Affranchi
Encyclopedia
"Affranchi" is a former French legal term denoting a freedman or emancipated
slave. It is used in English to describe the class of freedmen in Saint-Domingue
and other slave-holding French territories, who held legal rights intermediate between those of free whites and enslaved people of color. In Saint-Domingue, roughly half of the affranchis were gens de couleur libres (freed people of mixed race) and the other half freed blacks.
The term comes from the French word for emancipation — affranchissement, or enfranchisement in terms of political rights. Ironically, however, the affranchis were barred the actual franchise (voting) prior to a 1791 court case whose decision in their favor prompted a backlash from the French planter class which sparked the Haitian Revolution
.
The term affranchi was also used loosely to refer pejoratively to any free person of color, even those born free (for example, a mixed-race child born to a white mother.)
The affranchis had legal and social advantages over enslaved
Africans and became a distinct class in the society between whites and slaves. They could get some education, were able to own land, and could attend some French colonial entertainments. Sons of planters especially tended to share in advantages of class and property, and they considered themselves above the petits blancs, shopkeepers and workers who nonetheless had more political rights.
The colonists passed so many restrictions that the affranchis were limited as a separate caste: they could not vote or hold colonial administrative posts, or work as doctors or lawyers. They were also forbidden to wear the style of clothes favored by the wealthy white colonists. In spite of the disadvantages, many educated affranchis identified themselves culturally with France rather than with the enslaved population. A class in between, the free people of color sometimes had tensions with both whites and enslaved Africans.
Ambitious mulattoes sometimes distanced themselves from their African roots in an attempt to gain acceptance from the white colonists. As they advanced in society, affranchis also held land and slaves. Some acted as creditors for planters. One of their leaders, the indigo
planter Julien Raimond
, claimed that affranchis owned a third of all the slaves in the colony
. In the early years of the French Revolution
and Haitian Revolution
, many gens de couleur were committed to maintaining the institution of slavery, although they wanted political equality for men of property, regardless of skin color.
Emancipation
Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...
slave. It is used in English to describe the class of freedmen in Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
and other slave-holding French territories, who held legal rights intermediate between those of free whites and enslaved people of color. In Saint-Domingue, roughly half of the affranchis were gens de couleur libres (freed people of mixed race) and the other half freed blacks.
The term comes from the French word for emancipation — affranchissement, or enfranchisement in terms of political rights. Ironically, however, the affranchis were barred the actual franchise (voting) prior to a 1791 court case whose decision in their favor prompted a backlash from the French planter class which sparked the Haitian Revolution
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution was a period of conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic...
.
The term affranchi was also used loosely to refer pejoratively to any free person of color, even those born free (for example, a mixed-race child born to a white mother.)
The affranchis had legal and social advantages over enslaved
Enslaved
Enslaved may refer to:* Slavery, the socio-economic condition of being owned and worked by and for someone else* Bottom , people playing the 'slave' part in BDSM* Enslaved , a progressive black metal band from Haugesund, Norway...
Africans and became a distinct class in the society between whites and slaves. They could get some education, were able to own land, and could attend some French colonial entertainments. Sons of planters especially tended to share in advantages of class and property, and they considered themselves above the petits blancs, shopkeepers and workers who nonetheless had more political rights.
The colonists passed so many restrictions that the affranchis were limited as a separate caste: they could not vote or hold colonial administrative posts, or work as doctors or lawyers. They were also forbidden to wear the style of clothes favored by the wealthy white colonists. In spite of the disadvantages, many educated affranchis identified themselves culturally with France rather than with the enslaved population. A class in between, the free people of color sometimes had tensions with both whites and enslaved Africans.
Ambitious mulattoes sometimes distanced themselves from their African roots in an attempt to gain acceptance from the white colonists. As they advanced in society, affranchis also held land and slaves. Some acted as creditors for planters. One of their leaders, the indigo
Indigofera
Indigofera is a large genus of about 700 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Fabaceae.The species are mostly shrubs, though some are herbaceous, and a few can become small trees up to tall. Most are dry-season or winter deciduous. The leaves are pinnate with 5–31 leaflets and the...
planter Julien Raimond
Julien Raimond
Julien Raimond was an indigo planter in the French colony of Saint-Domingue .-Early activism:He was born a free man of color, the son of a French colonist and the mulatto daughter of a planter, in the isolated South province of the colony. Raimond owned over 100 slaves by the 1780s, and was one of...
, claimed that affranchis owned a third of all the slaves in the colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
. In the early years of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and Haitian Revolution
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution was a period of conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic...
, many gens de couleur were committed to maintaining the institution of slavery, although they wanted political equality for men of property, regardless of skin color.
External links
- African Americans in New Orleans: 'Les gens de couleur libres' (Free people of color), Online Exhibits, New Orleans Public Library, 1999