Posted by Chester Morton / Saturday, 10 September 2016 / No comments
The privileges, responsibilities and limitations of citizens and subjects in French West Africa
Introduction Citizen
The
French classified the Africans who lived in the overseas territories
into citizens and subjects. Anybody who was born in the four Communes of
Dakar, St. Louis, Goree and Rufisque in Senegal, were regarded as
automatic French citizens. The rest who were born outside the four
Communes of Senegal and the rest of French West Africa, were considered
as subjects.
PRIVILEGES OF
CITIZENS
Automatic citizens
Those who were born in the four communes of
Senegal - Dakar, St. Louis, Goree and Rufisque, automatically became French
citizens but those who were born outside the communes had to work towards getting French citizenship conferred on them.
Electoral rights
The
citizens could exercise the franchise that was available to the French
citizens, so they voted and were voted for. They were allowed to join
any political party in France.
Right to work
Any
citizen who had the required qualification was allowed to work in the
metropolis. The citizens had access to the top notch schools in the
French West Africa.
Conjugal rights
The
citizens who fell in love with any white folk was allowed to marry that
French national. There were no existing laws stopping them from doing
so.
Exemption from ‘indigenat’
Under
the 'Indigenat' a French Administrator had the power to sentence an
African to up to two years in jail without trial for some category of
offenses. This did not apply to the citizens.
Exempted forced labour
Exempted forced labour
Every
subject who was between the ages of eighteen and fifty was required to
offer free labour to the French authorities either on construction work
or on a plantation. The citizens were exempted.
Legal rights
French
law applied to all citizens. In other words, an African French citizen
could sue and be sued in a French court. When that happened, it was the
French judicial jurisprudence that was applied.
LIMITATIONS OF
SUBJECTS
Subject to ‘indigenat’
Under
the 'Indigenat' a French Administrator had the power to sentence an
African to up to two years in jail without trial for some category of
offenses. This was the plight of only the subjects. It did not apply to the citizens.
Location
As
mentioned earlier, the citizens lived in the four communes of Dakar,
St. Louis, Goree and Rufisque. The subjects were now allowed to anywhere
near these four communes. They were made to live outside the four
communes.
Denied the right to education
The French kept a tight grip on who was educated in the territories. The citizens had the best of education but the was denied the subjects. As a result, the subjects could not speak the French language, at least not properly.
Denied the right to education
The French kept a tight grip on who was educated in the territories. The citizens had the best of education but the was denied the subjects. As a result, the subjects could not speak the French language, at least not properly.
Denied the right to vote
The
subjects were not allowed to vote or to be voted for like the citizens.
They were denied the right to freedom of speech and the right to
participate in the administration of the territory, let alone to be
represented in the French Chamber of Deputies as was the case for the
citizens.
Payment of taxes
While
the citizens' taxes were calculated on how much they earned, the taxes
of the subjects were not calculated based on their income, they were
just given a figure to pay and this was based on the discretion of the
French authorities.
Access to higher positions
As
a result of the fact that the subjects could attain any substantial
height in education, they could not be appointed to serve in the upper
echelons of the French Civil Service.
