DECLARATION OF THE KING, concerning the discipline of the Enslaved

LOUIS, &c. Greeting. The discipline of the enslaved nègres that Our Subjects of the French Colonies of America are obliged to keep for the working of their plantations is one of the principal objects of the care We bring to the administration of these Colonies; the account We had given Us of the state in which they were found after Our accession to the Crown having made Us aware of the necessity of the provisions contained in the Letters Patent in the form of an Edict, of the month of March 1685, concerning the Enslaved, We ordered their execution by the first article of Our Edict of the month of October 1716; and on all the occasions that have since presented themselves, We have taken care to regulate matters in such a way that, while the Enslaved would be maintained and treated favorably by their enslavers, the necessary precautions would also be taken to keep them within the bounds of their duty, and to prevent everything that could be feared from them.