Code Noir

The Code Noir (, "Black Code") was a decree passed by the French King Louis XIV in 1685 defining the conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire. The decree restricted the activities of free people of color, mandated the conversion of all enslaved people throughout the empire to Roman Catholicism, defined the punishments meted out to slaves, and ordered the expulsion of all Jews from France's colonies. 
The code's effects on the enslaved population of the French colonial empire were complex and multifaceted. It outlawed the worst punishments owners could inflict upon their slaves, and led to an increase in the free population. Despite this, enslaved persons were still subject to harsh treatment at the hands of their owners, and the expulsion of Jews was an extension of antisemitic trends in France. 
Free people of color were still placed under restrictions via the "Code Noir", but were otherwise free to pursue their own careers. Compared to other European colonies in the Americas, a free person of color in the French colonial empire was highly likely to be literate, and had a high chance of owning businesses, properties and even their own slaves. The code has been described by Tyler Stovall as "one of the most extensive official documents on race, slavery, and freedom ever drawn up in Europe".
Context, origin and scope.
International and trade context.
Codes governing slavery had been established in many European colonies in the Americas, such as the Barbados Slave Code. At this time in the Caribbean, Jews were mostly active in the Dutch colonies, so their presence was seen as an unwelcome Dutch influence in French colonial life. Furthermore, the majority of the population in French colonies in the Americas were enslaved. Plantation owners largely governed their land and holdings "in absentia", with subordinate workers dictating the day-to-day running of the plantations. Because of their enormous population, in addition to the harsh conditions facing slaves (for example, Saint Domingue has been described as one of the most brutally efficient colonies of the era), small-scale slave revolts were common. Despite some well-intended provisions, the "Code Noir" was never effectively or strictly enforced, in particular regarding protection for slaves and limitations on corporal punishment.
Legal context.
Leonard Oppenheim, Alan Watson or Hans W. Baade were wrong to consider Roman law was the basis of this new law. In fact, this new law is based on the codification of previously applicable usages, decisions and rules used at that time in the Antilles.
This was shown by a Vernon Valentine Palmer study which described the process which led to the Edict of 1685: 4 years, with draft and preliminary reports and the project of , and king's instructions, known by documents in public French archives.
In 1681 the king ordered the creation of a legal status for black people in the American islands, and asked Jean-Baptiste Colbert to write it. Colbert delegated this task to the Martinique intendant, Jean-Baptiste Patoulet, replaced in July 1682 by Michel Bégon, and the governor-general of the Antilles, Charles de Courbon, count of Blenac (1622–1696).
A royal memorandum to Colbert, dated 30 April 1681, shows the need of an Antilles-specific ordinance when there were no slaves in metropolitan France, due to a decision of 11 July 1315 by Louis X.
At this time, there were still at least two common law status applicable in Martinique: French status, the , and aliens one. Soldiers, nobles, and clergy had specific status. 
Additionally, the Edict of 28 May 1664 established the French West India Company which applied to American islands which superseded the "Compagnie de Saint-Christophe" (1626-1635) and the Company of the American Islands (1635–1664).
Native people known as had French status with the same rights as French people, although only after their baptism into the Catholic religion. It was forbidden to enslave them.
Two sources of people were planned for: native people and people of French origin. The 1664 edict did not plan for either slaves or the import of Black people.
After the West India Company went bankrupt in 1674, its insular territories reverted to the Crown lands.
Decisions of Martinique's sovereign council remedied the absence of law related to slavery: in 1652, it extended the probition on requiring domestic workers to work on Sundays also apply to slaves; in 1664, it required them to be baptised and given religious education.
The edict of 1685 recognized those slavery practices incompatible with both (metropolitan) French laws and Canon law.
Origins.
In his 1987 analysis of the 's significance, Louis Sala-Molins claimed that its two primary objectives were to assert French sovereignty in its colonies and to secure the future of the cane sugar plantation economy. Central to these goals was control of the slave trade. The Code aimed to provide a legal framework for slavery, to establish protocols governing the conditions of inhabitants of the colonies, and to end the illegal slave trade. Religious morals also governed the crafting of the "Code Noir"; it was in part a result of the influence of the influx of Catholic leaders arriving in Martinique between 1673 and 1685.
Versions and territories of application.
The "Code Noir" was one of the many laws inspired by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who began to prepare the first (1685) version. After Colbert's 1683 death, his son, the Marquis de Seignelay, completed the document. It was ratified by Louis XIV and adopted by the Saint-Domingue sovereign council in 1687 after it was rejected by the parliament. It was then applied in the West Indies in 1687, Guyana in 1704, Réunion in 1723, and Louisiana in 1724.
The second and third versions of the code were passed by Louis XV at age 13 in 1723 and 1724.
In Canada, slavery received legal foundation from the king from 1689 to 1709. The "Code Noir" was not intended for or applied in New France's Canadian colony. In Canada, there never was legislation regulating slavery, no doubt because of the small number of slaves. Nevertheless, the intendant Raudot issued an ordinance in 1709 that legalized slavery.
From the 18th century, referred to codification of related texts.
Summary.
In 60 articles, the document specified the following:
In popular culture.
The is mentioned in "", as it is mainly set in Port-au-Prince. The assassin Adéwalé, formerly an escaped slave turned pirate, aids local Maroons in freeing the enslaved population of Saint-Domingue (now the Republic of Haiti). It is mentioned during the main story of "Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag" and has its own database entry in the game which provides background on the .