Second abolition of slavery in France and its colonies initiated by Victor Schœlcher

Background. Slavery was reintroduced in the French colonies in 1802 through the Law of 20 May 1802. Victor Schœlcher, born in 1804, became an abolitionist writer and politician. After traveling to America and the West Indies, he published his first abolitionist article, Des noirs, in the Revue de Paris in 1830, proposing a gradual abolition of slavery. He was a member of the French Society for the Abolition of Slavery, founded in 1834, and a republican activist who co-founded the progressive newspaper La Réforme in 1843.

Political Context. In February 1848, a revolution in France overthrew the July Monarchy. Schœlcher served as under-secretary of state and president of a commission charged with drafting the immediate abolition of slavery. In this capacity, he prepared and wrote the decree that abolished slavery in all French colonies, granting citizenship to the emancipated slaves.

Implementation. The decree abolishing slavery was issued on 27 April 1848. The effective abolition was enacted with this decree, which granted citizenship to emancipated slaves. The island of Martinique was the first French overseas colony where the decree came into force, on 23 May 1848. Schœlcher was elected deputy to the National Assembly in 1848 by the department of Martinique.