France’s Colonial Past and the Code Noir

In May 2025, France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou faced a unique question from a Parliament member. The inquiry was about why France had not annulled the Code Noir, a set of laws enforcing slavery in its colonies. Few knew these laws remained officially recognized. Bayrou, caught off guard, pledged to introduce a bill to abolish them, hoping for unanimous support. Despite this, the government’s collapse seemed to prolong the Code’s life.

A year on, Max Mathiasin, a Guadeloupe lawmaker, plans to introduce a bill to formally annul these laws in the National Assembly on May 28. This move comes 341 years after King Louis XIV established them. Annulment is a step forward, yet the deeper implications of the Code Noir in France’s colonial slavery system warrant greater scrutiny.

The Code Noir converted African captives into ‘movable goods’ or inheritable property. Although it facilitated colonial profit, Louis XIV’s conservative Catholic ideals also heavily influenced the Code. Notably, the first article expelled Jews from Caribbean colonies, not mentioning enslaved Africans initially.

The Code supported a disturbing belief among Catholic slave-trading nations: African captives would lose freedom but attain salvation through Christ. This belief became integral to colonial life. Religious orders like the Jesuits ran plantations to fund missions, reflecting the entwined nature of religion and slavery.

Taking Jean-Baptiste Labat, a Dominican priest managing a plantation in Martinique during the 1690s, as an example. He baptized enslaved individuals, expressed sorrow at the death of enslaved children, yet harshly punished African spiritual practices. His dual behavior of compassion and cruelty embodied the Code’s system, not personal moral failure.