Signed in as:

You are browsing courtesy of:

Sign in to an additional subscriber account

Login

This account has no valid subscription for this site.

In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section The French Lesser Antilles

Forthcoming Articles Expand or collapse the "forthcoming articles" section

Asia and the Americas and the Iberian Empires
Maryland
Poetry in the British Atlantic
Find more forthcoming articles...

Feedback

Print
Export Citations
Cite
Email this content

Share Link

Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199730414/obo-9780199730414-0284.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

9780199730414-0284

Introduction

The Lesser Antilles are distinct from the Greater Antilles according to two geographical criteria: their proximity to Europe and their smaller area. These two characteristics made the Lesser Antilles relatively easier to settle, leading to French colonization of the small islands in the early 17th century, before the colonization of the Greater Antilles, including Saint-Domingue (which became Haiti in 1804). Though marked by a common colonial past based on a slave plantation economy, historiography has separated the Lesser and Greater Antilles, with the big colony of Santo Domingo/Haiti often (generally rightly) treated differently. The French Antilles are also often treated separately, as opposed to the Spanish- or English-speaking Caribbean. Unsurprisingly, from the 18th century on, mostly French-speaking historians were interested in the history of the French Lesser Antilles. The 20th century saw an increase in varied and renewed approaches. In the 1960s Jacques Petitjean-Roget questioned whether the paradigm of the plantation system was universal, arguing it existed only in Martinique and Guadeloupe, leading to renewed interest in the region, culminating in Eric Williams’s denunciation of the absence of works studying the common history of the Antilles. His thesis impacted many later studies, with varied themes and approaches connected with European and North American historiographical trends. Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthelemy, and the smaller islands were part of the French Lesser Antilles until their autonomy in 2007. Today, the French Lesser Antilles are now composed of Martinique and Guadeloupe and their dependencies, including the “archipel des Saintes” and the islands of Marie-Galante and Désirade.

General Overviews

University research on the history of the Lesser Antilles was established in the 1970s by pioneering researchers such as Jacques Adélaïde-Merlande and Lucien-René Abénon. Adélaïde-Merlande popularized Caribbean history first by writing middle school history textbooks, followed by the publication of Adélaïde-Merlande, et al. 1980 and Adélaïde-Merlande 1994, and other works. The founding of the University Center of the West Indies and Guyana, in 1968, made it necessary to provide working tools for a new and growing student audience. In 1984 Abénon defended a thesis on Guadeloupe from 1671 to 1759, published a few years later as Abénon 1987 and filling a gap in the history of the Antilles under the Ancien Régime. A few decades later, his former pupil followed his work with Sainton 2004. Concomitantly, Pluchon 1982, Chauleau 1993, Watts 1987, Nicolas 1996, and Butel 2002 have also contributed to the diffusion of Caribbean History.

Abénon, Lucien-René. La Guadeloupe de 1671 à 1759: Etude politique, économique et sociale. 2 vols. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1987.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This book, stemming from a doctoral thesis, is a precise picture of Guadeloupe’s society from the sugar revolution to the first English Occupation during the Seven Years’ War.
Find this resource:
Adélaïde-Merlande, Jacques, ed. Histoire des communes, Antilles-Guyane. 6 vols. Geneva, Switzerland: G. Naef, 1993.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Large documentation work on the history of the municipalities of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Guyana, coauthored by the first historians of the University of the West Indies and Guyana, then emerging. Listed in alphabetical order, the communes are detailed and explained in the form of a historical monograph.
Find this resource:
Adélaïde-Merlande, Jacques. Histoire générale des Antilles et des Guyanes: Des Précolombiens à nos jours. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1994.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
General history of the Antilles, including Guiana, focusing on French colonization, especially the political and social aspects.
Find this resource:
Adélaïde-Merlande, Jacques, Jean-Luc Bonniol, and Roland Suvelor, eds. Historial Antillais. 6 vols. Fort-de-France, Martinique: Dajani, 1980.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A six-volume encyclopedia that is almost completely comprehensive. Though it is the first collective university synthesis on the French Lesser Antilles, written when the social and cultural history of the West Indies was still in its early stages, it is still very useful. Contains a rich iconography.
Find this resource:
Badillo, Jalil Sued, P. C. Emmer, Franklin W. Knight, K. O. Laurence, Bridget Brereton, and B. W. Higman, eds. General History of the Caribbean. 6 vols. London and Oxford: UNESCO, 1997–2011.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This encyclopedic synthesis places the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean environment in two specific chapters: Louis Allaire’s “Agricultural Societies in the Caribbean: The Lesser Antilles,” devoted to archaeology; and A. Pérotin-Dumon’s “French, English and Dutch in the Lesser Antilles: From Privateering to Planting, c. 1550–c. 1650,” on the contentious beginnings of colonization.
Find this resource:
Butel, Paul. Histoire des Antilles françaises, XVIIe–XXe siècles. Paris: Perrin, 2002.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Focuses on the geopolitical, economic, and commercial aspects of the Antilles in four chronological parts. Butel is one of the best specialists on transatlantic trade.
Find this resource:
Chauleau, Liliane. Dans les îles du vent: La Martinique (XVIIe–XIXe siècles). Paris: L’Harmattan, 1993.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Even without any critical apparatus (no notes or bibliography), this general study on Martinique from its origins to 1971 provides a continuous and fairly reliable historical account.
Find this resource:
Nicolas, Armand. Histoire de la Martinique. 3 vols. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1996.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Although lacking a critical apparatus (no notes or bibliography), this general synthesis on Martinique from the origins to 1971 offers a continuous and fairly reliable historical account.
Find this resource:
Pluchon, Pierre, ed. Histoire des Antilles et de la Guyane. Toulouse, France: Privat, 1982.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
The first modern study in French, dealing with social and cultural issues alongside political, military, economic, and commercial aspects.
Find this resource:
Sainton, Jean Pierre, ed. Histoire et civilisation de la Caraïbe (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Petites Antilles). Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose, 2004.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
First of two volumes (Vol. 2 published in 2012 by Karthala). In spite of its title, only deals with the Lesser French West Indies, with one volume on the 17th century and another on the 18th. Studies a wide variety of subjects, with analyses that are often politically engaged and militant.
Find this resource:
Watts, David. The West Indies: Patterns of Development, Culture and Environment Change since 1492. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This English geographer includes passages dealing with the environmental impact of colonization and the spread of the sugar, coffee, and indigo industries.
Find this resource:

Journals

Though the Lesser Antilles are covered in general historical journals, they also benefit from journals specific to overseas territories and colonization (Caribbean Studies, Outre-mers: Revue d’histoire), and more regional journals, including ones on Martinique (Annales des Antilles: Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire de la Martinique), Guadeloupe (Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe), and genealogical society (Généalogie et Histoire de la Caraïbe).

Annales des Antilles: Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire de la Martinique.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Publishing on a wide variety of topics related to Martinique since 1955.
Find this resource:
Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
An erudite journal that has publishing articles on every aspect of the islands of Guadeloupe since 1964. Issues released since 2011 are available on Erudit.
Find this resource:
Caribbean Studies.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Published since 1961 by the Institute of Caribbean Studies (University of Puerto Rico), this journal focuses on the Anglophone and Spanish-speaking areas, but also publishes articles on the French-speaking area.
Find this resource:
Généalogie et Histoire de la Caraïbe.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Since 1989 this journal has published a bulletin that includes numerous findings on people and places, found using an index, though without any historical analysis.
Find this resource:
Outre-mers: Revue d’histoire.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Formerly Revue d’histoire des colonies (1931–1958) and then Revue française d’histoire d’Outre-Mer (1959–2000). Includes numerous articles on the West Indies and their colonial context. Most are available from Perseus.
Find this resource:

Reference Works

Enthusiasm for overseas research in the 1980s led to the creation of guides to help researchers find their way through the mass of archives dealing with this field (Guide des sources de l’histoire de l’Amérique latine et des Antilles dans les Archives françaises). Soon after, the research themes became more refined; the Guide des sources de la traite négrière, de l’esclavage et de leurs abolitions responds to an increased scholarly focus on slavery. Renewed historical research over the past two decades has allowed researchers to have an overall view of the evolution of research and the problems it encompasses (Abénon, et al. 2002; Rogers 2009; Bégot 2012; Dumont, et al. 2013; Pérotin-Dumon 2016).

Abénon, Lucien-René, Danielle Bégot, and Jean-Pierre Sainton. Construire l’histoire antillaise. Mélanges offerts à Jacques Adélaïde-Merlande. Paris: CTHS, 2002.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Written in homage to Jacques Adélaïde-Merlande, ponders a history that is at the same time under construction and in renewal.
Find this resource:
Bégot, Danielle, ed. Guide de la recherche en histoire antillaise et guyanaise. 2 vols. Paris: CTHS, 2012.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Organized into thematic chapters, presents specialized and annotated bibliographies, also indicating some ideas for continued research. The introduction investigates the evolution of the historiography of the French West Indies and gives an overview of the state of research.
Find this resource:
Dumont, Jacques, Benoît Bérard, and Jean-Pierre Sainton, eds. Special Issue: Les territoires de l’histoire antillaise.” Outre-mers: Revue d’histoire 378–379 (2013).
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
An indispensable collective work for the study of the French West Indies. Helps to understand the challenges and stakes of the history of these complex societies.
Find this resource:
Guide des sources de l’histoire de l’Amérique latine et des Antilles dans les Archives françaises. Paris: Archives Nationales, 1984.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Prior to any sources, the introduction describes the various administrations and conditions of production and conservation in the archives.
Find this resource:
Guide des sources de la traite négrière, de l’esclavage et de leurs abolitions. Paris: La Documentation Française, 2007.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This guide essentially contains scattered elements from Volume 3 of the Etat général des fonds: Marine et Outre Mer des Archives nationales (1980), including inventories of the official correspondence between Martinique, Guadeloupe, and France. Accompanied by a presentation of the various collections.
Find this resource:
Handbook of Latin American Studies. Washington, DC: Library of Congress.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
An searchable annotated bibliography on Latin America, containing references on the French Caribbean.
Find this resource:
Pérotin-Dumon, Anne. “Historiography of the French Antilles. Part A: Martinique and Guadeloupe.” In General History of the Caribbean. Vol. 6, Methodology and Historiography of the Caribbean. Edited by Barry W. Higman. London: UNESCO, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This short chapter, organized chronologically, dates back to the first chronicles of the 16th century, before continuing over the period 1800–1940. Finally presents the later trends, from the Second World War to the end of the 20th century.
Find this resource:
Pérotin-Dumon, Anne. “La grande question des Antilles françaises au début de leur historiographie moderne, 1840–1970.” Bulletin de la Société d’histoire de la Guadeloupe 174 (2016): 1–114.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
An overview of various historiographic movements in the French West Indies.
Find this resource:
Rogers, Dominique. “Les Antilles à l’époque moderne: Tendances et perspectives de la recherche francophone et anglophone depuis un demi-siècle.” In Sociétés, colonisations et esclavages dans le monde atlantique: Historiographies des sociétés coloniales américaines des XVIe–XIXe siècles. Edited by François-Joseph Ruggiu and Cécile Vidal, 243–281. Bécherel, France: Perséïdes, 2009.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Useful panorama of comparative historiography on the West Indies, including the Lesser Antilles, with a bibliography (pp. 268–281).
Find this resource:

Sources

Manuscripts are available at the Guadeloupe (Basse-Terre) and Martinique (Schoelcher) departmental archives, which can be found in part online. The main depository is the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer in Aix-en-Provence. Others include the private archives in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine and ancillary archives in the central repository of Paris (called CARAN). There are also microfilms of original documents in Aix-en-Provence, and finally military archives in Vincennes. Numerous primary archives are accessible online. These include the Archives Nationales, iREL, which include baptisms, marriage, burials, and even “Correspondance à l’arrivée” sent from Martinique between 1635 and 1815 and the “Série Géographique” of Guadeloupe (1826–1904). For printed sources, there are many online, open-access public platforms, such as Manioc, Gallica, and the Internet Archive.

Printed Sources

Legal texts and regulations were compiled as early as the 18th century, and have since been systematized. Official communications are regular from the beginning of the 19th century, via official newspapers and gazettes. At the end of the 18th century, periodicals appeared, firstly the “Gazette des Petites Antilles.” The press flourished during the 19th century, with titles that could be very politically oriented. This makes it possible to understand the political, administrative, economic, and cultural life of both main islands.

Legal Texts

Legal frameworks such as compilations of laws (Durand-Molard 1807–1814), jurisprudence (Dessalles 1995), and legal treaties (Petit 1777) have been compiled since the 18th century, after the Code Noir (Niort 2012).

Dessalles, Pierre François Régis. Annales du Conseil Souverain de la Martinique ou Tableau historique du gouvernement de cette colonie. Edited by Bernard Vonglis. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1995.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Reissue of a 1786 work accompanied by two volumes of detailed notes, providing numerous examples of judicial decisions.
Find this resource:
Durand-Molard, Martin. Code de la Martinique. 5 vols. Saint-Pierre: Jean-Baptiste Thounens, 1807–1814.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Compilation of the legislation of the Ancien Régime published in the early 19th century. The first two volumes resume the 1767 Martinique Code of Jacques Petit de Viévigne and its 1772 Supplement. This compilation was continued for the beginning of the 19th century by Aubert-Armand.
Find this resource:
Niort, Jean-François. Code Noir. Paris: Dalloz, 2012.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Reissue of the edict of March 1685, commonly known as the “Code Noir.”
Find this resource:
Petit, Emilien. Traité sur le gouvernement des esclaves. 2 vols. Paris: Knapen, 1777.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Specific legal treaty on slaves, compiling the laws and regulations from the Code Noir until 1777.
Find this resource:

Administrative Publications, Statistics, and Press

Official publications, such as almanacs (Almanach de la Guadeloupe, Almanach de la Martinique), newspapers (Gazette Officielle de la Guadeloupe, Gazette de la Martinique), and official journals (Journal Officiel de la Martinique), make their appearance at the end of the 18th century; collections are continuous from the beginning of the 19th century. Some publications are more oriented toward maritime affairs (Revue coloniale puis Revue maritime et coloniale) and statistics (Renouard 1822). Editorial press is really active only during the republican and liberal periods, for example the Second Republic, each with relatively short-lived titles. After the July 1881 declaration on the freedom of the press, the press became a main player in political life.

Almanach de la Guadeloupe. 1809–1851.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Published under this title from 1809 until it became the Annuaire de la Guadeloupe et dépendances from 1854 to 1931. This administrative publication gives information on the staff and organization of the colony, including more and more agricultural and commercial statistics.
Find this resource:
Almanach de la Martinique.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Founded in 1811, it included the same information as its equivalent Almanach de la Guadeloupe, and was later published as Annuaire de la Martinique (1857–1931).
Find this resource:
Gazette de la Martinique.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This biweekly Saint-Pierre newspaper appeared intermittently from 1788 to 1806. It included information both from Europe and close to home, such as advertisements, shows, and commercial courses.
Find this resource:
Gazette Officielle de la Guadeloupe.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Published under this title from 1810 to 1881, it became the Journal officiel de la Guadeloupe from 1882 to 1947. Each edition was divided into two parts: an official part (laws, decrees, national or local decisions) and an unofficial one (notices, extracts, studies on various subjects, reports of deliberations, economic and commercial information).
Find this resource:
Journal Officiel de la Martinique.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Published under this title of 1818 to 1854, it became the Moniteur de Martinique from 1855 to 1902, then the Journal officiel de la Martinique from 1902 to 1947. Like the Gazette Officielle de la Guadeloupe, it was structured in two parts, official and unofficial.
Find this resource:
Renouard, Félix. Statistique de la Martinique. 2 vols. Paris: Chaumerot, 1822.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Volume 1 deals with history and topography, and above all presents a complete and very useful picture of the administrative situation and the institutions of the island. Volume 2 provides complete data on the population of the early 19th century, classified by commune on the population, the main productions, plantations, and owners with nominal lists.
Find this resource:
Revue coloniale puis Revue maritime et coloniale. 1843–1889.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A collection of royal laws and ordinances, regulations and ministerial decisions, memorials, observations and particulars, and generally all that might be of interest to the Navy and the colonies.
Find this resource:

Printed Testimonies

Many travelers, on their return from a stay in the Lesser Antilles, published descriptions of their experiences. In the 17th century, authors were missionaries; in the following centuries, they were civilians, travelers, or administrators. The stories of the “Anonyme de Carpentras” (see Moreau 2002, cite under 17th Century) for the precolonial period, Father Du Tertre for the mid-17th century (Du Tertre 1667–1671, under 17th Century), and Father Labat for the late 17th century (Labat 1724, under 18th Century) are excellent gateways for understanding island society, especially that of Martinique, the island these authors frequented most.

The 17th Century

The 17th century is rich in testimonies, especially that of missionaries, many of which can be consulted on Gallica or Manioc. Critical reissues are available, especially the annotated narratives in Grunberg 2011–2017 (cited under Population, Settlement, and Social Groups: The Caribs).

Breton, Raymond. Relations de l’isle de la Guadeloupe. Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe: Société d’histoire de la Guadeloupe, 1978.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A critical edition of the testimony of Père Breton, a missionary who lived among the Caribbean Indians for several years. Describes the environment, way of life, and production of the island. Also includes translations of two Latin Relations dated 1654 and 1656 and attributed to him, completing the information on the missionary activity of the Dominicans.
Find this resource:
Coppier, Guillaume. Histoire et voyage des Indes occidentales et de plusieurs autres régions maritimes et esloignées. Lyon, France: Huguetan, 1645.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
The experience of a young Lyonnais in Saint-Christophe, describing early colonization and its difficulties.
Find this resource:
De Moirans, Epiphane. Special Issue: La liberté des esclaves ou défense juridique de la liberté naturelle des esclaves. Translated by Robert Lapierre. Mémoires de la Société d’Histoire de la Martinique 6 (1995).
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
First manifesto disputing slavery, written by a missionary who arrived in Martinique in 1678. He went through Grenada, Saint Vincent, and Spanish America before being imprisoned and expelled.
Find this resource:
Du Tertre, Jean-Baptiste. Histoire générale des Antilles habitées par les françois. 3 vols. Paris: T. Jolly, 1667–1671.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A fundamental testimony on the beginnings of colonization, by a direct witness.
Find this resource:
Mongin, Jean. Special Issue: L’évangélisation des esclaves au XVIIème siècle: Lettres du Père Mongin. Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe 61–62 (1984).
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Fundamental testimony on the first evangelization.
Find this resource:
Moreau, Jean-Pierre. Un flibustier français dans la mer des Antilles. Paris: Payot, 2002.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This testimony of “Anonymous de Carpentras” provides a complete description of the Caribs. The author lived for almost a year among them and describes island life before the colonization.
Find this resource:
Petitjean-Roget, Jacques, ed. L’histoire de l’Isle de Grenade en Amérique: 1649–1659. Montreal: Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1975.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Written by an anonymous colonist, this narrative describes the rivalries and difficulties of expansion in the south Caribbean arc, notably conflict with the Caribs.
Find this resource:
“Rapport à la propagation de la foi du Père Martin Poinsset, supérieur de la mission jésuite des Antilles, Martinique, 13 mars 1682.” Annales des Antilles 27 (1988–1991): 61–65.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
One of a series of Jesuit reports sent to Rome and translated from Latin, providing a description of the moral and religious state of various islands from the Lesser Antilles to Cayenne at the end of the 17th century. See also “Rapport du Père Lemercier, supérieur de la Mission des Jésuites dans l’Amérique méridionale, 1680,” (54–60) and Père Moreau’s “Mémoires concernant la mission des pères de la Compagnie de Jésus dans les Isles François de l’Amérique, 1709,” (69–75) both in the same journal.
Find this resource:
Rochefort, Charles de. Histoire naturelle et morale des isles Antilles de l’Amérique. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Arnout Leers, 1665.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
One of the first testimonies on the beginnings of the colonization of the Lesser Antilles. Although accused of plagiarism for being inspired by other authors, provides much original and single information.
Find this resource:

The 18th Century

In the 18th century, almost all testimonies were written by civilians from France, with the exception of the Créole Thibault de Chanvalon 1763. In the second half of the century, the increasingly controversial issue of slavery divides these narratives.

Dessalles, Pierre François Régis. Historique des troubles survenus à la Martinique pendant la révolution. Edited by H. De Frémont. Fort-de-France, Martinique: Société d’Histoire de la Martinique, 1982.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Edition of a book written by a rich planter from Martinique in the years 1802–1805, providing the perspective of royalist and pro-English planters at the beginnings of the Revolution.
Find this resource:
Labat, Jean-Baptiste. Nouveau voyage aux îles de l’Amérique. The Hague: Husson et Autres, 1724.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
An essential reading to know the societies of Lesser Antilles during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, because it covers almost all topics, with an unequalled freedom of speech and an authenticity.
Find this resource:
Leblond, Jean-Baptiste. Voyage aux Antilles et à l’Amérique méridionale, commencé en 1767 et fini en 1802. Paris: Arthus-Bertrand, 1813.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This young metropolitan traveler wanders through the Lesser Antilles with an often scientific and always amazed glance.
Find this resource:
Poyen de Sainte-Marie. De l’exploitation des sucreries ou conseils d’un vieux planteur aux jeunes agriculteurs des colonies. Pointe-à-Pitre: Guadeloupe, Impr. de la République, an XI, 1792.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A practical handbook for planters, and a fundamental source for researching the agricultural and social system of the plantation in force just before the Revolution.
Find this resource:
Thibault de Chanvalon, Jean-Baptiste. Voyage à la Martinique, contenant diverses observations sur la physique, l’histoire naturelle, l’Agriculture, les Mœurs et les usages de cette isle, faites en 1751 et dans les années suivantes. Paris: J-B. Bauche, 1763.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Written by a Creole from Martinique, this manuscript gives a complete portrait of the island in the mid-18th century, according to a planter’s point of view. First parts concern society, population, and customs; then takes a more scientific view (diseases, fauna, meteorology). Edited by Monique Pouliquen in a 2004 edition (Paris: Karthala).
Find this resource:

The 19th and Early 20th Centuries

In the 19th century, testimonies become more numerous, especially among the white Creoles (Dessalles 1980–1987, Levilloux 1836), along with the appearance of feminine writing (Blandin-Pauvert 1986, Dujon-Jourdain and Dormoy-Léger 2002). Originally written as memoirs, manuscripts were transcribed and published in the 1980s, when historical research in the West Indies was in full swing. In the 19th century, another type of testimony sprang up: that of men on voyages in the West Indies retracing what they discovered and saw (Garnier 1969, De Maynard 1843, Hearn 1890, Granier de Cassagnac 1842). These two types of writings are distinct due to their literary genre: the first were not intended to be diffused, while the latter were meant to present the West Indies to an urban population interested in the exotic. In the colonial heyday, the French West Indies were perceived as “old colonies” attached to the “motherland” by an unbroken link, unlike new lands conquered in Africa or Asia. A third type of work developed alongside the rise of abolitionism in France: very partial witnesses of the colonial reality, since they were above all humanistic arguments in favor of the abolition of slavery (Schmidt 2000, Schoelcher 1847).

Blandin-Pauvert, Arlette. Au temps des Mabos, la société des blancs créoles en Guadeloupe. Fort-de-France, Martinique: L’Harmattan, 1986.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A Guadeloupean woman gives her memories of the beginning of 20th century up until the end of slavery.
Find this resource:
De Maynard, Alphonse. La Martinique en 1842, intérêts coloniaux, souvenirs de voyage. Paris: Gide, 1843.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Published under a pseudonym, this work by Cte E. de La Cornillère defends the planters in order to delay abolition, allowing readers to understand the mentality of the “parti colonial.”
Find this resource:
Dessalles, Pierre. La vie d’un colon à la Martinique au XIXe siècle. Edited by Henri de Frémont and Léo Elisabeth. 4 vols. Fort-de-France, Martinique: Désormeaux, 1980–1987.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A sugar planter living in Martinique informs us about everyday plantation life and Creole planter society. This edition also contains letters to his wife and children (1808–1836) and his complete diary (1837–1856). A partial translation is edited by Ellborg Forster and Robert Forster: Sugar and Slavery, Family and Race: The Letters and Diary of Pierre Dessalles, Planter in Martinique, 1808–1856 (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1996).
Find this resource:
Dujon-Jourdain, Elodie, and Renée Dormoy-Léger. Mémoires de békées. Edited by Henriette Levillain. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2002.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Narratives written by two women of the white and Creole aristocracy, providing a window into the existence and mentality of the planters. Renée Léger, the mother of the writer Saint-John Perse, describes Guadeloupe before her return to France in 1899. Elodie Jourdain, “Békée” of Martinique, author of a thesis on the Creole language supported at the Sorbonne, describes memories of her Martinican youth in the early 20th century.
Find this resource:
Garnier, Alphonse. Journal du conseiller Garnier à la Martinique et à la Guadeloupe 1848–1855. Edited by G. Debien. Paris: Gide, 1969.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A French civil servant sent as councilor to the Court of Martinique, then Guadeloupe, describes life on the plantations and new social relationships post-slavery.
Find this resource:
Granier de Cassagnac, Adolphe. Voyage aux Antilles françaises, anglaises, danoises, espagnoles, à Saint-Domingue et aux Etats-Unis d’Amérique. 2 vols. Paris: Comptoir des Imprimeurs Unis, 1842.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This supporter of slavery gives an opposing account of colonial slavery to those given by abolitionists. His is a particular but very instructive view into colonial mentalities, with many details of colonial life. See, in particular, Vol. 1, Les Antilles Françaises.
Find this resource:
Hearn, Lafcadio. Two Years in the West Indies. New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1890.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Literary testimony of an Irish traveler. Gives a detailed vision of the insular 19th-century society through a series of portraits and scenes of everyday life.
Find this resource:
Levilloux, J. Les créoles ou la vie aux Antilles. Paris: Hyppolite Souverain, 1836.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
An autobiographical novel by a progressive white Creole criticizing the colonial system.
Find this resource:
Schmidt, Nelly. Abolitionnistes de l’esclavage et réformateurs des colonies, 1820–1851: Analyse et documents. Paris: Karthala, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A very extensive and influential compilation, including most of the printed documentation related to debates on abolition, and new social and labor organization post-1848.
Find this resource:
Schoelcher, Victor. Histoire de l’esclavage pendant les deux dernières années. 2 vols. Paris: Pagnerre, 1847.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Last work in a series of several published since 1833 to make known the condition of the slaves in the French colonies.
Find this resource:

Historiography

Beginning with the early chroniclers, the history of colonial spaces remained for a long time a narrative and descriptive history meant to explain the unknown to readers in metropolitan France. Modern history, born of the rise of nationalism in the 19th century, was slow to assert itself in the small French Antilles, as opposed to the Greater Antilles such as Santo Domingo, which, as an independent state, found more legitimacy among historians. The past of the French West Indies is considered “comme subsidiaire et dénué de sens hors de l’orbite métropolitaine” (Pérotin-Dumon 2016, p. 105, cited under Reference Works). There were nevertheless some local historians who retraced the events they witnessed more closely. “Maritime and colonial history” asserted themselves in metropolitan France in the 1880s. This subdiscipline followed the French methodical school and was essentially driven by historians with archival training. The writing of history then transformed from a narrative story that was often descriptive, allowing one to touch the daily life of society, to a factual, event-based, and accumulative history, with the end goal being the glorification of France as a civilizing influence. In this history, some local personalities found their place, especially through the publication of books on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition of France (1931) and the tercentenary celebrations of the French West Indies (1935). It must be said that French Lesser Antilles historiography has been for the most part influenced by French historians. Until the 20th century, there was virtually no reference to European (let alone North American) literature, or even to that of other parts of the Caribbean. The period between the two world wars saw the outbreak of anticolonial movements, allowing the emergence of colonial history with a desire to effect decolonization. Between 1945 and 1960, the West Indies became relevant from a macroeconomic point of view due to the emergence of Atlantic history, responding to capitalist and industrial aspects of the slave trade, slavery, and sugar. At the same time, historians such as Gabriel Debien, Jacques Petitjean-Roget, Emile Hayot, Abbot David, and Liliane Chauleau contributed to a growing social history, mainly for Martinique. Researchers in Quebec, such as the anthropologist Jean Benoist, were also very interested. Finally, the end of the 1960s saw the emergence of the study of the West Indies at the university level, codified and based on the establishment of archives. Enthusiastic amateurs remain very present.

History of the Abolitionist Era

With the abolition of slavery approaching, Creole whites documented the state of their country. These high-quality works are based on considerable archival research (Ballet 1894, Rufz de Lavison 2006 [first published 1850], Peytraud 1897), but they lack the resonance of chronicles such as Dessalles 1846 and Daney de Marcillac 1846. For these local historians, history was primarily narrative, event-driven, and essentially colonial (Lacour 1855–1860), far removed from the Caribbean history that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, particularly in 1930, according to Danielle Bégot. This history is very marked by its colonial context in which Martinique and Guadeloupe, still colonies, exist for and by the France metropolitan. It’s the emergence of a history written by locals.

Ballet, Jules. La Guadeloupe: Renseignements sur l’histoire, la flore, la faune, la géologie, la minéralogie, l’agriculture, la commerce, l’industrie, la législation, l’administration. Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe: Imprimerie du Gouvernement, 1894.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A local government officer in Guadeloupe’s archives, Jules Ballet tried his hand at history in this 2,500-page monograph. Focusing on subjects such as agriculture, commerce, and industry, he sought to revive the “old colonial world” with twenty years’ worth of collecting archives and information.
Find this resource:
Daney de Marcillac, Sidney. Histoire de la Martinique depuis la colonisation jusqu’en 1815. Fort-Royal, Martinique: E. Ruelle, 1846.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Written by a white Creole, the book focuses on the military, politics, and the law. Though presented as the work of a historian, it is mainly a compilation of previously written works.
Find this resource:
Dessalles, Adrien. Histoire générale des Antilles. 5 vols. Fort-Royal, Martinique: E. Ruelle, 1846.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Son of the planter Pierre Dessalles, a Creole educated in France and of republican sensibility, Adrien penned a largely political and military history that complements Daney de Marcillac 1846.
Find this resource:
Lacour, Auguste. Histoire de la Guadeloupe, 1635 à 1789. 4 vols. Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe: Impr. du Gouvernement, 1855–1860.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
First general history of Guadeloupe, precise and established on primary sources.
Find this resource:
Peytraud, Lucien. L’esclavage aux Antilles d’après les documents inédits des Archives coloniales. Paris: Hachette, 1897.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This first study on colonial slavery faces the subject courageously. Its existence and its contents contradict the widespread, but false, conception that works on this subject are scarce.
Find this resource:
Rufz de Lavison, Étienne. Etudes historiques et statistiques sur la population de la Martinique. Fort-de-France, Martinique: C’Editions, 2006.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Originally published in 1850 by a progressive doctor of Saint-Pierre, this book is a chronicle of significant events in Martinique since the beginnings of colonization. Contains broad extracts from rare sources and includes contemporary statistics.
Find this resource:

“The Childhood” of the History of the French Lesser Antilles

This title, borrowed from Danielle Bégot, describes the works that emerged between the colonial exhibition in Paris in 1931 and the tercentenary of the French West Indies in 1935. This period saw the emergence of the first historical research conducted by professional historians.

Enthusiasm for Martinique at the Tercentennial Celebration

The Third Republic sought to magnify its colonies (Martineau and May 1935, Lara 1936), encouraging scientific research on the history of the French colonies. Some research works were published before this period, but they remain anecdotal (Lucrèce 1933). Local historians also emerged during this period. The best known among them was Lara Oruno, whose parents had been enslaved in their youth. Oruno 1922 revolutionized the historiography, dwelling less on events and giving a new precedence to slaves. In this way, Oruno sketched the beginnings of agency studies, which began to appear shortly after the publication of May 1930, though not established until decades later.

Lara, Hildevert Adolphe. Contribution de la Guadeloupe à la pensée française, 1635–1935. Paris: Cres, 1936.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Published under the patronage of the committee of the tercentenary of the French West Indies, this work gives an original view of Guadeloupean history.
Find this resource:
Lucrèce, Jules. Histoire de la Martinique à l’usage des cours supérieur et complémentaire des écoles primaires. Paris: Impr. des Presses Universitaires de France, 1933.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A history manual for Martinque’s primary schools, organized in thirty-one lessons. Lucrèce’s work is exemplary of the history taught under the Third Republic.
Find this resource:
Martineau, Alfred, and Louis-Philippe May. Trois siècles d’histoire antillaise?: Martinique et Guadeloupe de 1635 à nos jours. Paris: Leroux, 1935.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A classic work of history of this period, it is organized by geographical era and then chronologically. At the end of the book, a list of biographies on the “grands antillais” describes characters rarely encountered in conventional history (Bissette, Delgrès, Littée, etc).
Find this resource:
May, Louis-Philippe. Histoire économique de la Martinique 1635–1763. Paris: Presses Modernes, 1930.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A book of undeniable interest with real research acumen; it tackles unpublished subjects such as women and engagés (Europeans employed under three-year contracts).
Find this resource:
Oruno, Lara. La Guadeloupe dans l’histoire: La Guadeloupe physique, économique, agricole, commerciale, financière, politique et sociale de 1492 à 1900. Paris: Nouvelle Librairie Universelle, 1922.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A first-generation Guadeloupean after the abolition of slavery in 1848, Lara Oruno gives precedence to those neglected by history, particularly to the “black man.” Beginning at the end of the 19th century, these historians used reliable research methods to trace a mostly unknown history. Though the epistemological value of their approach seems to be quite established, their work quickly shows the limit of this kind of unilateral writing.
Find this resource:

Ecclesiastical Histories

Histories written by French clergymen in the West Indies in the early 19th century echo the enthusiasm for history within the church as a whole. The bulk of their work is in the form of monographs. Only two have been selected here. Rennard 1929 is a beautiful testimony to chronological history as it was at that time. Delawarde 1935, an exception within this literary genre, takes a step toward the subaltern studies of many decades later.

Delawarde, Jean-Baptiste. Les défricheurs et les petits colons de la Martinique au XVIIe siècle. Paris: Impr. René Buffault, 1935.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Although dated, this work is of great interest as one of the first social studies of Martinique.
Find this resource:
Rennard, Joseph. Précis d’histoire de la Martinique. Annecy, France: Imprimerie Commerciale, 1929.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Organized chronologically, like the majority of works of this period. Some chapters, however, deal with unusual topics such as the slave population, settlers, and theirs plantations.
Find this resource:

The Lesser Antilles in the University

The first history theses on Martinique and Guadeloupe, Banbuck 1935 and Satineau 1928 were the first university studies of Caribbean history; both, moreover, were carried out by intellectuals of color. Then, over the course of decolonization and independence, the complete institutional integration of the colony into France was called into question. The 1960s saw the end of plantation societies and the sugar industry and the rise of social demands expressed through the social movements of the 1950s and 1960s. The 1970s and 1980s saw a great change in the way history was written, as the social, political, and economic context of the French West Indies came to be of great importance. A group of academic historians emerged to set the standards for the construction of history. Exploitation of historical sources became an issue, and the legitimacy of the historian came to depend on his or her thesis and publications. A multitude of publications followed to revive a past that was about to disappear.

Banbuck, C. -A. Histoire politique, économique et sociale de la Martinique sous l’Ancien Régime 1635–1789. Paris: Marcel Rivière, 1935.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
The book gives more space to the economic aspect of Martinique's history, but social history remains in the background, the backbone of the thesis.
Find this resource:
Satineau, Maurice. Histoire de la Guadeloupe sous l’Ancien Régime 1635–1789. Paris: Payot, 1928.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Deals with questions of manpower, the material and moral condition of slaves, emancipation, the condition of freedmen, and other topics.
Find this resource:

Population, Settlement, and Social Groups

Bypassed for a long time by the Spanish, the Lesser Antilles were populated exclusively by Caribbean Indians until the beginning of the 17th century. During the establishment and formation of the plantation system (Petitjean-Roget 1980, cited under Operation of Plantation Societies), the Caribbean Indians, massacred or displaced, were rapidly replaced by Europeans and Africans, and then by a society almost exclusively composed of Creoles. The white “Creoles,” born in the West Indies, were distinguished from passing French without any attachment to the West Indies. Free Negroes or Creole slaves were distinguished from bossales who had just arrived from Africa by their mastery of French and creole, and by their own culture.

The Caribs

Knowledge of the Caribs is based on two types of sources: archaeological material and testimonies of the missionaries and chroniclers (Grunberg 2011–2017), mostly French priests in the 17th century. These two areas of research are beginning to be linked, as shown by the 2013 Reims symposium (Grunberg 2015). The archaeological aspect, which is mainly concerned with the pre-Columbian period, has not been covered recently, though reference is made to it in Bégot 2012 (cited under Reference Works). Verrand 2001 is an overview of the Caribbean Indians from 17th-century manuscripts.

Grunberg, Bernard, ed. Corpus des sources Antillaises. 12 vols. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2011–2017.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Critical editions of Europeans’ testimonies on the Caribs, in twelve volumes, with introduction and complete notes.
Find this resource:
Grunberg, Bernard, ed. A la recherche du Caraïbe perdu: Les populations amérindiennes des Petites Antilles de l’époque précolombienne à la période à la période coloniale. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2015.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Proceedings of the 2013 Reims conference, gathering twenty-seven contributions on archaeology, cultural practices, the perception of the Caribs by witnesses from 16th to the 20th centuries, and the evangelization missions of the 17th century.
Find this resource:
Verrand, Laurence. La vie quotidienne des Indiens Caraïbes aux Petites Antilles (XVIIe siècle). Paris: Karthala, 2001.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Introduces the social organization and way of life of the Caribs according to chroniclers and missionaries.
Find this resource:

Colonial Settlement

The colonial population was distinct in many ways from that of Continental France. Prior to the development of the African slave trade, agricultural holdings necessitated a population of European origin employed under three-year contracts: the engagés (Debien 1951). The study of slaves shows great African influence in sexual practices and in the organization of families (Cottias 1988, Gautier 2000). Out-of-wedlock births and matrilineal single-parent families were alternative family models (Cousseau 2011, David 1973). Cultural and family benchmarks varied from one social group to another but were nevertheless fairly common (Cousseau 2013).

Cottias, Myriam. “Ordre de raison ou raison d’ordre? Les dénombrements des habitations de la Martinique aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles.” Population 3 (1988): 660–664.
DOI: 10.2307/1532884 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Short demographic study of the slave population, based on five plantations in Martinique at the end of 18th and 19th centuries. Facilitates analysis of family structures and parental relationships in workshops.
Find this resource:
Cousseau, Vincent. “La famille invisible: Légitimité des naissances et construction des liens familiaux en Martinique (XVIIe–début du XIXe siècle).” Annales de Démographie Historique 2 (2011): 41–67.
DOI: 10.3917/adh.122.0041 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Accurate measurement of illegitimate births, showing that out-of-wedlock births were less a proof of a family disruption than the revelation of alternative family models.
Find this resource:
Cousseau, Vincent. Prendre nom aux Antilles: Individu et appartenances, XVIIe siècle–XIXe siècle. Paris: CTHS, 2013.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Based on a historical anthropology thesis, Cousseau draws a picture of society and families in Martinique through the nomination of persons. Chapters 2 and 3 provide a comprehensive description of colonial society based on original research and a recent bibliography.
Find this resource:
David, Bernard. “La population d’un quartier de la Martinique d’après les registres paroissiaux: Rivière-Pilote, 1802–1829.” Revue française d’histoire d’Outre-Mer 220 (1973): 330–363.
DOI: 10.3406/outre.1973.1691 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Studies the registers of the free (white or colored) and slave populations preserved since 1758 in detail, taking into account color, age, and origin. Includes numerous detailed tables for baptisms, births, marriages and burials, a methodology Bernard uses again in other studies on Carbet and Case-Pilote.
Find this resource:
Debien, Gabriel. “La société coloniale aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles: Les engagés pour les Antilles 1634–1715.” Revue d’histoire des colonies 38 (1951): 13–133.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Martinique and Guadeloupe were first populated by a French labor force. The author traces their origin, conditions of life and employment, and future prospects.
Find this resource:
Gautier, Arlette. “Les familles esclaves aux Antilles françaises, 1635–1848.” Population 6 (2000): 975–1002.
DOI: 10.2307/1534924 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A review of servile families in the French West Indies, with a useful historiography in the introduction.
Find this resource:

Creolization, Miscegenation, and Free Coloreds

In the ethnosocial hierarchy of Martinique and Guadeloupe, black or mixed-race freedmen (Bonniol 1992) fell into an intermediate category. After long neglect, the study of Martinique’s and Guadeloupe’s free people was renewed, with Hayot 1969 showing a new interest. Free by birth or manumission, this group had distinct characteristics and social behaviors (Louis 2013) and was subjected to a series of discriminatory laws (Niort 2004). Nevertheless, the barrier of color was not as tight as it might seem.

Bonniol, Jean-Luc. La Couleur comme maléfice: Une illustration créole de la généalogie des Blancs et des Noirs. Paris: Albin Michel, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Historical and ethnographical study that shows how social differentiation and racial opposition overlapped in the French Antilles, in particular in Désirade and Terre-de-Haut des Saintes.
Find this resource:
Debbasch, Yvan. Couleur et liberté: Le jeu du critère ethnique dans un ordre juridique esclavagiste. Vol. 1, L’Affranchi dans les possessions françaises de la Caraïbe (1635–1833). Paris: Dalloz, 1967.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Describes and analyzes the different stages of colonial legislation (controls, prohibitions, discriminations) against freedmen and mixed persons.
Find this resource:
Hayot, Emile. “Les Gens de Couleur Libres Du Fort-Royal, 1679–1823.” Revue française d’histoire de l’Outre-Mer 56–202 (1969): 5–98.
DOI: 10.3406/outre.1969.1478 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
First in-depth study of the freedmen, derived from parish registers and the registry office of Fort-Royal. Investigates upward social mobility in several black or mixed-race families, despite 18th-century discrimination.
Find this resource:
Louis, Abel. Les libres de couleur en Martinique. 3 vols. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2013.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Based on a doctoral thesis, this firsthand work offers information on the free coloreds of Martinique, with precise references.
Find this resource:
Niort, Jean-François. “La Condition des Libres de couleur aux Îles du Vent (XVIIe–XIXe Siècles)?: Ressources et limites d’un système ségrégationniste.” Cahiers Aixois D’histoire Des Droits de l’Outre-Mer Français 2 (2004): 61–119.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Part of a set of articles by the author studying the condition of people of color, in particular the hierarchies of color meant above to protect a “good colonial order.”
Find this resource:
Pierre-Louis, Jessica. “Les libres de couleur face au préjugé: Franchir la barrière à la Martinique aux XVIIe–XVIIIe siècles.” PhD diss., Université des Antilles et de la Guyane, 2015.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Thesis on the color barrier and how to cross it. Analyzes color prejudice and its implications for the construction of public and social law.
Find this resource:

Frameworks and Organization of Plantation Societies

Masters and slaves formed the social partnership of the plantation. Though in some cases absent owners turned their responsibilities over to overseers, this was not the standard in Martinique, unlike Jamaica or Santo Domingo. The owner of the house was called the “habitant” (planter). He was the head of the exploitation of slaves, sometimes along with the master’s family members (this was often the case for coffee plantations). The habitant could be white or a “free person of color,” an owner of slaves or not. There was an intense hierarchy according to shades of skin color and productive or reproductive capacity.

Operation of Plantation Societies

Beginning around 1635, it took about half a century to form the plantation society (Petitjean-Roget 1980). The social hierarchy is then confirmed by the “Code Noir” and by a series of prescriptions or laws at key moments in the history of the Antilles, leading to a relatively stable society for approximately a century (Elisabeth 2003). It wasn’t until the first and second abolitions of slavery in Guadeloupe, in 1794 and 1848, that there was a questioning of the established order (Bégot 2008). The general emancipation of the slaves was tempered by a series of laws and measures delimiting freedmen. The life of the slaves was varied (Hartkopf Schloss 2009); Bonniol 1980 and Hardy 2014 (cited under Production) give an overview of the diversity of social structures in the West Indies.

Bégot, Danielle, ed. La plantation coloniale esclavagiste, XVIIe-XIXe siècles: Actes du 127e Congrès national des sociétés historiques et scientifiques, Nancy, 2002. Paris: CTHS, 2008.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Among many contributions, the general introduction describes the frameworks of the slave plantations in the French Lesser Antilles.
Find this resource:
Bonniol, Jean-Luc. Terre-de-Haut des Saintes: Contraintes insulaires et particularisme ethnique dans la Caraïbe. Paris: Les Editions Caribéennes, 1980.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This anthropological, ethnological, and historical study reveals the existence of a marginal West Indian society, the Saints, who developed isolated from the colonial monoculture. Bonniol studies the evolution of this community and its relations with the outside world.
Find this resource:
Boutin, Raymond. Petit-Canal, une commune de la Guadeloupe au XIXe siècle. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1983.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Studies the civil registers of Petit-Canal, north of Grande-Terre in Guadeloupe, giving an overview of 19th-century West Indian demography via an analysis of marriage, procreation, and lineage behavior.
Find this resource:
Elisabeth, Léo. La société martiniquaise aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, 1664–1789. Paris: SHM-Karthala, 2003.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Based on a doctoral thesis, this book investigates free men of Martinique, mostly colored, but some whites as well. Contains useful demographic and statistical.
Find this resource:
Hartkopf Schloss, Rebecca. Sweet Liberty: The Final Days Slavery in Martinique. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
First English-language work to explore in great detail the social, political, and cultural dynamics of Martinique during the last years of slavery.
Find this resource:
Petitjean-Roget, Jacques. La société d’habitation à la Martinique, un demi-siècle de formation, 1635–1685. 2 vols. Paris: Champion, 1980.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This book, based on a PhD thesis at the Université de Lille III and supported in Paris in 1978, is distinguished by its precision, relying especially on “terriers” (documents informing about land ownership) dating from 1671. Carefully traces the formation of colonial society in Martinique.
Find this resource:

Slaves and Slavery

Slavery is a favorite theme of those researching the Antilles. The monumental Debien 2000 (first published 1974) favors Santo Domingo, but its passages dedicated to the Lesser Antilles are nevertheless essential. For social aspects, Debien’s work is completed by Vanony-Frisch 1985, based on slaves on Guadeloupe. The slave trade fits into the global movement studied by Pétré-Grenouilleau 2004. As for the system of slavery, while there is still much to learn; much is now known about the sanitary (Léti 1998) and economic (Oudin-Bastide 2005) aspects, and also abolitions (Dorigny 1999). The study of slavery involves a diversity of approaches and thematic studies (Shepherd and Beckles 2000).

Debien, Gabriel. Les esclaves aux Antilles françaises. Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe: Société d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
The synthesis of a life’s research, this major work, originally published in 1974, covers all the aspects of slave life. However, certain points are dated and the author is mainly interested in Saint-Domingue. Copublished by the Société d’Histoire de la Martinique.
Find this resource:
Dorigny, Marcel, ed. Esclavages, résistances et abolitions, Actes du 123e Congrès des Sociétés historiques et scientifiques, Fort-de-France-Schoelcher, 1998. Paris: CTHS, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A collection of a large number of communications from the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in 1998. Numerous subjects are approached: drafts, deportation of the Africans, labor and domestic slavery, slave rebellions, and battles led by the abolitionists.
Find this resource:
Léti, Geneviève. Santé et société esclavagiste à la Martinique (1802–1848). Paris: L’Harmattan, 1998.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This study reviews the role of medical personnel (health officers, pharmacists, and doctors) in Martinique.
Find this resource:
Oudin-Bastide, Caroline. Travail, capitalisme et société esclavagiste: Guadeloupe, Martinique (XVIIe–XIXe siècles). Paris: La Découverte, 2005.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Half economic history, half historical anthropology, this work draws a parallel between the advent of a Western capitalist modernity and the slave system that seems to oppose it. Brings an original approach to the slave society of the French Antilles by profiling the planters and the slaves.
Find this resource:
Pétré-Grenouilleau, Olivier. Les traites négrières: Essai d’histoire globale. Paris: Gallimard, 2004.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This global history discusses the West Indies in the introduction and the first part.
Find this resource:
Shepherd, Verene A., and Hilary Mcd. Beckles, eds. Caribbean Slavery in the Atlantic World: A Student Reader. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Revisited and completed by Caribbean Slave Society and Economy (1991), by the same authors. Includes seventy chapters covering the sociological and economic aspects of slavery. Most articles concern the English Antilles, but some explore the French Antilles, including chapters by Moitt and Tomich.
Find this resource:
Vanony-Frisch, Nicole. Special Issue: Les esclaves de la Guadeloupe à la fin de l’Ancien Régime d’après les sources notariales (1770–1789). Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe 63–64 (1985).
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Based on a doctoral thesis supported in the Sorbonne in 1982, this pioneering social study is realized from about ten thousand slaves’ mentions in the notarial records of Guadeloupe. It includes useful age pyramids and statistical tables.
Find this resource:

Religion

West Indian historiography often focuses on Catholicism (Rennard 1954), which became dominant through a religious purge at the end of the 17th century and included eviction or compulsory conversion (Pizzorusso 1995, David 1988–1991). Religious minorities, such as Jews (arrived from Brazil in 1654) and reformed Protestants, then disappeared officially (Lafleur 1985). Catholicism plays a key role in West Indian society, in particular through the evangelization of slaves, whose African faiths were considered superstitions (Peabody 2002). With the concordat, the clergy received a state salary (David 1984) and assistance for the maintenance of colonial law and order until the separation of church and state in 1905 (Delisle 2000). After the Second World War, new religious or sectarian movements from the United States spread and developed little by little.

David, Bernard. Dictionnaire biographique de la Martinique: Le clergé. 3 vols. Fort-de-France, Martinique: Société d’Histoire de la Martinique, 1984.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
In this dictionary, the abbot David summarized notes written throughout life. Essential for identifying members of the clergy.
Find this resource:
David, Bernard. “Histoire religieuse de la Martinique au XVIIe.” Annales des Antilles 27 (1988–1991): 21–44.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Presentation of the religious organization of the island, the creation of parishes, methods of evangelization by various missionary orders, and their involvement in teaching and hospital care.
Find this resource:
Delisle, Philippe. Histoire religieuse des Antilles et de la Guyane françaises: Des chrétientés sous les tropiques? 1815–1911. Paris: Karthala, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Focuses on the 19th century, to the culmination of the conquest of Christianity. Studies the relationship between religion and society, arguing that 1848 saw a significant surge in the practice of Christianity.
Find this resource:
Hurbon, Laënnec, ed. Le phénomène religieux dans la Caraïbe: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, Haïti, Colloque de Pointe-à-Pitre de 1989. Paris: Karthala, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A publication of the proceedings of a 1989 colloquium. Of particular note are Liliane Chauleau’s reflections on baptism, Gérard Lafleur’s study on the role of the church in society in the 18th century, and Antoine Gisler’s focus on the church and the question of slavery.
Find this resource:
Lafleur, Gérard. “Les Juifs aux Îles françaises du (XVIIe–XVIIIe siècles).” Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe 65–66 (1985): 77–131.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Retraces the presence, sometimes difficult to observe, of Jews since their arrival in 1654 from Brazil and from Aquitaine in the 18th century, from tolerance to periodic evictions.
Find this resource:
Peabody, Sue. “A Dangerous Zeal: Catholic Missions to Slaves in the French Antilles, 1635–1800.” French Historical Studies 25.1 (2002): 53–90.
DOI: 10.1215/00161071-25-1-53 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Describes the religious life of slaves, partially focusing on the Lesser Antilles, with a recent bibliography.
Find this resource:
Pizzorusso, Giovanni. Roma nei Caraibi: L’organizzazione delle missioni cattoliche nelle Antille e in Guyana (1635–1675). Rome: École Française de Rome, 1995.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Very complete work that investigates the archives of Catholic missions in Rome.
Find this resource:
Rennard, Jean. Histoire religieuse des Antilles, des origines à 1914. Paris: Larose, 1954.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
First overview of religion to focus mainly on the Lesser Antilles (including Saint Lucia and Grenada). Though dated, essential reading for beginners.
Find this resource:

The Colonial Economy: Structures, Production, Trade

The French colonies of the Lesser Antilles at first had no clear economic project, but they were almost immediately oriented toward tobacco. The cultivation of sugarcane and the establishment of the Exclusif system established their economic and commercial interest for France. Slavery and transatlantic trade made the colonies precious, and they developed rapidly throughout the 18th century. However, limited arable land was already a problem in the mid-18th century, hindering development. The economy of the Lesser Antilles was characterized by its insular colonial situation (Blérald 1986). The export economies of Martinique and Guadeloupe (Buffon 2003) encouraged authorities to track and control production, which allows us to follow the major changes (Schnakenbourg 1977). Buffon 1979 tracks financial exchanges with France, focusing on traders. Marion 2000 investigates the control of financial flows and fiscal issues by public authorities.

Blérald, Alain-Philippe. Histoire économique de la Guadeloupe et de la Martinique du XVIIe siècle à nos jours. Paris: Karthala, 1986.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Theorizes and problematizes the colonial economy, without necessarily coming to a conclusion.
Find this resource:
Buffon, Alain. Monnaie et crédit en économie coloniale: Contribution à l’histoire économique de la Guadeloupe 1635–1919. Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe: Société d’histoire de la Guadeloupe, 1979.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Approaches the colonial economy from a financial angle over a wide period.
Find this resource:
Buffon, Alain. “L’histoire économique.” Bulletin d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe 135–13 (2003): 89–132.
DOI: 10.7202/1040739ar Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Forty-year overview of the economic history of the Antilles. Recommended starting point on the topic.
Find this resource:
Marion, Gérard Gabriel. L’administration des finances à la Martinique, 1679–1790. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Important summary, particularly useful thanks to numerous references to primary sources available in archives.
Find this resource:
Schnakenbourg, Christian. “Statistiques pour l’histoire de l’économie de plantation en Guadeloupe et Martinique (1635–1835).” Annales des Antilles 21 (1977): 7–121.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
After describing how the data was kept, this long article compiles data mainly from series G1 of the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer.
Find this resource:

Production

The sugar industry in the Lesser Antilles was established in the 1650s, meeting a long-standing demand in Europe (Bégot and Hocquet 2000) and becoming a major player in world trade in the 18th century (Stein 1988). Strong demand encouraged cultivation of cane on almost all the islands, even as far as Saint-Martin (Parisis and Parisis 1994). Sugar is thus at the heart of the island economies (as shown by Schnakenbourg 1980–2016 for Guadeloupe) until the 19th century (Tomich 1990), even after the international sugar crisis in the 1880s (Légier 1905). However, tobacco, indigo (Yvon 2015), cocoa and, in the 18th century, coffee (Hardy 2014) also had important roles in economic development.

Bégot, Danielle, and Jean-Claude Hocquet, ed. Le sucre, de l’Antiquité à son destin antillais. Paris: CTHS, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Proceedings of a 1998 colloquium with contributions on sugar, its commercialization, and its place in the West-Indian societies (see especially Vincent Huyghues-Belrose on the Jesuit plantations, pp. 85–102).
Find this resource:
Hardy, Marie. “Le monde du café à la Martinique du début du XVIIIe aux années 1860.” PhD diss., Université des Antilles et de la Guyane, 2014.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Breaking away from traditional historiography, which tends to associate the history of the West Indies with the history of sugar, this work reveals another part of Martinique’s history, that of an intermediary society in which coffee plantations opposed the large sugar plantations.
Find this resource:
Légier, Emile. La Martinique et la Guadeloupe: Considérations économiques sur l’avenir et la culture de la canne; La production du sucre et du rhum et les cultures secondaires dans les Antilles françaises. Paris: Bureaux de la Sucrerie Indigène et Coloniale, 1905.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This detailed study of the sugar system carried out by the editor of the indigenous and colonial sugar factory can almost be considered a primary source. It deals with issues of cane cultivation, rum production, cost and price, and the prospects of secondary crops.
Find this resource:
Mousnier, Mireille, Brigitte Caille, and Danielle Bégot. Atlas historique du patrimoine sucrier de la Martinique (XVIIe–XVIIIIe siècles). Paris: L’Harmattan, 1990.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Includes reproductions of old maps and plans with critical analysis, supplemented by a presentation of material traces of sugar production.
Find this resource:
Parisis, Denise, and Henri Parisis. Special Issue: Le siècle du sucre à Saint-Martin français. Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe 99–102 (1994).
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
The sugar industry spread to the smaller islands; this work specifically discusses Saint-Martin, a shared island with the United Provinces, from the 1760s on.
Find this resource:
Schnakenbourg, Christian. Histoire de l’industrie sucrière en Guadeloupe au XVIIe et XIXe siècles. 4 vol. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1980–2016.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Extensive history of the sugar industry since 1835. Each volume covers a chronological period through 2000; the first volume on the end of the slave period has since been updated, while the last three, written in 2007, are up to date.
Find this resource:
Stein, Robert Louis. The French Sugar Business in the Eighteenth Century. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Based on manuscripts, addresses the sugar trade from the West Indies (Part 1) to France (Part 2).
Find this resource:
Tomich, Dale W. Slavery and the Circuit of Sugar: Martinique and the World Economy, 1830–1848. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Presentation of the history of Martinique through what shaped it, namely sugar and slavery. The author studies the interactions between slavery and the evolution of sugar production as shaped by local and international conditions.
Find this resource:
Yvon, Tristan. La production d’indigo en Guadeloupe et Martinique (XVIIe–XIXe siècles). Paris: Karthala, 2015.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
More archaeology than history, this volume explains ancient techniques of indigo production in Martinique and Guadeloupe, as well as their development. Based on archaeological excavations and important documents, the author relies on various disciplines to carry out his investigation.
Find this resource:

Territory and Land Tenure

The Lesser Antilles are small, but their geography is complex and varied. The territorial organization and agriculture are studied in two geographical theses: Revert 1949 for Martinique and Lasserre 1961 for Guadeloupe. After the concessions of the 17th century (Petitjean-Roget and Bruneau-Latouche 1983), almost all cultivable land on the smaller islands was developed and subject to a specific regime (Géraud-LLorca 1982). In the 19th-century, tensions deepened with increased population density and increased demand for land by the newly free (Chivallon 1998).

Chivallon, Christine. Espace et identité à la Martinique: Paysannerie des mornes et reconquête collective, 1840–1960. Paris: Éditions du CNRS, 1998.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
The author is interested in smallholdings, which allowed the emergence of a small subsistence peasantry.
Find this resource:
Géraud-Llorca, Edith. “La coutume de Paris outre-mer: L’habitation antillaise sous l’Ancien Régime.” Revue historique du droit français et étranger 60.2 (1982): 207–259.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Legal conditions for the transfer, sale, and seizure of property were based on contemporary customs in France, but they also had unique characteristics, which are analyzed here.
Find this resource:
Lasserre, Guy. La Guadeloupe: Etude géographique. Bordeaux, France: Union Française d’Impression, 1961.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Like Revert 1949, this is a geographical study bathed in history, with a particularly rich chapter on settlement.
Find this resource:
Petitjean-Roget, Jacques, and Eugène Bruneau-Latouche. Personnes et Familles à la Martinique au XVIIe siècle d’après recensements et terriers nominatifs. 2 vols. Fort-de-France, Martinique: Société d’Histoire de la Martinique, 1983.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
The complete land registers for Martinique, with documents (Volume 1) and indexes of places and owners (Volume 2). Indispensable for any social or prosopographic study on the 17th century.
Find this resource:
Revert, Eugène. La Martinique: Etude géographique. Paris: Nouvelles Éditions Latines, 1949.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Analysis of the territory of Martinique, geographical but also historical, and useful for understanding the economic and agricultural of the island.
Find this resource:

Revolutions and Abolitions (1789–1918)

Throughout the period of slavery, some slaves tried to obtain more freedom by various means, which could go as far as open revolt. The French Revolution marked a new era in the French West Indies, questioning the domination of the white and Creole elites. In Martinique, English support preserved the dominance of planters and the slave system. In contrast, Guadeloupe experienced a more radical change; slavery was first abolished for a time before being reestablished by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. In 1815 the foundations of the colonial system were threatened by the prohibition of the slave trade (though it continued clandestinely for some time), and the gradual enfranchisement of free people of color, due to the “Monarchie de Juillet” (1830–1848). These developments did not occur unopposed; see, for example, the Bissette case, the Grande-Anse/Lorrain case, and the Carbet revolt. Economically, Caribbean sugar began to compete with other products from other areas, such as Cuban sugar and the French sugar beet, making it less profitable, and the increasingly clear prospect of abolition threatened economic development. French administrators, such as Donzelot in Martinique, tried to modernize both by arbitrating between different groups and encouraging Creole white planters to be more progressive and give up their privileges. This evolution of mentalities is perceptible in Dessalles 1980–1987 (see Printed Testimonies: The 19th and early 20th Centuries). Dessalles’s son, Adrien, was also an author of one of the first stories of the island (see Dessalles 1846, cited under History of the Abolitionist Era). People of color asserted themselves more and more, becoming numerically much more important than whites by 1848 in both Martinique and in Guadeloupe, creating a properly “post-slavery” society by the second half of the 19th century.

The Revolutionary Period (1789–1815)

The revolutionary period gave rise to many testimonies, most notably Dessalles 1982 (cited under Printed Testimonies: The 18th century). The French Revolution in the West Indies is little discussed in the general historiography of the Revolution, with the notable exception of Bénot 1989, which takes into account the colonial dimension. On the other hand, studies were carried out on the Revolution in the Antilles itself, such as Lémery 1936, an event-oriented approach for Martinique; Régent 2004, a social history; and Tarrade 1989, a special issue of the Revue française d’histoire d’outre-mer. Several Caribbean studies complement each other, such as Adélaïde-Merlande 1992 and Dubois 2004. Elisabeth 1993 studies Martinique’s republican period, completed by Cousseau 2017, which addresses the issue of free citizens, as well as Geggus 1997, on English occupation. In Martinique, imperial power was supported by planters to maintain colonial slavery, which was, on the contrary, interrupted in Guadeloupe until 1802. England’s temporary restitution of the island to France is the subject of Trani 2014. See also Pérotin-Dumon 2000, cited under Towns and Urban Life.

Adélaïde-Merlande, Jacques. La Caraïbe et la Guyane au temps de la Révolution et de l’Empire. Paris: Karthala, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Integrates the Lesser Antilles into the movement of the Revolution in the Caribbean.
Find this resource:
Bénot, Yves. La révolution française et la fin des colonies, 1789–1794. Paris: La Découverte, 1989.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This work deals with revolution in the French colonial territories, insisting on the primacy of anticolonialism and antislavery, from Diderot to Société des Amis des Noirs, in the revolutionary process.
Find this resource:
Cousseau, Vincent. “Penser la défaite de Rochambeau.” In Empires ébranlés: La colonisation mise en échec, des rives de l’Uruguay à Diên Biên Phu (XVIIe–XXe siècle). Edited by Laurent Colantonio et Sébastien Jahan. Paris: Les Indes Savantes, 2017.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Examines the republican defeat, which involved the fracture of colonial society during the war against England. The second part of the article is a historiography of the Revolution in the West Indies.
Find this resource:
Dubois, Laurent. A Colony of Citizens: Revolution and Slave Emancipation in the French Caribbean, 1789–1802. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Based on a 1988 thesis, this study includes a useful description of the social groups of the region.
Find this resource:
Elisabeth, Léo. “La République dans les îles du Vent (déc. 1792-avril 1794).” Annales historiques de la Révolution française 293–294 (1993): 373–408.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Account of the short Republican revolution in Martinique until English occupation and the defeat of Rochambeau, a death knell for the emancipation of the slaves.
Find this resource:
Geggus, David. “Esclaves et gens de couleur libres de la Martinique pendant l’époque révolutionnaire et napoléonienne: Trois instants de résistance.” Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire de la Martinique 31 (1997): 58–76.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Exposes the challenges and the stakes of Revolution in Martinique.
Find this resource:
Lémery, Henri. Histoire de la révolution en Martinique. Paris: Larose, 1936.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
First work by a republican historian; provides the main events of the revolutionary period and recalls their political stakes.
Find this resource:
Pérotin-Dumon, Anne. Être patriote sous les tropiques: La Guadeloupe, la colonisation et la Révolution (1789–1794). Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe: Société d’histoire de la Guadeloupe, 1985.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Early treatment of the revolutionary process in political terms and from an Atlantic perspective, mainly centered on Guadeloupe from 1789 to 1794.
Find this resource:
Régent, Frédéric. Esclavage, métissage, liberté: La Révolution française en Guadeloupe (1789–1802). Paris: Grasset, 2004.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
The result of a 2002 doctoral thesis at the Sorbonne, this study is a reference book on Guadeloupe during the revolutionary period.
Find this resource:
Tarrade, Jean, ed. Special Issue: La Révolution Française et les colonies. Revue française d’histoire d’outre-mer 282–283 (1989).
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This special issue of the journal published on the bicentenary of the French Revolution offers several articles devoted to the West Indies, including that of Leo Elisabeth on freedmen from 1789 to 1793 (pp. 75–95), and Anne Pérotin-Dumont on the seamen and merchants who spread the news of the Revolution throughout the Caribbean (pp. 125–158).
Find this resource:
Trani, Lionel. La Martinique napoléonienne, 1802–1809. Paris: S.P.M., 2014.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Fills a gap in Lesser Antilles historiography by studying the preservation of planter control, which distrusts the Napoleonic regime. The second part deals with the free colored, politically and legally dominated but in continuous social ascent. The third part deals with the deteriorating situation of the slaves.
Find this resource:

The Restoration and the Fragility of the Slave and Colonial Order (1815–1848)

During the last phase of the slave period, white planters sought to maintain dominance by affirming their autonomy vis-à-vis the central political power (Thésée 1997), which sought to enforce the effective prohibition of the clandestine slave trade during the 1820s (Thésée 1985). For this dominant minority, it was a question of saving time by delaying the rise of the citizens of color (Pame 1999) and especially the abolition of slavery (Fallope 1992). Pressure on the defenders of the traditional system increased with abolition in the nearby English islands, judicial cases that highlighted the violence of the slave system (Oudin-Bastide 2008), and acts of collective resistance.

Fallope, Josette. Esclaves et citoyens: Les Noirs à la Guadeloupe au XIXe siècle dans le processus de résistance et d’intégration (1802–1910). Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe: Société d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Social study of the slaves and freedmen of Guadeloupe, taking into account the demographic, economic, and political aspects. A useful map of the owners of color in 1835 is on p. 142.
Find this resource:
Oudin-Bastide, Caroline. Des nègres et des juges: La scandaleuse affaire Spoutourne (1831–1834). Paris: Complexe, 2008.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Examination of a legal case concerning the ill-treatment of slaves, which raised indignation in Martinique and was a decisive step in the denunciation of the misdeeds of slavery.
Find this resource:
Pame, Stella. Cyrille Bissette, un martyr de la liberté. Fort-de-France: Désormeaux, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Biography of Cyrille Bissette, protagonist of one of the main judicial cases of the first half of the 19th century in Martinique, who campaigned for equality between free men and then for abolition.
Find this resource:
Thésée, Françoise. Les Ibos de l’Amélie: Destinée d’une cargaison de traite clandestine à la Martinique (1822–1838). Paris: Editions Caribéennes, 1985.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Investigation into the boarding of clandestine slave ships and the colonial assumption of these captives, along with their fate over about fifteen years.
Find this resource:
Thésée, Françoise. Le général Donzelot à la Martinique: Vers la fin de l’Ancien Régime colonial (1818–1826). Paris: Karthala, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Examination of the difficult relationship between the colonial administration and the planter class, which wished to maintain its privileges.
Find this resource:

The Post-Slave Period (1848–1918)

This period, long neglected by historical research, is characterized by a redefinition of the colonial relationship with France. After abolition, the newly freed were legally entitled to citizenship, thus obtaining a recognized identity (Durand 2011) and redefining the productive system. As the labor force became more mobile and difficult to exploit (Danquin 1995), the landowners sent for committed workers from Africa (Flory 2015) or India (Singaravelou 1987, Schnakenbourg 2005). These arrivals were accompanied by tension, and conditions for the migrants were difficult. The establishment of modern sugar factories changed the social equilibrium, with the emergence of an agricultural wage and an increase in sugar-growing land. At the end of the 19th century, political and social life became more vibrant, with the birth of trade unions (Adélaïde-Merlande 2000) and the appearance of colored politicians who took power after the introduction of universal suffrage (Sainton 1999). The demand for full integration into the French Republic is demonstrated by involvement in the First World War (Andrivon-Milton 2005).

Adélaïde-Merlande, Jacques. Les origines du mouvement ouvrier à la Martinique 1870–1900. Paris: Karthala, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Reissue of a 1958 study on the condition of waged agricultural labor after abolition, including people living on plantations or in factories, smallholder workers, partiaires, and the new migrant workforce.
Find this resource:
Andrivon-Milton, Sabine. La Martinique et la Grande Guerre. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2005.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
First study of the First World War that doesn’t neglect the economy, explaining the beginning of the “cycle of rum.”
Find this resource:
Danquin, Léon. “Modalités et processus de formation du marché du travail en Guadeloupe au lendemain de l’abolition de l’esclavage (1848–1875).” Etudes guadeloupéennes 7 (1995): 86–140.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This review focuses on the changes in the labor market induced by abolition.
Find this resource:
Durand, Guillaume. Les noms de famille de la population martiniquaise d’ascendance servile. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2011.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
After the Abolition of 1848, authorities engaged in a vast operation of naming the newly freed. This study, based on a doctoral thesis, is an exhaustive picture based on registries, with a CD-ROM of the results.
Find this resource:
Flory, Céline. De l’esclavage à la liberté forcée. Paris: Karthala, 2015.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A combination of imperial history and social history, showing how the colonial hierarchy persisted post-slavery. A large African workforce arrived after abolition in the French Caribbean, during a brief period from 1854 to 1862.
Find this resource:
Sainton, Jean-Pierre. Les nègres en politique: Couleur, identités et stratégies de pouvoir en Guadeloupe au tournant du siècle. Villeneuve d’Ascq, France: Presses du Septentrion, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Based on a PhD thesis on Guadeloupe, focuses on the emergence of a new political class at the end of the 19th century, and more broadly on the new political and social situation of Guadeloupe under the Third Republic.
Find this resource:
Schnakenbourg, Christian. “L’immigration indienne en Guadeloupe (1848–1923).” PhD diss., l’Université de Provence, 2005.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A detailed and well-documented study of the Indians of Guadeloupe.
Find this resource:
Singaravelou. Les Indiens de la Caraïbe. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1987.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
The first volume deals with the arrival and inclusion of Indian workers in the post-abolition Caribbean.
Find this resource:

New Areas of Research

New fields of historiography have emerged since the mid-1990s. Earlier, the history of the Lesser Antilles corresponded essentially with the history of slavery and plantations. Some researchers had pointed to a need for a change of approach. In opposition to the monolithic and essentially male plantation society described by scholars, the lives of women were valued in particular as studies became increasingly urban. Maritime themes, highly fashionable during the 19th and first half of the 20th century, fell into disuse during the 20th century until the development of the field of Atlantic history in the 1980s, particularly covering the movements and connections of the Atlantic basin. The emergence of such subjects in the French Antilles is still relatively recent, spurred by the development of maritime archaeology.

Towns and Urban Life

Colonial historiography gives only a limited place to the city, for its commercial and administrative function. Saint-Pierre became the first object of study, then Fort-Royal and Fort-de-France in Martinique, followed by Basse-Terre and Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe (Pérotin-Dumon 1991). It is really only after Pérotin-Dumon 2000 that historiography began to focus on urban spaces. The latter then appeared as a space of possibility, as opposed to the closed plantation world. Recent studies feature other aspects of urban history, particularly ports and commercial spaces in Guibert 2012).

Guibert, Jean-Sébastien. “An Historical Study of the Potential for Underwater Cultural Heritage in Pointe-à-Pitre Bay, Guadeloupe, FWI.” In ACUA Underwater Archaeology Proceedings 2012. Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology, 2012.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Deals with maritime events, construction, and dredging in the port since the beginning of 19th century, thanks to an underwater archaeological survey in Pointe-à-Pitre Bay.
Find this resource:
Pérotin-Dumon, Anne. “Cabotage, Contreband, and Corsairs: The Port Cities of Guadeloupe and Their Inhabitants, 1650–1800.” In Atlantic Port Cities, Economy, Culture, and Society in the Atlantic World, 1650–1850. Edited by Franklin Knight and Peggy Kiss, 58–86. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1991.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
First social study of American Atlantic port cities, featuring the life of workers, in large part women.
Find this resource:
Pérotin-Dumon, Anne. La ville aux Îles, La ville dans l’île, Basse-Terre et Pointe-À-Pitre, Guadeloupe, 1650–1820. Paris: Karthala, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Comparative urban history that renews historiographical approaches to the modern colonial period, focused on the plantation. Reveals open, dynamic urban societies within Caribbean history.
Find this resource:

Women and Gender Studies

New approaches to social history evolved throughout the 1960s, in particular through the study of slavery, and in the 1970s with the rise of the feminism. Gautier 2010 (first published 1985) is the pioneer work on African slave women, followed by Pago 1998. Woman have a larger role in works such as Moitt 2001, Cottias 2002, and Garraway 2005.

Cottias, Myriam. “Mariage et citoyenneté dans les Antilles françaises (XVIIe–XXe): De l’esclave à la femme’poto-mitan.’” In Construire l’histoire antillaise: Mélanges offerts à Jacques Adélaïde-Merlande. Edited by Lucien Abénon, Danielle Bégot, and Jean-Pierre Sainton. Paris: CTHS-Histoire, 2002.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Deals with the end of the slave period, indicating how authorities sought to promote marriage as a tool for social and moral stability, both for the free and for slaves on the verge of emancipation.
Find this resource:
Garraway, Doris. The Libertine Colony: Creolization in the Early French Caribbean. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2005.
DOI: 10.1215/9780822386513 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Studies the French colonies, in particular Saint-Domingue, through the concept of libertinage. Based on descriptive narrative sources (missionary histories and relations, travel narratives, colonial descriptions, and treatises on slavery and administration), which analyze the role played by desire, sexuality, and violence in molding Creole society.
Find this resource:
Gautier, Arlette. Les Sœurs de Solitude: Femmes et esclavage aux Antilles du XVIIe au XIXe siècle. Rennes, France: PUR, 2010.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
This pioneering work, first published in 1985, remains a main reference on the topic of women in servile situations. Although prefaced by Olivier Pétré-Grenouilleau and supplemented by an afterword by the author, it will gain from supplementation from more recent studies.
Find this resource:
Moitt, Bernard. Women and Slavery in the French Antilles. 1635–1848. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Study of changes in the role and place of women in the final stage of the slave period.
Find this resource:
Pago, Gilbert. Les femmes et la liquidation du système esclavagiste à la Martinique (1842–1852). Matoury, Guadeloupe: Ibis Rouge, 1998.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A book based on a thesis that studies the women of Martinique in the mid-19th century as a heterogeneous social group amid profound socioeconomic, family, and cultural changes.
Find this resource:

Revolts and Resistance

In comparison with the big plantations of the English Antilles, the narrow structures of plantations in the French Lesser Antilles explain the relative rarity of revolts there. After the emergence of agency studies, these isolated acts of resistance strengthen our understanding of the small margin for maneuvering by slaves. These acts can be discovered through the words of slaves (Régent, et al. 2015; Rogers 2015) and other various means (Oudin-Bastide 2013, Oudin-Bastide 2015).

Oudin-Bastide, Caroline. L’effroi et la terreur: Esclavage, poison et sorcellerie aux Antilles. Paris: La Découverte, 2013.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Traces the genealogy of fear of the slaves throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, due to the evil spells and the poisonings imputed to them.
Find this resource:
Oudin-Bastide, Caroline. Maîtres accusés, esclaves accusateurs: Les procès Gosset et Vivié (Martinique, 1848). Mont-Saint-Aignan, France: Presses Universitaires de Rouen et du Havre, 2015.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Describes the trial of two white Creoles accused of ill-treatment of slaves. Shows slaves were not only victims of history but also agents.
Find this resource:
Régent, Frédéric, Gilda Gonfier, and Bruno Maillard. Libres et sans fers: Paroles d’esclaves. Paris: Fayard, 2015.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A group of texts extracted from judicial archives recording the votes of slaves of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Réunion in the first half of the 19th century.
Find this resource:
Rogers, Dominique, ed. Voix d’esclaves: Antilles, Guyane et Louisiane françaises, XVIIIe–XIXe siècles. Paris: Karthala, 2015.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
In the same vein as Régent, et al. 2015, in that the work is centered on the Caribbean and that the documents are fully reproduced, with brief comments.
Find this resource:

Atlantic History

Jump to Other Articles:

Article

Down

Recently viewed (0)