Slavery - French Revolution. Collection Générale des Décrets rendus par l’Assemblee National. Mois de Mai [..]

Very rare first edition. Very important collection of legislative acts of the National Assembly, with some fundamental decrees related to slavery. Decree concerning the status of non-free persons in the Colonies, May 13 (p.112); Decree on people of color relating to political rights, May 15 (page 178); Decree containing the exposition of the reasons that determined the previous provisions ... on the state of persons in the Colonies, May 29 (page 345-353) This last long decree explains the reasons that led to the absence of the political rights of the people not free in the Colonies' expressed in the previous two Decrees, justifying the continuation of slavery in the French colonies The Decree of 3 May was opposed by Robespierre who intervened with a harsh sentence « ...Dès le moment où dans un de vos décrets, vous aurez prononcé le mot esclaves, vous aurez prononcé et votre propre déshonneur et le renversement de votre Constitution." Segnaliamo inoltre il curioso Decreto del 31 Maggio che dispone la traslazione delle ceneri di Voltaire nella chiesa di Sainte-Gèneviève.