The purpose of this text is to reflect the history of Brazil based on work, whether enslaved or free, after an experience with basic education teachers who participated in an extension course in 2020. The remote mode allowed almost 100 teachers, for seven weeks, discuss the history of Brazil from the perspective of black men and women, whether enslaved or not, seen as workers and subjects of resistance and struggle for more rights and freedom. This dynamic was presented to the class, which was encouraged to incorporate the theme into their teaching practices. The text aims to think about Brazil from the perspective of workers, those who arrived with the Europeans, those who were enslaved, indigenous and Africans, and the others who lived in freedom and those of the Republic. In history teaching, this reflection on work appears little in the approach to the colony and the Empire, since slavery was predominant.
