8 - Slavery, resistances, abolitions Flashcards
slavery : a comprehensive system
> Philosophical political economic and industrial, social and cultural matters
> key element in eco dev (plantation complexes, triangular trade, “king cotton”)
system based on pure violence.
An old phenomenon
spe orga w codes and rules
eg French Code Noir 1685
people knew
“resistances to slavery”
> > proved that the idyllic picture portrayed about slavery was absurd
Refusal / lack of commitment to work
Poisoning of masters/cattles
Assassination
Refusal to give birth, abortions, killed new-borns so that they didn’t live in the same conditions
Suicide
Escape (maroon societies)
revolts and even insurrections eg : Makandal (mid 18th), Boukman in Saint-domingue (1791)
cultural resistance
meaningful even if not necessarily successful
ban of slave trade young US
1 January 1808 by federal law
+ congress controls human trafficking, still controversial and smuggling
French Revolution and its limits
– 1794: the Convention abolishes slavery - first country to do so (replaced by forced labour)
– May 1802: Bonaparte reinstates slavery
3 names 3 debates
William Wilberforce
Abraham Lincoln
Victor Schoelcher
abolition
abolitionists
abolitionism
Britain leader of the abolitionist movement
first target : slave trade - cf William Wilberforce
1807 : law bans slave trade
> 28 treaties in 33y with other countries to influence them
> enforced thanks to hegemony of Royal Navy
1810s-20s : Liberals and Anti-Slavery Society and Ladies’ associations
» Some positive measures to improve the living and working conditions of the enslaved people
But no hesitation to enforce a harsh repression when deemed necessary (British West Indies++)
1830: still 650,000 slaves in the British West Indies.
1838 : complete and definitive emancipation
European institutions and slavery
> Congress of Vienna (1815): first international disapproval of slavery
Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (1818): banning of slave trade by Austria, Prussia, Russia, France (and Britain)
FRANCE
1815 : “One Hundred Days” : banning of slave trade
» confirmed by treaty of Paris (1815) and an ordinance (1817)
Still some smuggling until real serious measures were taken in 1827
July monarchy : debates modernizing or banning “Code Noir”
1848 : abolition in French colonies
LATIN AMERICA
At first, collusion between partisans of independence and slavers , independendists actually in favor of slavery
> > Then a reversal (Bolivar and others): decision to use the slaves’ aspirations for freedom as a complementary tool in the struggle for independence
Slavery in the US
Surrounded by abolitions, led to a further increase of internal tensions and unrest and on the determination of enslaved people’s resistance in the south
attempts of revolt mercilessly crushed, reaction of owners»_space; federal law about chasing of escaped slaves
1815+ : Underground Railroad (to help escapees on their way to the north of the USA and even to Canada)
IN THE SOUTH / NORTH
Abolitionists : - at first very few
- divided : global immediate vs gradual emancipation
- what to do with to-be former enslaved people
What status for the new states ?
“Free state” or “slave state”
Balance of pw between north and south at stake
Slavery in the US - SOUTH
> “King cotton” at the center of the economic activity
4M enslaved people
slavery so profitable that it led to poor machinery and nearly no diversification
limited development of middle classes and industrial revolution
Slavery in the US - NORTH
> industrial revolution (textile then metal)
active policies in favor of economic growth and of middle classes
Urbanization and communication routes
Important growth of the population
Various campaigns, notably for the abolition of slavery
