The second decree abolishing slavery in France was signed on April 27, 1848, by the Provisional Government of the Second Republic.

The decree was issued 46 years after the reinstatement of slavery under Napoleon. Promoted by Victor Schœlcher, it definitively abolished slavery in French territories, freeing 251,019 people, and provided compensation to former slave owners for the financial losses resulting from emancipation.

First abolitions of slavery

In metropolitan France In France, slavery was abolished in the continental kingdom by Louis X through the , which declared that all individuals are born free and that servants within the kingdom were to be freed. Under this edict, any enslaved person entering the kingdom was granted freedom.

In 1642, King Louis XIII authorized the trade of enslaved Africans, limited to the French Antilles and not applicable to metropolitan France. In 1671, Louis XIV explicitly permitted the triangular trade, allowing the ports of Bordeaux, Nantes, and La Rochelle to participate in the transatlantic slave trade to the colonies. This regulation did not affect the prohibition of slavery in metropolitan France.

The principle of the “” was challenged in the 18th century, as planters opposed legal precedents granting freedom to enslaved people arriving in metropolitan France. In response to lobbying, declarations issued in 1716, 1738, and 1777 allowed owners to bring enslaved individuals into metropolitan France while retaining their status, provided certain administrative requirements were met, including payment of a tax and registration with the Admiralties.

In the colonies

In 1791, the Constituent Assembly reinstated the principle of the privilege of the land of France through the law of 28 September, which declared that all individuals were free upon entering France.

The first emancipation of enslaved people in the colonies occurred in Saint-Domingue on 29 August 1793, initiated by Civil Commissioner Sonthonax.

The law of 4 February 1794 (16 Pluviôse Year II) was the first decree to abolish slavery throughout the French colonies, although its implementation was uneven.

The law of 4 February 1794 was repealed by the law of 20 May 1802. Napoleon Bonaparte did not reinstate slavery in Guadeloupe or Guyana immediately, although separate consular decrees later restored it in these colonies on 16 July and 7 December 1802, respectively. Slavery was not reinstated in Saint-Domingue, where abolition was already in effect. However, it was maintained in colonies where the 1794 law had not been enforced due to local opposition, including the Mascarenes (Réunion, Île de France [Mauritius], Rodrigues) and several Caribbean islands recently returned to France by the British under the Peace of Amiens (Martinique, Tobago, Saint Martin, and Saint Lucia).

Following the revolt of enslaved people in Saint-Domingue, Haiti became the first state to officially abolish slavery on its territory.

Prohibition of the slave trade At the Congress of Vienna on 8 February 1815, the slave trade—defined as the commerce, purchase, and transport of enslaved people in the colonial empires—was theoretically abolished by the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Prussia, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Sweden, under British influence from the Quadruple Alliance. The participating countries declared that “the slave trade is repugnant to the general principles of morality and humanity.”

Following his return from Elba in 1815, Napoleon issued a decree abolishing the slave trade, aligning France with the Congress of Vienna’s decision. This resolution was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris on 20 November 1815. Subsequently, the , signed by Louis XVIII, prohibited the slave trade in the French colonies.

The prohibition of the slave trade faced opposition in France, particularly from Atlantic ports such as Bordeaux and Nantes, which sought to resume the trade disrupted since 1793. Although French laws formally prohibited the trade, enforcement was inconsistent. Between 1819 and 1828, officials including the Minister of the Navy, Count Portal, and Prime Minister Count Joseph de Villèle, both with connections to colonial planters, were notably lax in applying the legislation.

Despite official prohibitions, the transatlantic slave trade continued clandestinely in French, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies. In 1820, an estimated 40,000 enslaved people were transported from Africa to the southern United States and Brazil, which imported approximately 20,000 per year between 1820 and 1823, and around 10,000 per year between 1823 and 1852. Because the trade was illegal, conditions during transport were often severe, and enslaved individuals were sometimes thrown overboard to avoid interception by British warships. Awareness of the trade’s human cost grew in Europe, influenced by anti-slavery societies, writers such as André-Daniel Laffon de Ladebat, and organizations like the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and Slavery. In response, several European governments granted Britain the right to inspect ships in 1831 and 1833, enabling the legal policing of the seas against the slave trade.

Abolition postponed under the July Monarchy

In 1831, the government of Jacques Laffitte, which included members of the , an organization of liberal opponents engaged in the fight against the slave trade, passed the , aimed at its definitive abolition. The law provided for twenty to thirty years of forced labor for those responsible, imprisonment for the ship’s crew, and a seven-year commitment in the colonies for enslaved people freed during the capture of a ship.

Adjustment of the servile condition Moderates argued that enslaved people needed to be “prepared for freedom” through education and religious instruction before full emancipation could be granted. Following the adoption of the Mackau laws in 1845, the Duke of Broglie described the legislation as a preparatory measure aimed at improving the conditions of enslaved people in anticipation of eventual freedom.

Mackau laws

The Mackau laws represent the final legislative measures before the abolition of 1848. Passed in July 1845, they continued the approach of earlier legislation without signaling a direct move toward emancipation. The laws mandated a minimum period of instruction for enslaved people, limited the number of lashes an owner could administer without judicial authorization to fifteen, and allowed married enslaved individuals with different owners to reunite.

In July 1846, King Louis-Philippe I abolished slavery in the royal domains of Martinique and Guadeloupe, as well as on the island of Mayotte, recently acquired by France. Chief Minister François Guizot did not pursue further measures at that time.

Uneven implementation The implementation of these measures in the colonies was uneven. During sessions of the Chamber of Deputies, Ledru-Rollin and Agénor de Gasparin opposed the Mackau law project, criticizing successive legislations for remaining largely unenforced. In the colonies, the opening of new schools, for instance, was accompanied by student selection by local authorities, which often excluded enslaved individuals.

Action in favor of abolition As early as 1831, after a trip to Cuba, Victor Schœlcher argued in the Revue de Paris that enslaved people are human and therefore entitled to freedom. In 1833, in De l'esclavage et de la législation coloniale, he proposed gradual emancipation to prevent potential social unrest and to allow enslaved people to gain economic and intellectual autonomy. In 1838, participating in a literary competition organized by the Société de morale chrétienne, he advocated immediate emancipation without a transitional period. Following his journey to the Antilles in 1840–1841, he published Colonies françaises, abolition immédiate de l'esclavage, addressing planters and proposing the substitution of beet sugar for cane sugar.

The abolitionist movement was also reflected in cultural works, including the 1842 comic opera .

In April 1847, the Société de morale chrétienne conducted a petition campaign that collected 11,000 signatures, including those of three bishops, nineteen vicars general, over 850 priests, nearly ninety consistory presidents or pastors, and approximately 6,000 merchants.

At the end of February 1848, during an investigative trip to Senegal, Victor Schœlcher learned of the fall of King Louis-Philippe. He returned to Paris and contacted François Arago, Minister of the Navy and Colonies, who appointed him Under-Secretary of State in charge of the colonies and measures relating to slavery. On 4 March 1848, the provisional government of the Second Republic signed the decree appointing Schœlcher as president of the Commission for the Abolition of Slavery, responsible for preparing emancipation. The commission was established on 5 March, chaired by Schœlcher, and included, among others, Auguste-François Perrinon, a marine artillery battalion chief and future deputy; the Director of the Colonies; , lawyer at the Court of Cassation; and Charles Jean-Baptiste Gaumont, a clockmaker. The commission held its first meeting on 6 March. On 27 April, it proposed a series of twelve decrees that emancipated enslaved people, granting them citizenship status—they were henceforth referred to as “new citizens” or “newly free”—and organized the administration of the colonies. The decrees established national workshops in the colonies, created disciplinary workshops to address begging along with a savings fund, structured personal taxation and taxes on tafias, wine, and spirits, and instituted a Labor Day celebration in the colonies. Additional measures organized mortgages, appointed general commissioners of the Republic to enforce the decrees, extended press freedom to the colonies, regulated military recruitment, maritime registration, and the National Guard, provided care for the elderly, infirm, and orphans, and established cantonal juries.

Content of the decrees

Decree of March 4, 1848

Decree of April 27, 1848

Implementation of the decrees

In the French colonies

News that the Republic had abolished slavery, following the provisional government’s decision of 4 March, reached the French colonies a few weeks later and caused significant reaction. By the time the decrees of 24 April arrived, the situation was tense. Although the decrees allowed for a two-month implementation period, events accelerated the process.

On 21 May, in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, a slave named Romain was arrested for playing a drum, a form of communication among enslaved people. The incident triggered an uprising that spread across the island, leading the governor to declare the abolition of slavery on 23 May, prior to the arrival of the envoy carrying the 27 April decree.

On 27 May, once the situation in Guadeloupe had stabilized, Governor proclaimed the general abolition of slavery. By the end of May, the decrees reached La Réunion, but the governor implemented them only on 20 December. In French Guiana, the governor issued the decree on 10 June, with effect from 10 August.

The implementation of the abolition decree was more complex in Algeria and Senegal, as some enslaved people were held by indigenous communities. In Algeria, enforcement was limited in rural areas. In Senegal, to avoid conflict with the Moors, who were slaveholders and provided colonial supplies, the governor instructed local authorities to deny refuge to enslaved individuals seeking asylum in French-controlled areas.

A total of 251,019 enslaved people were freed, including 87,087 in Guadeloupe, 74,447 in Martinique, 60,651 in Réunion, 12,251 in French Guiana, 10,350 in Senegal (9,800 freed and 550 on full-time engagement), 2,733 in Mayotte, and 3,500 in Nosy Bé and Sainte-Marie, based on indemnity claims submitted by former owners.