The word affranchi in the context of
Haiti means free blacks -- usually mulattoes, or
gens de couleur (people of color). French colonial
Saint-Domingue (now
Haiti) had three social classes devised to maintain and inflict slavery:
French planters, affranchi landholders, and
African slaves. The affranchi were light-skinned (
mulattoes)
free persons of color, the offspring of white French Slavers and African women who had been forced to breed children for them, largely for the purpose of being overseers on slave plantations, or domestic servants. As such, the affranchi had legal and social advantages over the
slave classes. They were able to own land and attend some French colonial entertainments. However, they could not hold administrative posts or work as doctors or lawyers. They were also forbidden to wear the style of clothes favored by the wealthy white colonists. In spite of the disadvantages, many affranchi identified themselves culturally with France rather than with the enslaved population.
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