Slavery was a long-standing issue during the eighteenth century all over the world. While most nations allowed slavery, France had a different approach. In “There Are No Slaves In France” the author Sue Peabody outlines different court cases in which slaves were freed on the basis that their masters brought them to France, which was considered a free nation. Peabody also describes different edicts that were created to establish more strict rules on the transport of slaves to France. Slave owners who brought their slaves to France from the French colonies risked having their slaves freed if they did not follow proper procedures in registering their slaves. There were many motivations for the French people to help free slaves who set foot on French soil including motivations based on principles and also motivation of personal gain.
The long-standing belief in the “Freedom Principle”, which was the belief that all persons who set foot on French soil were considered free, was one of the main motivations for people to free slaves (Peabody, 6-7). This principle had been around for centuries. Pierre Lemerre argued that there were three reasons for the association between France and Freedom. The first being the edict of Henry II, which states that the “earlier kings could not tolerate their subjects to be in a servile position”, the second is the natural law that all men are equal, and the third being Christianity, that all men are created in God’s image and are not to be treated like an animal by other men (Peabody, 21). This idea having been around for so long had been rooted into peoples mind and it was something that was followed without thinking about it.
Another motivation for setting slaves free in France was more for personal gain. The lawyers who took on the cases did so partly because of the Freedom Principal and the other part was to increase the number of cases they had won. Until it was established that these cases were easily won and the Declaration of 1738 could be challenged, it was difficult for slaves to find a sympathetic lawyer or to be able to pay for legal assistance (Peabody, 51). Every case that was tried between 1755- 1800 on the basis of freeing a slave in the Admiralty Court of France was ruled in favor of the slave (Peabody, 55). Lawyers knew this and so they were willing to take on these cases pro bono because it just increased their wins.
There were more motivations for freeing slaves such as that of religious beliefs. The Roman Catholic Faith did not believe in the institution of slavery and therefore the King who was a follower of the Catholic Faith did not believe in slavery. There were most likely more reasons to set free the African slaves, but Peabody seems to stress these points. The Freedom Principle seemed to be the most motivating factor. The Kings did not want to oppress their people with slavery and they believed that men should not be treated as animals. Some people had more personal reasons such as the lawyers who took on the cases in order to increase how many wins they had in court. Whatever the reasons for not allowing slaves in France, the King and Courts made sure the institution was not allowed on French soil.
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