Western Civilization - History Of European Society

The Social and Economic Structure of the Old Regime 327

Royal decrees abolished the slavery of American Indi-
ans (1755) and Asians (1758), then freed any African
slave brought into Portugal (1761), and finally emanci-
pated all African slaves held in Portugal (1773). But

these decrees permitted the continuance of the slave

trade and the perpetuation of African slavery in the

Portuguese colony of Brazil, where it continued until

1888.

Total Slave Percentage

Region population population in slavery

Spanish colonies 12,144,000 290,000 2.4

Mainland 12,000,000 240,000 2.0

Caribbean 144,000 50,000 34.7

British colonies 2,600,000 878,000 33.8

Mainland 2,100,000 450,000 21.4

Caribbean 500,000 428,000 85.6

Portuguese Brazil 2,000,000 700,000 35.0

French Caribbean 430,000 379,000 88.1

Dutch Caribbean 90,000 75,000 83.3

Danish Caribbean 25,000 18,000 35.0

Total, Mainland colonies 16,100,000 1,390,000 8.6

Total, Caribbean islands 1,189,000 950,000 79.9

Source: Adapted from data in Robin Blackburn, The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, 1776–1848(London: Verso, 1988), p. 5.

TABLE 17.5

Estimated Slave Population of European Colonies in the Americas, 1770