Buttons and Blood, or, How to Write an Anti-Slavery Treatise in 1770s Paris
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11347123 |
|---|---|
| Authors | April G Shelford (American University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 747-770 |
| Publication date | 2015-08-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History of European Ideas (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0191-6599 • E-ISSN: 1873-541X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01916599.2014.983440 |
| OpenAlex | W2003502448 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
This article contributes to our understanding of the rise and nature of French anti-slavery thought through a close analysis of ‘Observations sur les Négres esclaves’, an essay written by Jean-Baptiste-Christophe Fusée-Aublet (1720–1778) and published in his Histoire des plantes de la Guiane françoise (1775). A botanist, Fusée-Aublet worked in the Isle de France (now Mauritius) and French Guiana during the 1750s and 1760s in service to the Compagnie des Indes. A close comparison of a surviving draft and the published essay shows how he drew on his observations of colonial slavery, east and west; how he responded to contemporary intellectual currents and publications critical of slavery; and how he modified his draft for publication to satisfy the expectations of a metropolitan audience. Reflecting the influence of Rousseau, both versions combined a withering critique of French empire with a spirited, quasi-ethnographic defence of the moral character and culture of Africans. After detailing his travels and the evolution of his antipathy to slavery, the article details how Fusée-Aublet combined sentimental and economic arguments to craft an essay whose themes engaged with larger debates over luxury and political economy, citizenship and patriotism
Ancient history · Art · Citizenship · Colonialism · Craft · Empire · Ethnography · Literature · Patriotism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropology · Classics · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · European Political History Analysis · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,18 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2018 (4) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |