On that day slavery was abolished but what is abolition? 1848, in France, during the Second Republic? 1863 in the Netherlands Antilles? Maybe 1865 in the southern United States or 1873 in Puerto Rico? Slavery was also abolished in 1886 in Cuba and in 1888 in Brazil. How many cancellations! These are actually legal texts and advertisements, but are they enforced?
On that day, it was 16 pluviôse second year – meaning on February 4, 1794 – did the world change when, by decree,mountain gathering Abolition of slavery?
Is slavery always present?
“It was believed that slavery had disappeared with the end of the Roman Empire, and this idea is wrong. Historians have already discovered, at least until the twelfth century, the existence of slavery, which was not slavery for blacks, in the European world. These slaves were enemies and poor people. Then slavery was popularized Thanks to the development of plantations, in particular the sugar cane that will appear at the end of the sixteenth century “, The historian explains Catherine Kukeri Fedorovich.
“At that time, perhaps since prehistoric times, the main tool, without today’s mechanization, was man, weapons. Therefore, the possession of a slave was the possession of a tool. Slavery spread greatly in all societies and not only in the context of relations between Europe, the Portuguese Originally, and America. In the sixteenth century, the prohibition of slavery on the Indians was something very innovative and exceptional, because normal life was slavery”, explain again Catherine Kukeri Fedorovich.
Abolition of slavery: a long history
The abolition of serfdom in 1794 is the product of a long history that did not begin in France, nor even in its colonies. It’s the first in 16th century Spain, by the sounds of Francisco de Vitoria Based on Bartolome de las Casas, that the arguments for slavery began to be called into question. At that time, the first abolitions occurred in the United States and the United Kingdom, at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Meanwhile, while Enlightenment philosophers Gradually transformed into the abolition of slavery, the rebellion gurgled in the French colony Santo Domingo. It’s good to flatter black military leaders, including Toussaint Louverturethat the island’s colonial authorities agreed to abolish slavery – a decision confirmed by Decree of 16 Blouvius a year later.
“In a very turbulent context, Santo Domingo, the main French colony in August 1791, experienced a rebellion of the Colored Leagues (descendants of freed slaves) and a slave rebellion. The situation would become out of control. People of color would have equal rights with whites in 1792 and would then try The containment of slaves without success.” says the historian Frederick Regent.
“The abolition of slavery is a long journey. In 1791, Toussaint Louverture did not demand the abolition of slavery. His first letters requested freedom for four hundred chiefs and better working conditions for others. At that time, no one imagined a world without slaves. Moreover, when slaves became free, They themselves became slave owners.continuous Frederick Regent.
Napoleon Bonaparte Soon he would bring back slavery in the French colonies – these practices continue even where they were abolished. It would take many political struggles throughout the nineteenth century to first abolish the Atlantic slave trade, and then slavery, to be effective. But here again, abolition does not solve everything: in the West Indies, “new citizens” are encouraged to return early to work for fear of being convicted of “vagrancy”, and new “contract workers”, given the conditions of life. Working near slavery, they were soon sent from Africa, China or India to take their place on plantations.
A real political and legal break, however, the abolition was circumvented for so long, that it was even used by its opponents; It was just a prelude to years of struggle to have its principles respected in practice.
to talk about it
Catherine Kukeri Fedorovich Historian, African specialist, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Paris. His work focuses on the political issues of colonialism as well as the concept of imperialism and capitalism in Africa.
Posted in particular:
Frederick Regent Historian and lecturer at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, at the Institute for the History of the French Revolution, where he leads the workshop on colonial truth. He specializes in slave societies in the French colonies from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
In particular, he has published:
Voices broadcast in the show
- Excerpts from the movie Valladolid controversy Directed by Jean-Daniel Verhagé in 1992, based on the novel of the same name by Jean-Claude Carrier.
- Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye archive, “main coordinator” of the House of Slave on the island of Gorée in the first programE ebony triangle 7 June 1982
- Music excerpts Negro freedom By Citoyen Piis, composed in 1794 by François Devian and performed by Gerard Friedman
- An archive on Toussaint Louverture was submitted to RFO on December 21, 1989
- Reading by Bakari Sangar of the Abolition of Slavery Decree of 1848 on the album Slavery Methods: 1444-1888 from 2016
- Excerpts from the movie simply black Directed by Jean Pascal Zadi and John Wax with Jean Pascal Zadi (Japan)
Show credits: The art of cutting and shaping paper by ronnie
