THE "BLACK CODE" OF LOUISIANA
Louis, by the
Grace of God, King of France and of Navarre, to all present and to come,
greeting. The Directors of the Company of the Indies having represented to us
that the Province and colony of Louisiana is considerably established, by a
large number of our subjects, who use slaves for the cultivation of the lands.
We have Judged that it behooves our authority and our Justice, for the
preservation of this colony, to establish there a law, and certain rules, to
maintain there the discipline of the Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church, and
to order about what concerns the state and condition of the slaves in the said
Islands, and desiring to provide for this, and to make known to our subjects
who inhabit there and who shall settle there in the future, that although they
inhabit climes infinitely remote, We are always present, by the extent of our
power and by our application to succor them. Actuated by these causes and others,
by the advice of our Council, and by our certain knowledge, full power and
Royal authority, We have said, decreed, and ordered, We say, decree, and order,
wish and it pleases us, the following.
ARTICLE I orders that the edict of 1615 be applied to Louisiana, and that
all Jews who may have established their religion there be expelled within three
months, under penalty of confiscation of body and property.
ARTICLE II orders
that all slaves in the province be instructed and baptized in the Catholic
religion.
ARTICLE III
forbids the exercise of any other religion than the Catholic.
ARTICLE IV forbids
the employment of any overseer who shall not be a Catholic, under penalty of
confiscation of the negroes and punishment of the overseer.
ARTICLE V Orders Sundays
and holidays to be regularly observed, and forbids all work by master or
slaves, under penalty of confiscation of slaves and punishment of masters. The
slaves, however, may be sent marketing.
ARTICLE VI forbids
marriage of whites with slaves, and concubi-nage of whites and manumitted or
free-born blacks with slaves, and imposes penalties.
ARTICLE VII orders
to be observed, for marriages of free persons as well as of slaves, the
solemnities of the ordinance of Blois and of the edict of 1639. The consent of
the parents of the slave is not necessary, but only that of the master.
ARTICLE VIII
forbids curates to celebrate marriages of slaves without consent of the
masters, and forbids masters to force their slaves to marry against their will.
ARTICLE IX enacts
that children born from the marriages of slaves shall belong to the master of
the mother.
ARTICLE X enacts
that if the husband be a slave and the wife a free woman, the children shall be
free like their mother. If the husband be free and the wife a slave, the
children shall be slaves.
ARTICLE XI orders
that master shall have baptized slaves buried in consecrated ground; those who
die without being baptized to be buried at night in a neighboring field.
ARTICLE XII
forbids slaves to carry offensive Weapons or heavy sticks, under penalty of the
whip and confiscation of the weapons in favor of the person seizing them.
Slaves that are sent hunting by their masters, and carry notes or known marks,
are excepted.
ARTICLE XIII
forbids slaves belonging to different masters to assemble in crowds, by day or
by night, under pretext of weddings or other causes, either at one of their
masters or elsewhere, and still less on the highways or secluded places, under
penalty of corporal punishment, which shall not be less than the whip and the
fleur-de-lys; and in case of repetition of the offense and other aggravating
circumstances, capital punishment may be applied, at the discretion of the
Judges. It also commands all subjects of the King, whether officers or not, to
seize and arrest the offenders and conduct them to prison, although there be no
Judgment against them....
ARTICLE XVII
orders seizure of goods that are offered for sale by slaves without permission
or mark.
ARTICLE XVIII
orders officers of the Superior Council to give their advice about the
provisions and the food to he furnished the slaves. It also forbids masters to
give any kind of brandy in lieu of food and clothing.
ARTICLE XIX
forbids masters to abstain from feeding and clothing their slaves, by
permitting them to work for their own account on a certain day of the week.
ARTICLE XX
authorizes slaves to give information against them masters, if not properly fed
or clad, or if treated inhumanly.
ARTICLE XXI orders
slaves disabled from working by old age, sickness, or otherwise, to be provided
for by their masters, otherwise they shall be sent to the nearest hospital, to
which the masters shall pay eight cents a day for each slave, and the hospital
shall have a lien on the plantations of the masters.
ARTICLE XXII
declares that slaves can have nothing that does not belong to their masters, in
whatever way acquired.
ARTICLE XXIIII
orders that masters be held responsible for what their slaves have done by
their command.
ARTICLE XXIV
forbids slaves from exercising public functions, from serving as arbitrators or
experts, from giving testimony except in default of white people, and from ever
serving as witnesses for or against their masters.
ARTICLE XXV
forbids slaves from being parties to civil suits or complainants in criminal
cases. Their masters shall act for them in civil cases and demand reparation or
punishment for outrages and excesses committed against them.
ARTICLE XXVI
orders prosecution of slaves in criminal cases in the same manner as for free
persons, with exceptions hereafter mentioned.
ARTICLE XXVII Any
slave who shall have struck his master, his mistress, or the husband of his
mistress, or their children, so as to produce a bruise or shedding of blood in
the face, shall be put to death.
ARTICLE XXVIII
Outrages or acts of violence against free persons committed by slaves shall be
punished with severity, and even with death if the case require it.