He had to return to Guadeloupe, where he stayed for a year, and was impressed by the racial prejudices that remained although slavery had been abolished in 1848.

[2] Casse returned to Paris to continue his study of law at the start of 1860, and he joined a circle of passionate young men opposed to religious superstitions and all forms of oppression.

He contributed to La Jeune France, and was punished for his writing despite an eloquent defense by Jules Grévy, the future President of the Republic.

He moved to Belgium, where he met the leaders of the revolutionary party, then returned to France to serve his sentence at Sainte-Pélagie Prison, where he spent four months with Louis Auguste Blanqui.

[3] Casse attended the Congrès international des étudiants à Liège on 30 October - 1 November 1865[a], where he proclaimed that 21 January 1793 (the date of the execution of Louis XVI) was the most glorious day of the French people.

[5] Although the organizers wanted the conference to focus on pedagogical issues Casse and few friends managed to obtain an almost unanimous declaration that monarchy and the Church were incompatible with freedom and progress.

[5] After their return to France the young men who had attended the congress were summoned to appear before the high council of public education.

[4] Casse contributed to Henri Rochefort's La Marseillaise and to Louis Charles Delescluze's Le Réveil.

[3] Casse was editor of Le Rappel when he was elected Representative of Gaudeloupe in the National Assembly in place of Louis Adolphe Rollin(fr), who had retired.

His vote was decisive in passing the Wallon amendment which established the president of the republic as the chief executive.

He was among the 363 left-wing deputies who refused their vote of confidence in the ministry of Albert de Broglie after the 16 May 1877 crisis.

He gained some publicity when an artist, Jean Baffier, assaulted him with a sword cane but only inflicted a minor wound.

[4] The attack was puzzling because by now Casse was a genial supporter of the Opportunist Republicans who liked to indulge in the good life.