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

Date: 1802

## The fact

On 20 May 1802 [Napoleon](/people/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. Haiti's war is a neighbouring Fact. 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. Shared offices, unnamed crews, printers, or later editors may appear without becoming this instrument. Contribution type is direct. Driver [labour-market-tightness](/drivers/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. Do not rebate with later 1848. 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.

## Evidence and sources

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

Official or archival record: Britannica — Napoleon, restoration of slavery (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Napoleon-I; Encyclopaedia Britannica).

## Significance

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. The attached driver is labour-market-tightness. The welfare reading used in this dossier is worsening. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

## What is established and what is not

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.

## People

- Napoleon: https://factrail.ai/people/napoleon

## Drivers

- Labour-Market Tightness: https://factrail.ai/drivers/labour-market-tightness

## Sources

- https://www.napoleon.org/en/
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Napoleon-I

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

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