RIO BRANCO LAW

also called Law of Free Birth, Portuguese Lei do Ventre Livre measure enacted by the Brazilian parliament in 1871 that freed children born of slave parents. The law was passed under the leadership of Jos Maria da Silva Paranhos, Viscount do Rio Branco, premier during 187173, and Joaquim Nabuco de Araujo, a leading abolitionist. Although the children were set free, the measure allowed the parents' owners to require such children to work until they reached age 21. The final success of the Brazilian abolition movement came in 1888, when slavery was finally abolished altogether without compensation to the owners. At that time approximately 700,000 slaves were set free out of a total population of about 15,000,000.