Cyrille Bissette
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Cyrille Bissette (1795–1858) was a French
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
, politician and publisher. A free person of color (''homme de couleur'') from
Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
, his radical activities and publications galvanized the abolition movement in France and its colonies.Shirley Elizabeth Thompson, ''Exiles at Home: The Struggle to Become American in Creole New Orleans'' (Harvard University Press, 2009), p. 153; Carolyn Vellenga Berman, ''Creole Crossings: Domestic Fiction and the Reform of Colonial Slavery'' (Cornell University Press, 2006), p. 111. He represented Martinique in the
French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...
from 1848 to 1851.


Life

Bissette was born 9 July 1795 in Fort Royal (now
Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. History Before it was ceded to France by Spain in 1635, the area of Fort-de-Fra ...
),
Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
. In the racial categorization of the time, he was considered a
mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...
. He was said to be related to Josephine, the wife of
Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
. Sources vary on the exact family relationship: he may have been the child of an illegitimate son of Joseph Tascher de la Pagerie, Josephine's father, or his mother may have been the illegitimate daughter of a member of the Tascher de la Pagerie family. Bissette was a merchant and a slaveholder early in his career, but became radicalized by his own arrest and sentencing for rights advocacy, a controversy that became known as ''l'affaire Bissette''. Bissette died in Paris on 22 January 1858.


Political activities

Bissette was a leader of efforts to abolish slavery in the French Colonies. He was involved in the so-called "Bissette affaire," whose anti-slavery activities begin to be radicalized about this time. The aftermath of the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
jeopardized the status of freed slaves and free persons of color in the French colonies. Some Black men and
mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...
s had been
manumitted Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and ...
in order to serve in the militia in the first decade of the 19th century. But men of color later might find themselves impressed into service or re-enslaved because they failed to prove their status to the satisfaction of current authorities attempting to reinstate the former colonial regime. In 1822, these circumstances led to a slave revolt in Martinique, and in turn to stricter "security measures" that affected both free persons of color as well as those who had been questionably enslaved. The homes of free people were searched for anti-slavery materials. Bissette was one of three free men of color who were arrested during the crackdown for possessing a political pamphlet agitating against the loss of rights for their people. Following their conviction in 1824, Bissette and his two friends had their property confiscated, were sentenced to life as a
galley slave A galley slave was a slave rowing in a galley, either a Convict, convicted criminal sentenced to work at the oar (''French language, French'': galérien), or a kind of human chattel, sometimes a prisoner of war, assigned to the duty of rowing. ...
, and were branded with the letters ''GAL'' They were then deported to Paris. The savagery of the sentence shocked liberal sensibilities in the metropolis, and the case became a ''
cause célèbre A ( , ; pl. ''causes célèbres'', pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning, and heated public debate. The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for th ...
''. The legal case continued in the courts until 1827, when a final verdict exculpated the participants other than Bissette. A campaign of support eventually obtained his pardon and release from prison. Bissette was a leading figure throughout the 1840s in the movement that led to France abolishing slavery in 1848. But while active in the cause of abolition, Bissette did not belong to the ''Société pour l'Abolition de l'Esclavage'' (Society for the Abolition of Slavery), perhaps because he felt unwelcome or because he could not afford the subscription fee that the society's wealthy members paid. He was barred from testifying before the Parliamentary Commission on Emancipation, evidently because of his color. In August 1848, Bissette was one of two men of color elected to represent the Caribbean colonies in the
French Parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...
. The French colonies were given representation in the National Assembly by the French Constitution of 1848, on the principle of
universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...
(which in fact excluded women). Bissette represented Martinique. The mulatto artillery officer François Perrinon represented
Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...
.


Literary activities

Bissette founded the journal '' Revue des Colonies'' in 1834 in Paris—perhaps the first journal published in Europe by a person of African descent. He reported on anti-slavery and civil rights activism in the
French Antilles The French West Indies or French Antilles (, ; ) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two Overseas department and region of France, overseas departments of: ** Guadeloupe, including the islands of Bass ...
and militant activities in Martinique. In the first issue, Bissette praised the ''Charte des Îles'', an 1833 law through which "free men of all colors" were granted full political and civil rights, while noting that "the colonies have as yet encountered the grand principles of philanthropy only as a theory; as for the actual practice of freedom, forget it." In addition to abolitionist arguments, Bissette published news on the horrors of slavery, profiles of high-achieving men of African descent, and eulogies of the
Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...
. He helped further the literary careers of black intellectuals such as the Haitian writers
Ignace Nau Ignace Nau (July 13, 1808 Léogâne - 1845) was a Haitian poet and storyteller. Born in Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was ...
and
Beauvais Lespinasse Beauvais ( , ; ) is a town and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous town in the ...
; the Martiniquais poet and politician Pierre-Marie Pory-Papy; and the New Orleanian playwright Victor Séjour. Joseph Saint-Rémy, born in Guadeloupe, wrote biographical sketches of Haitian writers for the journal. After the ''Revue'' folded in 1842, Bissette continued to write and make public statements on behalf of his cause.Bell, ''Revolution, Romanticism, and the Afro-Creole Protest Tradition,'' p. 96.


References


Further reading

* Lawrence C. Jennings, "Cyril Bissette, Radical Black French Activist," ''French History'' 9 (1995).


External links


page on the French National Assembly website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bissette, Cyrille 1795 births 1858 deaths People from Fort-de-France Martiniquais politicians Party of Order politicians Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly Members of the National Legislative Assembly of the French Second Republic French people of Martiniquais descent French abolitionists