Rappresentanza politica e libertà civile nelle colonie francesi: il Projet de loi relatif à la constitution politique (1841)

Abstract

From December 1840 to May 1841, the deliberations of the “Broglie Commission” (Commission des affaires Coloniales) were about the problem of colonial representation. The Commission presented a draft proposing the abolition of the colonial councils in the four French colonies and the colonial delegates for the King’s government. In substitution, every colony would have had a general elective council and its organization would have been established by royal ordinances in the form of procedures of the Public Administration. Despite the important work, the Commission failed to produce the desired results because of the opposition of landowners and colonies who wanted to preserve their «specific societies». However, on 28 February 1848 the colonial delegates thought that the creation of the French Republic might be seen as a signal that the emancipation of slaves was inevitable because the Republic was the equivalent of freedom. The decree of a general abolition of slavery, promulgated by the Provisional Government on 27 April 1848, granted the colonies a direct representation in the National Assembly that “Broglie Commission” had proposed seven years before.