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So this was met by a triangular slave trade between Europe,
Africa and the Americas. The slave trade began in the seventeenth century. French
merchants sailed from the ports of Bordeaux or Nantes to the African coast, where
they bought slaves from local chieftains. Branded and shackled, the slaves were
packed tightly into ships for the three-month long voyage across the Atlantic
to the Caribbean.
There they were sold to
plantation owners. The exploitation of slave labour made it possible to meet
the growing demand in European markets for sugar, coffee, and indigo. Port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes owed
their economic prosperity to the flourishing slave trade.
Throughout the eighteenth
century there was little criticism of slavery in France. The National Assembly
held long debates about whether the rights of man should be extended to all
French subjects including those in the colonies.
But it did not pass any laws, fearing opposition from businessmen whose incomes
depended on the slave trade. It was finally the Convention which in 1794 legislated
to free all slaves in the French overseas possessions. This, however, turned
out to be a short-term measure: ten years later, Napoleon reintroduced slavery. Plantation owners understood their
freedom as including the right to enslave African Negroes (A term used for the indigenous
people of Africa south of the Sahara. It is a derogatory term not in common use
any longer) in pursuit of their economic
interests. Slavery was finally
abolished in French colonies in 1848.
"Why are Black people enslaved? The color of people's skin only suggests a slight difference. There is no discord between day and night, the sun and the moon and between the stars and dark sky. All is varied; it is the beauty of nature. Why destroy nature's work?"
Olympe de Gouges, Reflections on Black People, 1788
Go to :
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap8a.html
The Code Noir (The Black Code)
The Code noir initially took shape in Louis XIV’s edict of 1685. Although subsequent decrees modified a few of the code’s provisions, this first document established the main lines for the policing of slavery right up to 1789. The very first article expels all Jews from the colonies; Jews played a significant but hardly dominant role in the Dutch colonies of the Caribbean region but were not allowed to own property or slaves in the French colonies. The edict also insisted that all slaves be instructed as Catholics and not as Protestants. For the most part, the code concentrated on defining the condition of slavery (passing the condition through the mother not the father) and establishing harsh controls over the conduct of those enslaved. Slaves had virtually no rights, though the code did enjoin masters to take care of the sick and old.
but masters openly and consistently broke the code, and local legislation reversed parts of it throughout the 18th century.
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