The Legal Framework of the French to Administer the System of Slavery Within Their Caribbean Territories

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HST214 – A Survey Of Caribbean History Tutorial Presentation Topic: Critically assess the legal framework of the French to administer the system of slavery within their Caribbean territories * Name: Jailall Udan INTRODUCTION The French colonial empire consisted of a set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. France, in rivalry with Britain for supremacy, began to establish colonies in North America, the Caribbean and India, following the Spanish and Portuguese successes during the Age of Discovery. Some of these French colonies include: * Guadeloupe * Martinique * St. Kitts * Saint Domingue * Grenada * Dominica * Saint Lucia * Saint Martin Upon establishing these colonies the French realized a need to administer the resources in order to maximize the development of these colonies to compete with the British Empire and it was on this thought that King Louis XIV of France introduced the Code Noir (Black Code). The Code Noir (Black Code) The Code Noir was a decree passed by King Louis XIV of France in 1685, affecting all the French colonies, such as Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) that were involved in the sugar trade. It essentially codified slavery, eliminating slaves’ rights and defining them as property, made Roman Catholicism the only acceptable religion and ordered out all Jews (defined as “enemies of Christianity”). The Code’s sixty articles regulated the life, death, purchase, religion, and treatment of slaves by their masters in all French colonies. It stated that the slaves should be baptized and educated in the Catholic faith. It prohibited masters from making their slaves work on Sundays and religious holidays. It
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