Slavery in Brazil officially ended on May 13, 1888, when the "Golden Law" was signed, abolishing slavery in all its forms. Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery. --Wikipedia
After slavery ended, Brazil launched a campaign called blanqueamiento, meaning to "whiten" the country. Between 1880-1930, over 4 million Europeans were brought in and interracial marriage was encouraged to reduce Black and Indigenous ancestry over time.
— ArchaeoHistories (@histories_arch) March 9, 2026
After slavery was… pic.twitter.com/FNvdBko8WR
After slavery ended, Brazil launched a campaign called blanqueamiento, meaning to "whiten" the country. Between 1880-1930, over 4 million Europeans were brought in and interracial marriage was encouraged to reduce Black and Indigenous ancestry over time.
After slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888, the country’s leaders feared the newly freed Black majority and sought to reshape the nation’s population. They promoted “blanqueamiento” (whitening), a state policy rooted in racist ideology that aimed to reduce the presence of Black and Indigenous people through immigration and mixing with Europeans. Between 1880-1930, Brazil encouraged the arrival of more than 4 million European immigrants, mainly Italians, Portuguese, Germans, and Spaniards, to work on plantations and in cities. The government believed that interracial marriage would gradually “dilute” African and Indigenous ancestry, producing a whiter population over generations. This policy was even supported by intellectuals of the time, who framed it as a path to “progress” and “modernization.”
