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A key figure at the end of the 18th century, Abbé Grégoire occupies a central position at the crossroads of the French Revolution and the international abolitionist movement. Now housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), his archives could help explain the evolution of his abolitionist thinking and the circulation of anti-slavery ideas throughout the world at the time.
Interview with Gabriel Darriulat*, historian of philosophy at the Collège de France.
A clergy deputy before joining the Third Estate, Abbé Grégoire is best known for his early fight for universal suffrage during the French Revolution, and for his participation in the drafting of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. However, his universalist thinking also led him to campaign for an end to discrimination against free people of color, people who, although not slaves, were deprived of many rights in the French colonies. For him, equal rights were a prerequisite for the gradual abolition of slavery. " L'abbé Grégoire rallied to this cause late, in 1789, when other players in the French Revolution, such as Condorcet, had already been campaigning for many years ", explains historian of philosophy Gabriel Darriulat. Nevertheless, Grégoire continued to fight until the end of his life in 1831, even after his political marginalization under Napoleon, during which time slavery was re-established. " He wrote many important theoretical texts, including De la littérature des Noirs in 1808, which attempts to demonstrate that blacks are not inferior to whites ", adds the researcher. Original for its time, this text argues for the recognition of African culture and helps to combat the prejudices of the time.
Despite the importance of his anti-slavery actions, research on Abbé Grégoire often focuses more on his political role during the Revolution than on his abolitionist fervor in the early 19th century. " We note a lack of research on his commitment during the Restoration and Empire years," admits Gabriel Darriulat, "I hope to renew this understanding through the study of Abbé Grégoire's archives. " The archive held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France consists of correspondence, manuscripts of political speeches and around six hundred pamphlets on the slave trade and slavery, collected or donated to the abbé. Although of major interest, these pamphlets are little known today.
Reawakening a forgotten archive
Abbé Grégoire's archives on the subject of slavery are kept at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, now a branch of the BnF, and were built up from a bequest that the abbé himself made to this institution, of which he had been director. Although this archive has been inventoried, many of the brochures have not yet been digitized, and the collection has never been used in its entirety. Gabriel Darriulat points out that " brochures have not been studied in their own right, and we know of no articles focusing on how Grégoire dealt with them ". The researcher even questions the Abbé's relationship with this collection." We know, however, that they influenced the writing of his books ! " This observation reveals a blind spot in the historiography of French abolitionism.
Why have these archives been neglected ? There is no simple answer, but the researcher suggests that historiographical interest in Grégoire has fluctuated over time, leaving certain periods of his life less explored. However, a recent movement in history is interested in rediscovering these forgotten holdings." There is a real historiographical movement around slavery and the question of the colonies. This research project is part of this dynamic ", explains Gabriel Darriulat. The work undertaken on Abbé Grégoire's archives could thus update his role in the history of abolitionism and offer new perspectives on the international anti-slavery networks of the period.
A cosmopolitan struggle
The pamphlets cover a broad period from the French Revolution to the early 19th century and are written in several languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese." Even specialist researchers ignore certain texts," laments the researcher." My research project aims to create a precise inventory of these documents, classifying them chronologically and thematically, in order to offer historians a tool to better grasp the ideas addressed at this crucial time and the way in which they circulated. "
Far from preconceived ideas, abolitionists in the 19th century were already forming international networks. Gabriel Darriulat's research reveals the global dimension of Grégoire's abolitionism. The abbé maintained links with important political figures in Haiti, as well as with American and English abolitionists. " Grégoirebelieved that the fight against the slave trade could not be waged from a purely national standpoint; it had to be international in scope ", recalls the researcher. " Ihope to reconstitute transnational abolitionist networks, for example through the many dedications found in pamphlets or his correspondence. " These discoveries underline the cosmopolitan scope of Abbé Grégoire's commitment, an aspect often underestimated in current studies.
This re-reading of Grégoire as an actor in a worldwide movement, and not just a French one, offers a new perspective on his political thought. " Although deeply Catholic and conservative on certain social issues, such as divorce, Grégoire was a revolutionary when it came to human rights. This tension between his religious convictions and his political progressivism is one of the keys to understanding his career ", according to Gabriel Darriulat.
This work on Abbé Grégoire's archives will also bring together specialists from Haiti, England, the United States and other countries to discuss these issues. The aim is to highlight the cosmopolitan dimension of abolitionism in the early 19th century, based on the Grégoire collection. This could mark a first step towards a wider dissemination of knowledge about this collection, with the eventual publication of critical editions of some of the abbé's texts.
*Gabriel Darriulat is a researcherat Pr Antoine Lilti's History of the Enlightenment, 18th to 21st century chair. He has a postdoctoral contract under a partnership agreement between the Collège de France and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
