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The law of 20 May 1802 restores slavery in French colonies as a dated unfree-labour statute

On 20 May 1802 Napoleon's government restored slavery in French colonies. Napoleon's documented role is: He restored slavery where the Revolution had abolished it in 1794. In the causal graph this event strengthens the driver Labour-Market Tightness.

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On 20 May 1802 Napoleon's government restored slavery in French colonies. 1794 abolition was reversed. It is a statute, not a rumour. Napoleon's documented role is: He restored slavery where the Revolution had abolished it in 1794. Colonial lobbies shared the demand; the statute is his government's.

Context

Colonial planters lobbied. Sharing the law with that lobby is required. The setting of The law of 20 May 1802 restores slavery in French colonies as a dated unfree-labour statute is the public file around 1802-05-20. Contribution type is direct. Driver labour-market-tightness is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Saint-Domingue war is neighbouring. Mixed effects of The law of 20 May 1802 restores slavery in French colonies as a dated unfree-labour statute are separate paths.

Why it matters

Worsening path from The law of 20 May 1802 restores slavery in French colonies as a dated unfree-labour statute on 1802-05-20. Restoring colonial slavery is a labour path of high weight. The welfare reading on this path is worsening.

The contribution type is direct. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Napoleon

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.68 · verified

    He restored slavery where the Revolution had abolished it in 1794. Colonial lobbies shared the demand; the statute is his government's.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactThe law of 20 May 1802 restores slavery in French colonies as a dated unfree-labour statute
    2. strengthensDriverLabour-Market Tightness

    impact weight 0.7 · Effect from 20 May 1802 · verified

    Restoring colonial slavery is a labour path of high weight.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Fondation Napoléon — metric enforcement neighbourhoodFondation Napoléon · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — Napoleon, metric system neighbourhoodEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Official locator: Britannica — Napoleon, restoration of slavery at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Napoleon-I (opens in a new tab) (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent locator: Fondation Napoléon — 20 May 1802 neighbourhood at https://www.napoleon.org/en/ (opens in a new tab) (Fondation Napoléon). Official carrier: Britannica — Napoleon, restoration of slavery (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Napoleon-I (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent carrier: Fondation Napoléon — 20 May 1802 neighbourhood (https://www.napoleon.org/en/ (opens in a new tab); Fondation Napoléon).

Established: a sourced public record of The law of 20 May 1802 restores slavery in French colonies as a dated unfree-labour statute under 1802-05-20 for Napoleon. Established: a sourced public record of The law of 20 May 1802 restores slavery in French colonies as a dated unfree-labour statute under 1802-05-20.

Shared responsibility is part of The law of 20 May 1802 restores slavery in French colonies as a dated unfree-labour statute. Naming Napoleon does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1802-05-20 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorNapoleon
  2. contributed toFactThe law of 20 May 1802 restores slavery in French colonies as a dated unfree-labour statute
  3. strengthensDriverLabour-Market Tightness

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). The law of 20 May 1802 restores slavery in French colonies as a dated unfree-labour statute. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/nap-slavery-1802

https://factrail.ai/facts/nap-slavery-1802

Accessed 17 October 2026.

By the · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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