Legal Definitions - Code Noir

The Code Noir (French for "Black Code") was a comprehensive set of laws issued by King Louis XIV of France in 1685. This decree was specifically designed to govern the institution of slavery and the lives of enslaved people within France's colonial territories, particularly in the Caribbean and North America.

Beyond regulating the conditions of slavery, the Code Noir also dictated social and religious life in the colonies. It mandated the expulsion of all Jewish people from French colonies and strictly prohibited the practice of any religion other than Roman Catholicism, requiring enslaved people to be baptized and instructed in the Catholic faith.

• Example 1: Regulating the daily lives of enslaved individuals

  Imagine a large sugar plantation in 18th-century Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), a French colony. The plantation owner, Monsieur Dubois, relies on enslaved labor. The Code Noir would dictate many aspects of the enslaved people's lives, such as requiring Monsieur Dubois to provide them with specific quantities of food and clothing, ensuring they were baptized as Catholics, and outlining the permissible forms of punishment. It also stipulated that enslaved people could not own property or testify in court against their owners.

  This example illustrates how the Code Noir served as the legal framework that controlled the daily existence of enslaved individuals, defining their status, rights (or lack thereof), and obligations within the French colonial system.

• Example 2: Expulsion of non-Catholic communities

  Consider a Jewish merchant family, the Cohens, who had established a successful trading business in Martinique, another French colony, in the late 17th century. Upon the implementation of the Code Noir, the Cohens would have been legally compelled to abandon their property and business and leave the colony. The Code explicitly ordered the expulsion of all Jewish people from French colonial territories.

  This scenario demonstrates the Code Noir's broader impact beyond slavery, highlighting its role in enforcing religious uniformity and expelling non-Catholic communities from French colonial society.

• Example 3: Conditions for manumission and legal status

  Suppose a wealthy widow in Guadeloupe, Madame Leclerc, wished to grant freedom to an enslaved woman, Marie, who had served her household for many years. Under the Code Noir, Madame Leclerc would have to follow specific legal procedures to manumit Marie. This included registering the act of manumission with the local authorities and ensuring that Marie, once freed, would enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as other free people of color, but still be subject to certain social restrictions.

  This example shows how the Code Noir not only regulated slavery but also established the legal conditions under which enslaved people could be freed (manumitted) and defined their subsequent legal status within the colonial hierarchy.