The Laws of 18 and 19 July 1845, commonly known as Mackau Law (French: ''Lois Mackau'') are a set of laws which paved the way towards the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

in France. They were instigated by Ange de Mackau, then Minister of the Navy and of Colonies. Effective abolition was enacted with the .

Text

The Mackau laws constituted the last wave of legislation to enhance the status of slaves in France before outright abolition. They mandated a minimal duration for education of slaves, made it illegal to inflict over 15 lashes without a court order, and married slaves belonging to different masters obtained a right to

family reunification Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries because of the presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the divided family or only specific members of the family to e ...

. In July 1846,

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

abolished slavery in the Royal domains of

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

, Guadeloupe, and the newly purchased

Mayotte Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loca ...

. However, François Guizot stalled further progress.

Implementation

Previous dispositions had been implemented with various degrees of good faith in the colonies, a point of recrimination for abolitionists. For instance, the mayors of towns where new schools were opened instituted a student selection procedures obviously intended to exclude slaves.''Abolitionnistes de l'esclavage et réformateurs des colonies: 1820-1851: analyse et documents'', Nelly Schmidt - pp. 330 et 331., p. 223.

Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin (; 2 February 1807 – 31 December 1874) was a French lawyer, politician and one of the leaders of the French Revolution of 1848. Youth The grandson of Nicolas Philippe Ledru, the celebrated quack doctor known as ...

and Agénor de Gasparin, notably, opposed the new Mackau laws on the ground that further legislation, adding to a pile of laws that were not effectively implemented, were useless.

References

{{reflist Mackau Law 1845 in France Slavery legislation July Monarchy