Background: Le Code Noir and Louisiana Law

Louisiana’s relationship with slavery is different from other U.S. states. Due to its status as a French colony and a Spanish colony, its laws governing enslaved people often looked much different from the British colonies and later, American states. 

Decree of Pierre Clément Laussat upholding the Code Noir in the Louisiana Territory, 1803. Courtesy of the Historic New Orleans Collection, 75-217-L.376. 

Article 18 of Le Code Noir dictates that slave masters must distribute food and clothing to their slaves every week and every year, respectively. However, it also says that the enforcing officers may set those requirements themselves and punish masters as they see fit. Enslaved persons could petition their government if they were not being fed or clothed correctly (Article 20), but these cases were rarely won.

Different parts of the French Empire interpreted this part of Le Code Noir differently. Within the borders of hexagonal France, it was law that slaves had to be allotted “a Cap, with two Shirts, two pair of Drawers of the coarsest Linen, a sort of upper Coat of a reddish Stuff, and a Capot [a coat made of a belt and a woolen blanket].” Many colonies, however, never made specific laws regarding minimum dress. Since enforcement was maintained by local authorities, it often meant, in practice, that plantation owners could give as much or as little clothing as they wanted to their slaves. Field workers were notoriously underdressed in Haiti, usually never given stockings or shoes and wearing only linen pants and a loose shirt. 

  • L’industrie du tabac, Labat, Nouveaux Vogages aux Îles d’Amerique. 1724. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

  • Metal fastener recovered from Woodland Plantation, dating from the first half of the 19th century. Courtesy of GNO ARC. 

  • Shoe buckle from Woodland Plantation, dating from the first half of the 19th century. Courtesy of GNO ARC. 

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When enslaved people were given shoes, they were usually ready-made shoes that fit improperly. Sources differ on whether the shoes had laces or buckles; likely, it depended on the owner, the job the enslaved person had, and the time period. In Haiti, some sources report that enslaved workers didn’t wear shirts due to the heat, and often worked barefoot on account of poor shoes.

Louisiana also never had a specific law declaring what was adequate clothing. Plantation owners usually gave out allotments of two shirts, two pants or two dresses, and one pair of shoes twice a year, along with a capot for the winter months.

Enslaved people picking cotton in 1854, Louisiana. Courtesy of the Center for Louisiana Studies.

Formerly enslaved woman wearing a tignon and a handkerchief around her neck, 1878. Courtesy of the Historic New Orleans Collection, the Monroe-Green Collection, 1997.130.3.

However, Louisiana did have the Tignon Laws. Originally passed in 1785, they required women of color to wear a head covering over their hair. As populations became more and more mixed, the restriction was added in order to easily distinguish between free women of color and white women.