Society of the Friends of the Blacks

[1] The society's aim was to abolish both the institution of slavery in the France's overseas colonies and French involvement in the Atlantic slave trade.

During the three-year period that it remained active, the society published abolitionist literature and frequently addressed its concerns on a substantive political level in the Constituent Assembly.

This decision was reversed by the Law of 20 May 1802 under Napoleon, who moved to reinstate slavery in the French colonial empire, and unsuccessfully tried to regain control of Saint-Domingue, where a slave rebellion was underway.

[5] The economy of France was dependent upon revenues from the colonies, which were slave societies based largely on production of sugar from cane plantations.

In the United States, where he visited Philadelphia's constitutional convention following the American Revolution, he became absorbed by [Thomas Jefferson]'s humanitarian ideals as expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

The French concept of liberté, égalité, fraternité did not include the liberation of slaves, because the National Assembly argued that such abolition would be detrimental to the economy.

The Amis des Noirs pushed for the abolition of slavery, although Clarkson recommended they reduce their demands to abolish the Atlantic slave trade (which Great Britain and the United States did in 1808.)

"[19] The political activities of the Friends of the Blacks included addresses to the National Assembly, for instance, speeches promoting the abolition of the slave trade were made in February and April 1790.

[17][21] Four months later, a discourse was presented concerning the violence in Saint Domingue, which had broken out in a struggle for rights by free people of color and slaves.

[24][25] The Society also directly appealed to government individuals such as Antoine Barnave, a member of the Committee on Colonies, and Jacques Necker, France's Controller-General of Finance.

[26] In a 1789 letter the Society urged Necker to form a committee similar to the one in England, and expressed hopes that the actions of the English parliament might have a positive effect on the Estates-General.

One such incident occurred in 1791, when the Amis des Noirs responded to criticism written by pro-slaver Arthur Dillon, Député de la Martinique,[29][18] and owner of a large plantation.

During the election of representatives to the Estates-General, Condorcet asked for a demand for abolition of the slave trade to be included in these cahiers de doléances.

[31] Society member Abbé Grégoire recommended in the fall of 1789 that two deputies to the Assembly be chosen from the population of free people of color.

[33] In March 1790, Grégoire questioned the article on voting rights in the National Assembly, urging that free men of colour be given the franchise.

The members of the committee included colonial landowners (who were usually slaveholders), other slave owners, lawyers and merchants, and all were advocates of French commercial interests.

It stressed that it did not wish to interfere in the commercial interests of the colonies: "The National Assembly declares that it had not intended to innovate in any branch of commerce direct or indirect of France with its colonies..."[41] A group of National Assembly deputies who were either colonists or slave trade merchants lobbied the French chambers of commerce and city governments to maintain the slave trade and slavery, proclaiming that economic disaster would result from its abolition.

Since revenue from the colonies was collected mainly from the sale of slaves and crops, the committee was investigating the economic ramifications should this source of income cease to exist.

[b] The Massiac members opposed any type of abolition legislation, and communicated with each colonial deputy to ensure that pro-slavery interests were maintained.

Mirabeau stated that when he attempted to sway the deputies in favour of abolition, every official he spoke to had already been approached by a member of the Massiac club.

[43] The Massiac group published and distributed literature, responding in toto[45] to practically every idea the Amis des Noirs had put forward.

In terms of organization, Quinney refers to the group's ineffective operations, stating that the government, which contained pro-slavery elements, had a nationwide propaganda network, while the Society was mainly Paris-based.

[52] Resnick concurs when he states: "Both leadership and membership at large were drawn heavily from the Paris area, with no established network of regional filiations.

The Society required presidents to serve only three months; they shared responsibility, but the short tenure hindered continuity of effort within the organization.

[48] A group of abolitionist friends in Paris discussed how the London society encouraged others to join its cause, and noted that France and England had a commonality with respect to abolishing slavery.

Brissot stated his intention for the Amis des Noirs to translate and publish English anti-slavery works for distribution to the French public.