Code Noir

The Code Noir was a decree passed by Louis XIV of France in 1685, affecting all the French colonies, such as Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and other French colonies in the Indian Ocean that were involved in the sugar trade.  It essentially codified slavery, eliminating slaves’ rights and defining them as property, eradicating all traces of African cultures by banning African drums and chants which the Mauritian slaves replaced with the Ravanne and the "Sega" was born.

Although there was some humanitarian intent, any benefit to slaves’ lives was minimal.  The decree remained in force until 1789 and the French Revolution.  The slaves of Haiti rebelled in 1791, gaining their freedom in 1804.

Alexandre Dumas père (1802-1870), author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, is connected to Haiti.  His father, a famous general, was born there in 1762 (to a French soldier and a Haitian slave woman).  Despite his success, Dumas was the victim of racism throughout his life.  He tackled the subject of colonialism only once, in a short novel Georges (1843), which he set in Mauritius. The cartoon below is titled: "The Quadroon Chef: Dumas concocting his bouillabaisse of romance."

The United States eventually created its own Code Noir: the One Drop Rule, which meant that anyone with "one drop" of African blood had to be considered Black. This unofficial rule was invented in the "free" northern states of the U.S. between 1830 and 1840, before spreading south. It had to be invented since inter-marriage had by this point eroded perceptible differences between White and Black.

However if we look at the "code noir" , in order of importance, some of these rules  includes the  following:

– All slaves to have Catholic religious instruction, a fine to be paid by the owner who defaults.

– Slaves can only be married with the consent of the owners.

– Children born to slaves belong to the owner of the mother.

– Slaves are considered as “movable property” and are included in any list of possessions to be bequeathed or shared.

– Slaves are forbidden to gather in any numbers—the punishment being either lashes with the whip or branding with the iron (known as the “fleur de lys”).

– The owner must continue to look after his elderly, infirm or sick slaves.

– Corporal punishment or even execution are the penalty for theft.

– No slave shall sell sugar cane, for any reason whatsoever, under penalty of a lashing.

It should not be forgotten that slavery was a worldwide economic system. Unesco has created its educational programme “The slave route” in order to shed light on this tragic phenomenon. The Sugar Adventure was determined to collaborate in this programme in order to bring our contribution of remembrance.