The 1724 Code Noir: written for "blancs" and "noirs," silent on Indians (Louisiana, 1724)

SUMMARYThe 1724 Code Noir: written for "blancs" and "noirs," silent on Indians (Louisiana, 1724) [Connections: Louisiana (deep), Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDLouisiana's Code Noir, issued by the French Crown in 1724, has 55 articles. Article VI: "We forbid our white subjects, of both sexes, to marry with the blacks." Article X ties children to the mother's status. Article LII says "all manumitted slaves, and all free-born negroes, are incapable of receiving donations" from whites. The words "Indian" and "savage" do not appear in the text. The only "India" is the "India Company" (Article L). 64 Parishes (Michael T. Pasquier) says the code "did little to account for the common practice of enslaving Native Americans in Louisiana."

PATTERNNative people were enslaved in the colony, but the slave law was written only in terms of "noirs" and "nègres." Any enslaved Native person was governed by a code that had no category for them

LENS (WW9)The law had two boxes, white and black. An enslaved Native person had nowhere to go but the black box

OPENHow French courts applied the code to enslaved Native people in practice (Superior Council records)

SOURCESLouisiana's Code Noir (1724) (BlackPast, English text); Code Noir of Louisiana (64 Parishes, Michael T. Pasquier); primary: Édit concernant les Nègres de la Louisiane, March 1724.