Code Noir
French colonial regulations
Code Noir was a French legal code issued in 1685 governing slavery in France's colonies, particularly in the Caribbean and Louisiana.
The name translates as "Black Code." It regulated the treatment of enslaved people, mandated Catholic baptism, defined racial categories, and prescribed brutal punishments for resistance.
The Code Noir remained in force in Louisiana until American annexation.
- slave codesLaws controlling enslaved people
- racial segregationSeparation by ethnic background
- plantation laborToil on agricultural estates
- plantation ownersLarge-scale agricultural landholders
- French colonialismOverseas rule from Paris
colonial law · property law · colonial administration · religious conversion · Atlantic slave trade · human chattel · 17th century · Louis XIV · inheritance law · plantation economy · triangular trade · interracial marriage · racial hierarchy · Caribbean colonies · legal decrees · economic exploitation · colonial governors · Martinique
- Colonial LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana Purchase, French Quarter, colony, governors
- Louisiana CreoleCreole cuisine, Creole culture, Creole language, Creole seasoning, New Orleans
- Gulf SouthNew Orleans, Louisiana Purchase, LSU, Mardi Gras, jazz
- colonial lawcolonial law, colonial charter, colonial assembly, colonial courts, colonial justice
- slave lawsslave codes, Fugitive Slave Act, pass laws, curfew laws, inheritance laws
- slavery recordsslave narratives, slave codes, freedom papers, emancipation papers, Freedmen's Bureau
Code Noirabolition
Formal discontinuation of practice
Emancipation Proclamation · Thirteenth Amendment · manumission · freedom papers · emancipation
Code Noirdecolonization
Ending imperial control
self-determination · independence movements · Haitian Revolution · sovereignty · liberation