Racial Equality, Slavery, and Colonial Secession during the Constituent Assembly
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23650119 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Geggus (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Pages | 27-46 |
| Publication date | 2022-11-28 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Atlantic Slave Trade (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.4324/9781003362647-3 |
| OpenAlex | W4310151980 |
| ISBN | 9781003362647 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
The colonial question in the French Revolution involved three broad issues: self-government for France’s overseas possessions, civil rights for their free colored populations, and the abolition of the slave trade and slavery itself. This chapter is primarily concerned with the pursuit in France of racial equality and slave emancipation. The colonial question has received remarkably little attention from scholars of the French Revolution. The Constituent Assembly sought to avoid the question of racial equality as well, but in a more devious manner and with frank embarrassment. In contrast to the antislavery debate, the cause of the gens de couleur libres—the free colored middle class of the colonies—was all but unknown in France. By May 1791, pro-colonial speakers faced a new degree of opposition on the floor of the Assembly, in its public galleries, and in the streets outside. In a sense, there are good grounds for neglecting colonial affairs in histories of the Constituent Assembly.
Colonialism · Colored · Emancipation · Embarrassment · French revolution · Opposition (politics) · Political science · Politics · Secession · European Political History Analysis · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law
| Citations per year | 0.27 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2011 - 2025 (15) |
| Highly cited | No |