Essay # 4

Essay # 4

            The French were fond of the idea of helping free slaves when they came to France. There were many opportunities that gave slaves the possibility of possibly becoming free. The motivations of the individuals who were trying to help free slaves was not based on public opinion, instead most of the laws trying to help slaves were not passed by the court and caused a lot of problems for slaves. The motivations were a mixture of the freedom principle and individual’s personal agendas and views for France. The French attempted to help free slaves who set foot on French soil because of the chance for freedom and liberty, stronger commerce, and social equality.

            The freedom principle was something that the French’s political culture strived to achieve for slaves. Freedom and liberty in France was a hot topic for lawyers and magistrates working with the particular slaves position mentioned in “There Are No Slaves in France: The Political Culture of Race and Slavery in the Ancien Regime” by Sue A. Peabody. “By the end of the 1760s, then, two distinct routes to freedom had emerged within the Admiralty Court of France: petitions initiated by the slave (occasionally contested by the master), and manumission by the master, to be registered with the Admiralty Court” (Peabody, p. 92). Some of the important laws that were trying to be put into action in France that helped motivate the result of freeing of the slaves were the Edict of October 1716, Declaration of December 15, 1738 and the Declaration Pour la Police des Noirs August 9, 1777. Legislation did not go to the public for their opinion, meaning that laws were only seen at the institutional level of the French government officials and most of the surrounding courts. The public however knew the importance of the slave trade in their everyday lives.

            France was involved with the Atlantic slave trade as well as many other countries that relied on the work of slaves to help create items that could be sold at the market for French people to use at home. There are uncertain boundaries of Frances motivations to their own people and to the slaves who came to France. “…The only legitimate purposes for bringing black slaves to France was for them to receive religious instruction or to learn a trade” (Peabody, p. 81). The French knew that they needed to participate and reap the benefits of what the slave trade offered from other countries. But the French’s support in helping free the slaves seems contradictory if they are helping the slave trade continue with consumption of its products. It seems that France wanted to still have these materials and food items and wanted to somehow also have this façade of keeping up with their freedom principle. The political culture in France has been through its ups and downs but has promoted a great image of themselves when sending the message to others that there is no reason why slaves should not be free because they are just as human as the French people within France.

            The political culture meant well in its ideas of having social equality in France, but with it came many more slaves and restrictions trying to receive their freedom. Many of the lawyers and magistrates had a hidden agenda of political views and acted on them as the freeing of slaves motivations became less important in France. “…The population to be registered shifted from “slaves,” to “negroes and mulattoes” – a move from slave status to race” (Peabody, p. 74). Many of these individuals were racist in their views and tried to make laws about interracial marriages and other types of integration. Frances political stance on liberalism was celebrated with the principle of freedom and liberty with the French people in mind. Unfortunately the racial endorsement of freeing the slaves turned out to be something of a flop for the majority of slaves with all of its uncertainties that it was faced with.

            France dependence on the slave trade was crucial to the French people’s way of life either at the government level or the citizens living in this country. Legislator’s power struggle never made it to the court of Paris to help free slaves and was not enforced until later on. The French had good intentions of trying to free the slaves but could not get enough support to seal the deal. There were indeed slaves that were in France at the time during the 1700’s and 1800’s that did not receive their freedom and were sent back to their owners or the country they came from after a period of time. The possible political, social, and economical benefits seemed to in the end weigh more stress on the ability to actually free these slaves at this time.