Upper Senegal and Niger, Vol. 1

PREFACE

...come from his Government: the liberation of the captives and the creation of the administrative center of Koulouba Koulouba is a hill in Bamako, Mali, where the colonial administration built its headquarters; it remains the seat of the presidency today..

While everyone agreed on the energetic repression of the slave trade original: traite. This refers to the active trafficking and sale of people, as distinguished from the state of "domestic" slavery., the immediate suppression of captivity made even the best minds hesitate. All indigenous societies in every Colony within the group permitted slavery; its existence was thus intimately linked to the economic and social life of the entire country. The abrupt suppression of such an essential gear in the existence of our pagan or Muslim subjects could rightly be seen as a leap into the unknown, carrying the most unfortunate consequences for the tranquility and prosperity of our Colonies. One might have felt all the more encouraged to proceed gradually because the question of humanity did not generally present itself as it was believed to in France. It was, in effect, a gross error to view African captivity through the memories of Mrs. Beecher Stowe's novel A reference to Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.. The misfortunes of the virtuous Uncle Tom had nothing in common with the lives of African captives in Africa. Their life was truly not very harsh, and their condition was generally not much more painful than that of free men The author reflects a common colonial viewpoint of the era, which argued that "domestic slavery" in Africa was more akin to serfdom or kinship-based dependency than the chattel slavery of the Americas.. With the slave trade rigorously suppressed, it seemed wiser to let time take its course, proceeding with partial liberations whenever any specific incident warranted them.

Governor Ponty had the merit of allowing no such delays. As soon as Governor-General Roume Ernest Roume, Governor-General of French West Africa from 1902 to 1907. had decided upon the complete and absolute suppression of slavery, he proceeded resolutely. And not only were the disturbances caused by this liberation of more than 300,000 captives in less than two years completely insignificant, but the prosperity of the country actually increased. The former masters, dispossessed of their slaves, set themselves to work; the liberated captives did the same on their part, and, certain of henceforth keeping all the fruit of their labor, they displayed a much greater activity than in the past. The success of a measure so debated and so debatable does the greatest honor to Governor-General Ponty.