by Hélène Boulard
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What does slavery really mean?
Slavery has existed since the beginning of civilisation and was present in Ancient Greek, Roman and even Egyptian societies. Slaves were the property of their masters and bound to obedience. In the case of the West Indies, African people were forced to leave their homeland to work for their masters.
The Beginning of the Slave Trade
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In 1635, Pierre Belain Desnambuc, sent by the Cardinal de Richelieu, one of the founding fathers of the French colonial movement, colonized Martinique in the name of the French Nation. |
Around 1639, the American Island Company initiated the importation of both indentured servants and slaves, purchased along the African coast. Indentured servants were committed to a thirty-six month work contract. In those days, the population of Martinique was composed mainly of white people and their servants. Tobacco production was introduced into the island and required very few slaves.
In 1640, Jewish settlers from Holland came to the island, bringing the know-how and techniques necessary for sugar production. Sugar cane replaced tobacco as the principal crop of the Caribbean. This new crop made the island rich during the eighteenth century. The supply of manual labour being insufficient, the slave trade started developing.
Full-Scale Slave Trading and the Code Noir
The Dutch were the first to organize full-scale slave trading. The French followed shortly thereafter. Gore island, off the Senegalese coast near Dakar, was one of the French slave trading activity centres. Many ships left from Le Havre, Nantes, La Rochelle and so on, loaded with trinkets and cheap goods to exchange with the slave traffickers.
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Slave Trader
In 1685, Martinique returned to the French Royal Domain. Colbert, the Finance Minister under Louis XIV, codified a set of rules governing the status of slaves in the colonies called the Code Noir. Indeed, the Code Noir in Martinique dated back to 1661 when Colbert gave instructions to the intendant, Patoulet, regarding the treatment of slaves in the colony, but it was only on 6th August 1685 that these instructions were put into practice in Martinique.
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Rue Cases Nègres
Sugar production required 2 or 3 slaves per hectare. By this time, slaves outnumbered the free colonists. There were two major problems: a general rebelliousness among the slaves in various forms (revolts, poisoning, suicides) and a serious shortage of female slaves. The latter caused the colonists to begin importing African women. According to the Code Noir, a child acquired the status of the mother: a child born of a slave mother and a free father became a slave.
The Long Road to Emancipation
In 1789-90, in response to British threats against the island, the recently appointed Governor Rochambeau organised a militia and recruited slaves.
In 1793, following the French Revolution, the Convention, under pressure from Humanists like Abbot Gregoire and associations like Friends of the Blacks, proclaimed the abolition of slavery. Martinique refused to recognize the proclaimation. Moreover, the decree abolishing slavery, voted by the Convention on 4th February 1794, had no effect, due to the fact that the island belonged to the English at the time. This is in contrast to the situation in Guadeloupe, where slavery had already been abolished during the administration of the Prefect Victor Hugues. Nevertheless, slavery would be reintroduced in Guadeloupe on 19th May 1802, under Napoleon Bonaparte.
Then, from 1822 to 1826, economic deterioration brought on several incidents of rebellion among slaves and freed-men. In October, the rebellion of the freed population broke out in Carbet. Later, in 1830, sugar lost a third of its value while improving slave living conditions required increased government spending.
From 1845, the economy began to change. The first factory was built and the demand for manual workers encouraged the replacement of slave labour by paid labour. In February 1848, slaves welcomed news of the revolution with relief. The population was buzzing with excitement about freedom because the 'March 4th Decree' had established an Emancipation Committee. The Emancipation Bill was signed in Paris on 27th April, stating that No French territory should have the right to hold slaves any more. The bill was, however, only officially announced on 3rd June.
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Planters and Slaves
Meanwhile, the slaves, who had been anticipating freedom since the end of March, became more and more impatient to be free. Slave riots finally broke out on 22nd May. Spurred on by Victor Schoelcher, slavery was abolished the following day on 23rd May 1848.
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Victor Schoelcher
The Blacks broke and threw down their chains!