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Discover how to research your enslaved ancestors using archives, databases, and specialized organizations.
©️Archives de Martinique
Researching your enslaved ancestors is an emotional and historical challenge. For a long time, this history was overlooked due to fear or difficulty accessing archives. Today, many reliable resources and online databases make this quest easier.
With this guide, discover how to approach this, which sources to consult, and which pitfalls to avoid to reconstruct the family history of your enslaved ancestors with method and respect.
Slavery in the French colonies lasted several centuries. During this period, many documents were produced, often by the masters or authorities, now preserved at the National Archives of Overseas Territories, in the departmental and local archives of the former colonies. These documents, though sometimes fragmentary, are the essential foundation for starting your research.
On February 4, 1794, France abolished slavery for the first time in its history. The National Convention, meeting under the First Republic, proclaimed the abolition of slavery in all French colonies, nearly five years after the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. This historic decision, taken in the context of slave revolts, notably in Saint-Domingue, granted freedom and citizenship for the first time to all inhabitants of the colonies, without distinction of color. However, this abolition, applied to all colonies except the island of Bourbon and the Mascarenes, was ultimately revoked in 1802 under the Napoleonic government.
The definitive abolition of slavery in France took place on April 27, 1848. This time, the Provisional Government of the Republic decreed the complete emancipation of slaves in all French colonies, marking the irreversible end of this system.
To trace the journey of your enslaved ancestors, several databases and archives are available:
The National Archives of Overseas Territories (ANOM) which hold civil status records, administrative documents, and deeds related to slavery. You can also browse emancipation registers and registers of newly freed individuals.
The departmental archives of the overseas territories (Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion), often digitized and accessible online.
Specialized databases like Anchoukaj.org which lists over 80,000 former slaves with their post-abolition surnames.
The work of specialized associations such as CM98 and the Foundation for the Memory of Slavery which offer support and personalized advice for descendants of slaves.
Researching enslaved ancestors presents challenges:
Surnames were often not used by enslaved people before abolition, or changed frequently.
Records may be incomplete or written from the perspective of the owners.
The post-emancipation indentured labor period can complicate lineages.
It is important to approach these searches with patience, rigor, and by relying on support networks.
Tracking enslaved ancestors is a meaningful journey that helps reconstruct often forgotten family history. Numerous archives and databases, combined with an appropriate methodology, now open the door to those who wish to reconnect with their past.
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