Code Noir


The Code Noir was a decree originally passed by France's King Louis XIV in 1685. The Code Noir defined the conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire, restricted the activities of free Negroes, made Roman Catholicism religion compulsory, and ordered all Jews out of France's colonies.
The Code Noir governed many blacks in an often harsh slavery, but did not relieve the brutality of that slavery in many areas under French control. In some areas it resulted in a higher percentage of blacks being free people of colour than in the British system. Those freed were placed under restrictions by the Code Noir but on average they were exceptionally literate, with a significant number of them owning businesses, properties and even slaves.
The code has been described by Tyler Stovall as "one of the most extensive official documents on race, slavery, and freedom ever drawn up in Europe".

Context, origin and scope

International and trade context

At that time France was in competition with England which still had the Barbados Slave Code.
At this time in the Caribbean, Jews were mostly active in the Dutch colonies, so their presence was seen as an unwelcome Dutch influence in French colonial life. Furthermore, the majority of the population in French colonies were slaves. Plantation owners largely governed their land and holdings in absentia, with subordinate workers dictating the day-to-day running of the plantations. Because of their enormous population, in addition to the harsh conditions facing slaves, small-scale slave revolts were common. Despite some well-intended provisions, the Code Noir was never effectively or strictly enforced, in particular regarding protection for slaves and limitations on corporal punishment.

Legal context

Leonard Oppenheim, Alan Watson or Hans W. Baade were wrong to consider roman law was the basis of this new law.
In fact, this new law is based on the codification of previously applicable usages, decisions and rules used at that time in the Antilles.
This was shown by a Vernon Valentine Palmer study which described the process which led to the Édit de 1685 : 4 years, with draft and preliminary reports and the project of, and king's instructions, known by documents in public French archives
The king decided in 1681 the creation of a legal status for black people in the american islands, and asked Colbert to write it. Colbert gave the mission to the Martinique intendant, Jean-Baptiste Patoulet, replaced in july 1682 by Michel Bégon, and the gouverneur général des Antilles Charles de Courbon, comte de Blenac.
A king's Mémoire to Colbert, dated of 30 april 1681, shows the need of an Antilles specific ordinance when there is yet no more slaves in France, due to 11 July 1315 Louis X le Hutin decision.
At this time, there were still at least two common law status applicable in Martinique : French status, la Coutume de Paris, and aliens one. Soldates, nobles, or religious had specific status.
Additionally, the Édit du 1664 established the Compagnie des Indes occidentales which applied to Américan islands which superseded the Compagnie de Saint-Christophe '1626-1635) the Compagnie des îles d'Amérique.
Native people known as Indiens caraïbes had French status with same right than French people, only after their baptism in the catholic religion. It was forbidden to make them slaves.
Two sources of people were planned for: natural people and french origin people.
The 1664 Édit did not planned neither slavery nor import of Black people.
After the Compagnie française des Indes occidentales bankrupt in 1674, its insular territories come back into the Crown lands.
Martinique Conseil souverain decisions answered the absence of law related to slavery: in 1652, it considered the probition to make Domestic worker work on Sundays also apply to slaves ; in 1664, it require their Baptism and catechism involvment.
The Édit de 1685 recognize those slavery practices incompatible with both French laws and Canon law.

Origins

In his 1987 analysis of the Code Noir's significance, Louis Sala-Molins claimed that its two primary objectives were to assert French sovereignty in her colonies and to secure the future of the cane sugar plantation economy. Central to these goals was control of the slave trade. The Code aimed to provide a legal framework for slavery, to establish protocols governing the conditions of colonial inhabitants, and to end the illegal slave trade. Religious morals also governed the crafting of the Code Noir; it was in part a result of the influence of the influx of Catholic leaders arriving in Martinique between 1673 and 1685.

Versions and territories of application

The Code Noir was one of the many laws inspired by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who began to prepare the first version. After Colbert's 1683 death, his son, the Marquis de Seignelay, completed the document. It was ratified by Louis XIV and adopted by the Saint-Domingue sovereign council in 1687 after it was rejected by the parliament. It was then applied in the West Indies in 1687, Guyana in 1704, Réunion in 1723, and Louisiana in 1724.
The second and third versions of the code were passed by Louis XV at age 13 in 1723 and 1724.
In Canada, slavery received legal foundation from the king from 1689–1709. The Code Noir was not intended for or applied in New France's Canadian colony.
From the 18th century, Code noir referred to Codification of related texts.

Summary

In 60 articles, the document specified the following:

Rules about religion

The Code Noir is mentioned in , as it is mainly set in Port-au-Prince. The Assassin Adéwalé, formerly an escaped slave turned pirate, aids local Maroons in freeing the slaves of Saint-Domingue.
It is mentioned during the main story and also has its own database entry in the game which provides background on the Code Noir.