Affranchi facts for kids

Affranchi (French: [afʁɑ̃ʃi]) was a French word. It meant a freedman, someone who used to be a slave but was set free. However, people often used it to describe mulattoes, which was not a kind way to speak.

In English, the term "Affranchi" describes a special group of people in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and other French places where slavery existed. These people were free, but they had different rights than white people and enslaved Africans. They were somewhere in the middle. In Saint-Domingue, about half of the affranchis were "free people of color" (also called Mulatto). The other half were formerly enslaved Africans who had gained their freedom.

What "Affranchi" Means

The word affranchi comes from the French word affranchissement. This means "emancipation" or "being set free." It also relates to "enfranchisement," which means gaining political rights, like the right to vote.

Gaining Rights

Before 1791, affranchis were not allowed to vote. But after the French Revolution, a court case changed this. The court decided that affranchis should have the right to vote. This decision made the white plantation owners in Saint-Domingue very angry. They had a lot of power, even in France. Their anger helped cause the start of the Haitian Revolution.

Life as an Affranchi

Affranchis had more advantages than enslaved Africans. They became a unique group in society, positioned between white people and enslaved people.

Opportunities and Status

• They could get some education.
• They were allowed to own land.
• They could go to some French colonial events and parties.

Sometimes, white plantation owners had children with enslaved women or free women of color. These owners often sent their sons to France for education. Some of these sons even joined the French military. Their parents were also more likely to leave them property.

Because they owned land and had some education, some free men of color felt they had a higher social standing than the petits blancs. These petits blancs were often shopkeepers or workers. However, the petits blancs still had more political rights in the colony until after the revolution.

Challenges and Restrictions

The colonists created many rules that limited the affranchis. They were treated as a separate social group with many restrictions:

• They could not vote.
• They could not hold government jobs in the colony.
• They could not work as doctors or lawyers.

There were even laws about what clothes they could wear! Free people of color were not allowed to wear the fancy clothes that wealthy white colonists wore.

Cultural Identity

Despite these challenges, many educated affranchis felt more connected to French culture than to the enslaved population. Because they were a group in the middle, free people of color sometimes had disagreements with both white people and enslaved Africans.

Property and Slavery

Many ambitious affranchis tried hard to be accepted by the white colonists who held power. As they moved up in society, affranchis often owned land and even slaves themselves. Some also lent money to plantation owners.

One of their leaders in the late 1700s was Julien Raimond, who grew indigo plants. He said that affranchis owned about a third of all the slaves in the colony at that time. In the early days of the French Revolution and Haitian Revolution, many free people of color wanted to keep slavery. They wanted political equality for themselves, based on their wealth, not their skin color.

See also

• Gens de couleur
• Emancipados
• Mulatto Haitian
• Assimilation (French colonialism)