A colonial colonial? Marriage and citizenship in the French Antilles (17th-20th centuries)

Abstract

The second abolition of slavery by France, in 1848, prescribed a new organization of society based on strict moral values: a family structured by marriage legitimated under the law, work, property, and male power. This paper examines the effects of this social transformation on gender relations in a society historically founded on racial hierarchy and the opposition between “Free People” and “Slaves”.

Keywords

• Abolition of slavery;
• gender;
• French West Indies;
• French colonies;
• marriage.