From Slave in the Barracoons of West Central Africa to Indentured Workers on French West Indies Plantations: Construction, Circulation, and Modification of “African” Representation

After the abolition of slavery on April 27, 1848, the French government instituted a policy of labor recruitment that relied on immigrant workers under contract from Africa.  Between 1857 and 1862, more than 16,000 Africans were recruited in the area of Gabon and Loango-Congo through what was called a method of “repurchase” whereby merchants purchased  slaves “to free them” in return for a labor contract that lasted ten years in the French colonies.This forced migration was accomplished under the supervision of French government officials who were responsible for their supervision and “well being”. The intention of this migratory process was to arbitrarily transform slaves in Africa into indentured labor in the West Indies.  This paper analyses the various representations of the “Africans” in three situations: the barracoons on the African littoral, the crossing of the Atlantic and the plantations in the West Indies. We demonstrate that these representations of “the other” were intended to legitimize this enforced migration.