Society of The Friends of The Blacks - History

History

The economy of France was dependent upon revenues from the colonies, where slavery existed on plantations and thrived due to the lucrative trade triangle. Figures indicate that slave-trade activity during the years leading up to the French Revolution resulted in some profit percentages exceeding 100 percent. In 1784, for example, the outfitter Chaurands realized a profit of 110 percent through the use of a single ship, the Brune. In 1789, one outfitter reached 120 per cent.

The initial formation of La Société des Amis des Noirs was undertaken by Jacques-Pierre Brissot, in February 1788. A follower of the Philosophes, Brissot's anti-slavery efforts were also due to his exposure to humanitarian activities on both sides of the Atlantic. In the United States, where he visited Philadelphia's constitutional convention, he became absorbed with Jefferson's humanitarian nature. In England, Thomas Clarkson invited Brissot to attend a meeting of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. So enthused was Brissot that shortly thereafter he would create his own abolitionist society in Paris. Its objectives would be to suppress the slave trade and, at a later date, to attain equal rights for free men of color.

The Amis advocated freedom in the French colonies, arguing that the ideas of the Revolution should extend to the colonies. The French concept of liberté, égalité, fraternité did not include the liberation of slaves, because the National Assembly argued that the abolition would be detrimental to the economy. The Amis des Noirs had, as was made clear by Marquis de Condorcet's program, the abolition of slavery as its immediate goal – and campaigned for it despite calls Clarkson's call for reducing their demands to activism against the slave trade only.