French colonial justice and Black slaves.
81
BLACK CODE
OR
COMPENDIUM OF THE SAID,
DECLARATIONS, AND JUDGMENTS,
Regarding the Discipline & Trade of Black Slaves from the
French Islands of America.
--------------------------------
KING’S EDICT,
On the Discipline of Black Slaves
From the Islands of French America.
Presented at Versailles in the month of March 1685
OR
COMPENDIUM OF THE SAID,
DECLARATIONS, AND JUDGMENTS,
Regarding the Discipline & Trade of Black Slaves from the
French Islands of America.
--------------------------------
KING’S EDICT,
On the Discipline of Black Slaves
From the Islands of French America.
Presented at Versailles in the month of March 1685
[...]
92
XXXII. Slaves may be tried for criminal matters, without their Masters
having to be party to it, unless in the event of complicity; & the said
accused Slaves, will be tried in a first Instance by regular Judges, &
on appeal at the Conseil Souverain as per the same instruction, and with the
same formalities, as for free persons.
[...]
[...]
93
XXXVIII. The fugitive Slave who has been on the run for one month, from
the day that his master denounced him before the Courts, will have his ears
cut off, & will be branded with a fleur de Lys on one shoulder; &
if he is again at large another month, once more from the day that he was
denounced to the courts, he will have his hamstring severed, & will be
branded with a fleur de lys on the other shoulder, & the third time he
will be put to death.
[...]
[...]
94
XLII. Masters may also, if they deem their Slaves to have merited it,
have them chained & flogged with rods, or ropes, but may not torture them,
nor mutilate any of their limbs, at the risk of having the Slaves confiscated,
& of having extraordinary charges brought against the Masters.
[...]
[...]
Source: Roi de France, "Justice and Slaves, according to the Collection of Regulations, Edicts, Declarations and Decrees: Regarding Commerce, the Administratoin of Justice, & the Policing of French Colonies in America and Indentured Servents, with the Black Code and Additions to the Said Code" (Paris: Chez les Libraires Associez (1685), 1745).