Experience: Visiting the exhibit of the slave trade in Nantes (France)

Photo: Château des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes
During the 18th century, prior to abolition of slavery, Nantes was the slave trade capital of France. This kind of trade caused Nantes to become the first port in France and a wealthy city.

Till 3th Januari 2010 there is an exhibit 'Traite négrière et esclavage: la traversée' (Slave Trade and Slavery: crossing) in the Château des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes.

Blogger Mademoiselle Nadia visited the exhibit. On her blog Bounjour France she wrote: "Seeing actual shackles and chains that slaves wore in person has the capability to hit you pretty hard. In cases for our viewing, there were shackles and chains that these that marked the end of the freedom of the African slaves who were brought over to the new world via la traversée." The very shackles that they wore...It was powerful." 

A few things I learned  or was reminded of from the slavery exhibit

1.Nantes was the largest slave port in France.  Nantes played a big role in the slave trade and was largely responsible for transporting thousands and thousands of slaves to the "New World."

2. Real attempts to truly acknowledge France's significant role in the slave trade had historically been few and far between up until the beginning of the 90s.  Paradoxically, with the rise of concepts such as liberty and equality in France with the French Revolution, there was also the continued rise of the institution of slavery which took away the liberties and freedoms of others.  It was some of these same ideals that would influence on the enslaved Africans and freed men in Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti) to begin their 13 year fight for freedom from France in 1791. Thus, France's involvement in the slave trade is a shameful part of its history.  The exhibit at the Château regarding what they call "la traversée" or "the crossing" is undeniably a part of a continued effort for Nantes and France to confront its past.

3. Nantes and France owe the beginnings of their thriving economies to the slave trade. This is a fact already known when one thinks of a colonial empire and the lands it colonized.  Though, it was interesting to see the actual profits and estimated projections of profits laid out on old cash registers/summaries and such.  Through these, I also got a first hand look at how reliant they were on Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti) for profits.  I saw many documents mentioning Saint-Domingue or Port-au-Prince (Haiti's capital).

4. Seeing actual shackles and chains that slaves wore in person has the capability to hit you pretty hard. In cases for our viewing, there were shackles and chains that these that marked the end of the freedom of the African slaves who were brought over to the new world via la traversée."  The very shackles that they wore...It was powerful.

Read her full story here.

Links

• Nantes Journal; Unhappily, a Port Confronts Its Past: Slave Trade
• Breaking the Silence Slave Routes: France