Introduction
Slavery characterized the beginning of globalization by powering the Caribbean economy. However, this positive impact on the economy was accompanied by the negative treatment of the enslaved people. The Code Noir was the governing set of laws that outlined the regulations by which enslaved people were to live in French colonies. This set of rules included protections as well as punishments for any slave-related situation. This article explains the history of the Code Noir and its impact on the beginnings of globalization through examples from the novel Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau.
Background
The Code Noir originated in March of 1685 as an ordinance from the French government. The laws were written and formulated by Jean-Baptist Colbert and other French officials. In the French overseas departments of Martinique and accompanying islands, the governing officials and plantation owners already had their own enacting rules, but French officials ordered them to incorporate the Code Noir into their current systems. This incorporation was an attempt to unify the overseas departments and create more cohesive governance over the enslaved people (Twomey 17).
The codes, also called the Black Codes, explained nearly all the responsibilities and duties of enslaved people along with the societal consequences and limitations that the enslaved people were forced to obey (Riddell 321). The Black Codes enforced punishments on the enslaved people for cross-racial relationships. The codes provided limited protections in the form of food and clothing allowances and the right to remain with their families without fear of separation within the slave-trading system. Physically, the codes protected the enslaved people from torture by their owners (Twomey 18). While these protections seemed like a step in the right direction for more humane treatment, there was little enforcement of these laws.
Plantation owners and those who were not enslaved may have posted the Black Codes as their updated set of rules, but they did not necessarily abide by them. Realizing this discrepancy, the French government created the office of the Procureur General. This position was to act as a mediator between the enslaved people and their owners if an owner was accused of mistreating the enslaved people against the protections in place. If enslaved people felt like their owner wasn’t abiding by these laws, they were able to notify any justice officers and the owner could be prosecuted (Breathett 9). As the public official, the Procureur General was to establish order and enforce the Black Codes. However, again, things were not as they should have been. Seeing as many enslaved people weren’t well educated and were unaware of their protective codes, it was rare for enslaved people to successfully prosecute their owner, and, unfortunately, most altercations taken up with the Procureur General ended in further punishment of the enslaved person (Twomey 18).
Examples in Texaco
Throughout Texaco, the reader is exposed to the life stories of Esternome and Marie-Sophie Laborieux. The novel explains their life through slavery and post-emancipation times. As shown in the following examples, the treatment of the enslaved people had little to do with the ordinances in place to protect them. The novel begins with Marie-Sophie explaining what life was like for Esternome, her father, and his parents as enslaved people on the plantation. Her grandfather frequently made poisons to help “fight slavery on the plantations” (Chamoiseau 35). The békés weren’t fond of poison makers as the poison killed their livestock and disrupted business. As a punishment for using the poison on their animals, her grandfather was thrown into the dungeon. The Béké was unsatisfied that he couldn’t gauge a reaction from placing him in the dungeon and wanted to punish him even further. As a result, “the Béké got one of the most ferocious torturers of blackmen from the city to come and unleash all of their resourcefulness of his pliers on him, to braise his blood, peel his skin, shatter his nails, and some very sensitive bones” (Chamoiseau 37). Through this example, it is clear that the protective aspects of the codes were not enforced or even acknowledged.
Even after slavery was abolished, newly freed people were still treated with little respect. Throughout Marie-Sophie’s life, she is taken advantage of and violated by her owners and employers. She mentions being sexually assaulted multiple times in her life and didn’t see any consequences for the assailants. Despite these examples of injustice, there are some instances where the codes are utilized in a more positive way. During Esternome’s time on the plantation, his Béké granted him freedom after saving his life. The codes stated that any slave owner could give their enslaved people freedom, which Esternome was eventually granted (Breathett 10). To validate Esternome’s savanna freedom, they “declared him free” and “issued a sheet of paper” (Chamoiseau 48). The paper stated: “I give and bequeath to the one named Esternome who has saved my life, savanna freedom, food and drink as long as I live…” (Chamoiseau 48). The freedom Esternome was granted did not happen very frequently and is one of the few times that the codes were used to improve the quality of life for an enslaved person.
Due to the heavy influence Catholicism had on the people of the Caribbean, the enslaved people were obligated to adopt these beliefs (Breathett 9). Because of this, enslaved people were required to take Sundays as a day of rest as written in the codes. In the novel, the enslaved people would use this day to visit the city dressed in their nicest clothes and sell various items on the streets (Chamoiseau 79-81). This gave enslaved people the opportunity to leave the hutch and experience life from a different perspective. While it might not seem like much of a privilege to us, this was the only taste of normalcy the enslaved people ever experienced. In these examples, we see how the Black Codes played a role in the lives of the characters in the novel.
Conclusion
Texaco, although a fiction novel, presents a realistic example of the lives of enslaved people in the Caribbean during the 19th century. As the novel showcases, the lives of Esternome and Marie-Sophie were heavily impacted by the treatment they encountered at every point in their lives, whether enslaved or freed. The Code Noir outlined the regulations within which the enslaved people could live their lives. It provided a basis for their allowances and protections; however, oftentimes these protective measures were not upheld. The Black Codes and their realistic fruition are pieces of history that accurately represent the mistreatment of enslaved people, before and even after their emancipation.
Works Cited
Breathett, George. “Catholicism and the Code Noir in Haiti.” The Journal of Negro History, vol. 73, no. 1/4, 1988, pp. 1–11, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3031518. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022.
Chamoiseau, Patrick. Texaco. Trans. Rose-Myriam Réjouis & Val Vinokurov. NY: Vintage, 1997.
Riddell, William Renwick. “Le Code Noir.” The Journal of Negro History, vol. 10, no. 3, 1925, pp. 321-329.
Twomey, Christina. “Protecting Slaves and Aborigines: The Legacies of European Colonialism in the British Empire.” Pacific Historical Review, vol. 87, no. 1, 2018, pp. 10–29, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2641987. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022.
Editorial Collective
Jenna Martin, Anna Wolter, Jonah Krieg
