Premier leaves enslavement in Cayenne

A notice dated 25 June 1822 reported that Adonis had escaped and named Thomas, known as Tilsikan, as a fugitive from the Petit-Cayenne work gang. These brief, hostile administrative descriptions...

On 5 August 1822, a colonial military detachment captured Pompée and members of his maroon community at Maripa on the Comté River. Pompée and his companions had built a settlement beyond plantation...

On 28 August 1822, Governor Pierre-Clément de Laussat suspended Pompée’s death sentence and asked the king to grant a pardon. The decision did not recognize the right of enslaved people to leave...

An ordinance of 9 April 1823 announced the royal pardon for Pompée. Although his life was spared, the pardon was not emancipation: colonial officials retained power over his fate and that of the other...

On 19 April 1823, administrator Baron Milius issued a detailed ordinance to regulate and punish marronnage. It required owners to report escapes, authorized armed pursuit, allowed shooting fugitives...

The notice reports that Lindor, Germinal, and Glorieux left the Macouria habitation of Marchal together on 23 September 1827. Their shared flight is evidence of collective action, though the...

The archive transcription records Faustin leaving Cayenne on 25 September 1827. The notice labels him with a colonial-origin category and says he spoke Portuguese; those labels come from the...

A notice names Jean-Noël, a Creole carpenter, as having left Cayenne on 26 September 1827. The craft detail indicates skilled work in the enslaved population; the notice itself chiefly served colonial...

The colonial notice records Césalpin leaving the Moulin-à-Vent habitation on 6 October 1827. The archive transcription reproduces the owner’s identifying description; this entry instead foregrounds...

Noël is recorded as leaving Cayenne on 7 October 1827. The notice was issued by the colonial administration at the request of an enslaver and includes personal identifying details, illustrating how...