Industry, migration and the end of slavery in the 19th century — 11–13
Factories, workers, emigration and the stages by which slavery was abolished. History, 11–13 years.
Factories, trains and workers
In the second half of the 19th century Portugal industrialised slowly. Roads, railways — the first line opened in 1856 — and factories were built, mostly in Lisbon and Setúbal (canning, cork) and in Porto and Guimarães (textiles, tanneries). A new class appeared: factory workers, paid a wage, working long days in harsh conditions.
Why so many people left
Most Portuguese lived in the countryside, on small, poor plots, and many families could not live on what they grew. So many people moved to the industrial cities, and many others emigrated, mostly to Brazil, looking for work. The money emigrants sent home helped the families who stayed.
A typical case: from a Minho village to Brazil
Imagine a family from the Minho region (a typical case, not a real person). Step 1: the land yields little and there are many children. Step 2: the eldest son sails from Porto to Brazil, where he works in trade. Step 3: he sends money home every month. Step 4: with that money the family buys land and improves the house — and sometimes another brother leaves too.
The trap: abolishing slavery in a single day
Ending slavery did not happen in a single day. In 1836 the trade in enslaved people was banned in the colonies; in 1869 slavery was abolished across all Portuguese territory, but the formerly enslaved became “libertos”, obliged to keep working until 1878. And forms of forced labour continued in the colonies into the 20th century.
Where you can still see this today
You can still see this history in buildings such as historic railway stations, for example São Bento in Porto, and in museums such as the Museu do Trabalho Michel Giacometti in Setúbal, which keeps the memory of the canning factories. Emigration also continues: today more than two million Portuguese people live outside Portugal.
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