Tag: slavery

  • 231 Years Ago, the French Convention Abolished Slavery

    231 Years Ago, the French Convention Abolished Slavery

    On February 4, 1794, the French National Convention made a radical decision: it abolished slavery in all its colonies. Enslaved people, who had been legally classified as biens meubles (property under French law), were now recognized as French citizens. The decree formalized changes that were already underway in Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti), where enslaved people had…