Introduction: slavery and the slave trade

Slaves were the first workforce brought to cultivate and transform Mauritius. Their labour was of paramount importance to the very existence of colonial soci­ety on the island. Eventually, in the production of sugar and thus wealth-creation of the white ruling class, the availability of their labour was deemed essential.

The aim of this chapter is to achieve an understanding of how the initial changes brought by the British affected the prevailing system of labour, and how this in turn affected societal composition. The issue of the slave trade presents the earliest clash between the former and new colonists on the island and is therefore the first event to be examined. An analysis of the legal mechanics in effecting the ban provides insight into the matters underlying colonial rivalries. The prohibi­tion on slave trading highlights a number of jurisdictional conflicts as defined in Chapter 1, on both a metropolitan and local level, which set the tone for relations on the island. To this end, a brief overview of the Abolition of Slave Trade Act is provided and Mauritian slavery is put into its wider context before the application of the Act is discussed. Hereby a discussion of the Terms of Capitulation becomes necessary since these guaranteed protection of the local French laws, which up until British takeover included the legality of the trade. The remainder of the chapter addresses enforcement of the ban, practical and judicial, before conclud­ing in an overall assessment of the period.

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