Ethnic group
Pejorative term used to refer to mulattoes
This article is about the mulatto social class in Haiti. For the Haitian folk dance, see
Affranchi (dance)
.
Affranchi
(
French:
[af????i]
) is a former
French
legal term denoting a
freedman
or
emancipated
slave
, but also a
pejorative
term for
Free people of color
.
[1]
It is used in the
English language
to describe the
social class
of freedmen in
Saint-Domingue
, and other slave-holding French territories, who held legal rights intermediate between those of free whites and enslaved Africans. In Saint-Domingue, roughly half of the
affranchis
were
gens de couleur libres
(free people of color;
Mulatto
) and the other half African slaves.
The term is derived from the French word for emancipation?
affranchissement
, or enfranchisement in terms of political rights. But, the
affranchis
were barred from the franchise (voting) prior to a 1791 court case, which followed the
French Revolution
. The decision in their favor prompted a backlash from the French white
planter class
on Saint-Domingue, who also exerted power in France. These elements contributed to the outbreak of the
Haitian Revolution
.
The
affranchis
had legal and social advantages over
enslaved
Africans. They became a distinct class in the society between whites and slaves. They could get some education, were able to own land, and could attend some French colonial entertainments. Planters who took slave women or free women of color as
concubines
, often sent their sons to France for education. In some cases these sons entered the French military. The parents were more likely to settle property on them as well. Because of such property and class issues, some free men of color considered themselves to have status above that of the
petits blancs
,
shopkeepers
and
workers
. Nonetheless, the latter had more political rights in the colony until after the Revolution.
The colonists passed so many restrictions that the
affranchis
were limited as a separate
caste
: they could not vote or hold colonial administrative posts, or work in professional careers as doctors or lawyers. There were sumptuary laws: the free people of color were forbidden to wear the style of clothes favored by the wealthy white colonists. In spite of the disadvantages, many educated
affranchis
identified culturally with France rather than with the enslaved population. A social class in between, the free people of color sometimes had tensions with both whites and enslaved Africans.
Ambitious mulattoes worked to gain acceptance from the white colonists who held power in that society. As they advanced in society,
affranchis
often also held land and slaves. Some acted as
creditors
for planters. One of their leaders in the late 18th century,
Julien Raimond
, an
indigo
planter, claimed that
affranchis
owned a third of all the slaves in the
colony
at that time. In the early years of the
French Revolution
and
Haitian Revolution
, many gens de couleur were committed to maintaining the institution of slavery. They wanted political equality based on class?that is, extended for men of property, regardless of skin color.
See also
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References
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External links
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