1718: African Slavery in the French and Spanish Colonies
The French brought the majority of African peoples from Senegambia (West Africa) and first settled them in the Louisiana area south of Missouri.
Cover of the French Issued Code Noir
These Africans were skilled in agricultural cultivation and thus suited the needs of the French economy in Louisiana. By 1746, 60 percent of the Louisiana population were made up of Africans (Smith, p. 15.).
After 1718, the French began importing African slaves to the Mississippi region in response to increasing needs for labor.
The French also enslaved Native Americans (unlike the Spanish who forbid the enslavement of Native Americans due to the belief that they were subjects of the Spanish Crown). However, because of their familiarity with the land, Native Americans were often able to escape, proving an unreliable labor source.
As their colonies became more reliant upon enslaved Africans, King Louis XIV of France passed the Code Noir, which has been viewed as one of the most extensive governance documents regulating slavery in the colonies.
The Code Noir provided mandates governing free Blacks, how slave owners could treat enslaved Africans, and the types of punishment allowed for addressing “unruly” slaves. It also mandated that all slaves (and subjects under French rule) convert to Catholicism. While harsh and denigrating, it did forbid the separation of African families, torture of slaves, and generally allowed for greater education of free Blacks. These distinctions, as well as the acknowledgement that Africans had souls that needed attention (hence the command to convert), set French slavery practices on a different course than British and Spanish slavery practices. (Stovall, p. 205)
When the Spanish assumed control of the area after the Seven Years War (also known as the French and Indian War) in 1763, the Code Noir continued to govern the enslavement of Africans.