SlaverySlavery, as the main formSlave" \r "aa3 of labor and accumulation of Brazilian economy until the end of the nineteenth century, was decisive in the constitution of a free and salaried labor market during and after the slavery period. While this fact already is widely accepted by the economic community, the ways in which this interference on slave labor affected the earning potential of salaried workers still needs to be further detailed. This research makes use of a wide range of sources, such as post-mortem inventories, note books, newspapers, population and electoral censuses, work contracts, and others, to demonstrate how, in one of the largest coffee-producing municipalities of the country during the end stretch of the nineteenth century (Juiz de ForaJuiz de Fora, province of Minas GeraisProvince of Minas Gerais), slavery conditioned the income levels of all free workers, whether they were tied to the rural sector, the urban one, domestic, general services, artisanal or industrial sectors. The earnings of free workers divided by gender, age, and specialization followed the estimated revenue of slave workers in the same categories. Following the post-abolition period, the perpetuation of these categories of revenue would be an important way of accumulation for local owners, maintaining a high concentration of income, as seen in various regions of the country.