The Abolitions of slavery: from Léger Félicité Sonthonax to Victor Schoelcher 1793-1794 and 1848

These papers explore the complex historical processes that led to the abolition of slavery in 1793–1794 and again in 1848, after its restoration by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. They highlight the many forces that shaped these decisions: slave revolts and everyday resistance to servile labor, Enlightenment philosophical and political debates, the position of the Church, the activism of anti-slavery societies, and the role of revolutionary assemblies. Economic interests linked to colonial systems also formed an important background to these discussions. Because European colonial networks were deeply interconnected, slavery became an international issue, and abolitionism developed into a cosmopolitan movement. The work pays tribute to Léger Félicité Sonthonax, who proclaimed the first abolition in Santo Domingo in 1793, and to Victor Schoelcher, the key architect of the 1848 abolition in France.