Slavery Abolition Day (French Guiana) 2023: Date, History, Facts about Slavery

French Guiana celebrates Slavery Abolition Day annually on June 10. It is a public holiday, and in some nations it is also celebrated as Emancipation Day. This day serves as a reminder of the barbarism endured by enslaved Africans and its consequences. The first observance of this holiday occurred in 2012, although the historical event dates back to 1848 and the abolition of slavery in the colony. It is a time of solemn reflection and celebration of the pervasiveness of truth and liberty for all men.

The background of Slavery Abolition Day (French Guiana)

French Guiana is a French overseas department located on South America’s western Atlantic coast. Since 1624, the French have attempted to establish settlements in this region, and in 1643, they finally succeeded. Until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1814, the French were forced to forsake their posts multiple times due to attacks by natives and other European nations.

French Guiana became a society based on slavery after the French imported Africans to labour on large plantations as slaves. On April 27, 1848, the French government abolished slavery in its territories and granted citizenship to emancipated slaves. The 10th of June is observed as Slavery Abolition Day because it took more than a month for the news to reach French Guiana.

Like other main European nations at the time, France was eager to expand its influence in the new world. It established colonies on the North American continent, as well as seizing control of several Caribbean islands.

The French turned to enslaved Africans to power labor-intensive activities with high mortality rates, such as sugar cane plantations, in these new settlements. Louis X of France abolished slavery in the Kingdom of France in 1315, but this law was never extended to the colonies, despite an attempt to do so in the early 1500s. In February 1794, the French Republic abolished enslavement, but Napoleon repealed this decree in 1802.

On April 27, 1848, under the Second Republic, the decree law of Schoelcher abolished slavery in all French colonies through a general and unconditional emancipation. The state purchased the slaves from the colonists and then set them free. Because the abolition took time to reach various colonies, countries may observe the abolition of slavery on different dates.

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5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SLAVERY

The enormous infrastructure required to convey eight to ten million Africans halfway around the globe required the construction of entire cities in England and France, such as Liverpool, Manchester, and Bordeaux.

Slavery made the American South the wealthiest and most potent region until the Civil War destroyed it.

Some slaveholders educated and converted their slaves to Christianity, but they forbade them from reading the “Bible” because it contained anti-slavery passages.

Typically, runaway slaves were difficult to trace and dangerous to approach and capture, so vicious dogs were bred to find them.

When we think of slavery, we frequently think of transatlantic slavery. However, this was only one form of slavery; others occurred in other regions and included white victims.

SLAVERY ABOLITION DAY (FRENCH GUIANA) DATES