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L'abolition de la traite des nègres

Archives départementales de la Somme

Poetry Competition Abolition Slave Trade Slavery Amiens Academy Aix-la-Chapelle

A poetry contest on the subject of the abolition of the slave trade was organised in 1819 and again in 1820 by the Academy of Literature, Science and Arts in the city of Amiens in northern France. The contest was designed to celebrate the European agreement against the slave trade signed at Aix-la-Chapelle. Twelve poems are held in the departmental archives, as well as a commissioners' report on the results of the competitions. All except one of the archived poems are in favour of abolition, which is seen as a question of nineteenth-century modernity, as well as national pride: "I saw my country in a prouder light", declares one of the poems.

The commissioners' report on the two poetry competitions in 1819 and 1820, written by Nathalis Delamorlière, is entitled: Rapport fait à l’Académie d’Amiens au nom de la commission chargée de l’examen des pièces envoyées au concours du prix de poésie qui devait être décerné dans la Séance publique du 26 août 1820. Le sujet proposé était l’abolition de la traite des nègres (Report made to the Academy of Amiens on behalf of the commission charged with judging the entries to the poetry prize competition, which was to be awarded in the public meeting on the 26th August 1820. The proposed subject was the abolition of the slave trade).