ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN THE FRENCH COLONIES
The following decree has just been published by the Provisional Government of France: —
The provisional Government, considering that slavery is an attempt against the dignity of man; that by destroying the freedom of man, it suppresses the natural principles of right and duty ….. Article 1. Slavery shall be entirely abolished in all the colonies and possessions of France, at the end of two months after the promulgation of this present decree in each of them. From the promulgation of this present decree in the colonies all corporal punishment, all sales of non-liberated persons, shall be absolutely interdicted……………
(Liberator, May 26, 1848, pg 2)