A decree governs immigration, work contracts, rural policing, and the punishment of “vagrancy” in the colonies. In the post-emancipation setting, rules tying legal status and mobility to work made...
Local order no. 398 establishes prisons and disciplinary workshops for workers sanctioned under the 13 February decree. It allowed those sentenced to perform labor and, in specified circumstances,...
Order no. 419 defines worker booklets and their delivery in French Guiana. The booklet recorded work engagements and enabled officials to monitor workers’ movements. It was a tool of post-emancipation...
Order no. 464 organizes work engagements and booklet inspections. It required people aged 14 to 60 without sufficient resources to show regular work, and imposed repeated administrative checks. For...
On 25 May 1838 Grenada’s legislature voted to end apprenticeship before its scheduled term. Apprenticeship had followed the 1834 legal abolition of slavery and compelled formerly enslaved people to...
