Manumission without liberation: the practice of “rescuing” African captives in the French colonial space in the 19th century
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5007/1984-9222.2011v3n6p93Keywords:
Redemption, Slave emancipation, involuntary migration, French EmpireAbstract
Manumitting without freeing: African slaves' redemption in the French colonialempire in the nineteenth century.The article presents “rachat” (redemption) of enslaved Africans in the French Empire beforeand after second slave emancipation in the colonies. The system aimed at supplying laborersto the plantations of Reunion Island, French Guiana and the French Caribbean islands and waslegally framed around manumission: laborers were “freed” on the condition of migrating andworking for a number of years. It operated without the formal consentment of the Africanlaborer to the terms of contract. The article demonstrates that the system of redemptionbenefitted from the structures laid down by the slave trade in Africa and was sanctioned bythe French government, even after abolition.
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