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For the French—as for the colonists from other countries—the establishment
of a prosperous colony could only be accomplished with manpower that was
hardy, obedient and free. This cynical point of view was reinforced by slave
trading with a large number of African countries.
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Gregor Brandmüller (1661-1691),
Treasures from America: a child in the arms of its black
wet nurse with her neck in a slave collar, representing Africa;
in the center, the Indian child symbolizes America, whose richness
is indicated by the treasures placed on the Indian woven basket,
which is presented by a European child (left) and one from Asia
(dressed in silk). This allegory dating from 1682, the year
in which Louisiana was given its name is doubtless the portrait
of the four children of an owner who made his money around the
world, to the detriment of Africa...
Musée du Nouveau Monde, La Rochelle
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From the 17th to the 19th century, 12 to 15 million slaves
were purchased in Africa in exchange for cheap jewelry, weapons and alcohol.
The slave trade was only economically profitable for the Europeans and,
later, the Americans. The position of these states was dictated solely
by their interests: it was ideologically justified by the supposed inferiority
of the black race, for which slavery brought the benefits of evangelization.
For its part, even though the Church frequently stated that the Indians
in colonized countries were human beings with rights, it never granted
the same privilege to blacks, even baptized ones. Nevertheless, it was
priests, such as Las Casas in Spain in the 16th century and Abbé
Raynal in France in the 18th, who raised their voices the loudest against
the slave trade.
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[1] Saint-Sauveur, Native costumes:
Slave merchants at Gorée, 1796
Bibliothèque des Arts décoratifs |
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[2] Slave shackles and collar
Musée d’Art africain, Lyon |
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In 1724, Louis
XV adapted the Code Noir for Louisiana. Since 1685 this code had regulated
the condition of slaves in the French Islands, notably forbidding interracial
marriage and sexual relations.
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Lassus, Slaves at work on the
Indies Company plantation, across from New Orleans (1726)
CAOM, DFC Louisiane 6A/71 |
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Even though there were social considerations attached to
the conditions of slaves, it was because of the trouble that this particular
merchandise could cause: revolts, runaways, and intermarriage. Only masters
could free slaves: in accordance with royal institutions, a master could
buy back a slave for his market value.
The humanitarian disaster of the black slave trade—which bled dry
an entire continent and corrupted not only relations between the West
and rest of the world, but also the way in which the East saw itself and
others—appears as a monstrous error of the colonial adventure. The
decree issued by the Convention banning slavery in 1794, or Jefferson's
abolitionist position starting in 1800, only found a concrete application
more than a half-century later.
In Louisiana as in other colonies, black slaves lived apart from whites
and Indians in "Negro camps". These camps had their own hospitals,
separate cemeteries and regularly placed observation posts for easy surveillance.
Strict regulations punished every unauthorized meeting, every lapse in
discipline and respect, and all sexual unions not approved of by the master.
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[1] De Batz, Slave camp of
the New Orleans Company, 1732
CAOM, DFC Louisiane 6B/91 |
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[2] De Batz, Slave hospital
of the New Orleans Company, 1732, (detail)
CAOM, DFC Louisiane 6C/92 |
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