legal doctrine.

Paper long abstract:

In my paper I intend to discuss the different meanings of D. José’s decrees on slavery and how they were transformed by nineteenth century Portuguese Mps and jurists into an argument to i) invoke the presence of an old and almost theological ?abolitionist tendency? in Portuguese legislation on slavery (a tendency which, they claimed, had already made its presence in inner Portuguese legislation on the native people of Brazil, the Pombal´s decrees being a core moment of a previous historical process oriented towards abolition); ii) to state that, since 1761, there were no slaves in Portugal but only in its African possessions, where they were temporarily tolerated. The equivocal nature of these statements and the reasons explaining it will be core subjects in my paper.