White Women in the Ports of French Saint-Domingue: A Question to Rediscover

1700-century seminar with Dominique Rogers (Maîtresse de conférences, Centre International de Recherches sur les Esclavages et Post-Esclavages, Paris).

“The black woman produced, the brown woman served, and the white woman consumed”, such was Lucille Mathurin-Mair’s analysis forty years ago and French historiography followed this interpretation for a long time. On economic and productive matters, historians studied only women of colour, enslaved and free, and enhanced the major economic and social role of the latter in the capitals of French St. Domingue at the end of the eighteenth century. Conversely, the so-called white, European, and Euro-Creole, women of this territory were perceived as nonchalant and idle. After works by Nathalie Zacek, Christine Walker, and Cecily Jones on the British West-Indies and those of Anne Pérotin-Dumon on Guadeloupe, this lecture will contribute to another vision of “white” women’s implication in the economy and society of the French West Indies.

The presentation of the first results of ongoing research on “white” women in the ports of French Saint-Domingue at the end of the eighteenth century, will allow us to highlight their participation in transatlantic commerce into the regional and local networks, through the “town” and “sea” sectors defined by Anne Perotin-Dumon. It will also underscore the specificities of white women’s economic role compared to free women of colour and to “white” men.

The presentation will be held in English.

To register, please email Ulrik.