Slavery in New France

Slavery would not be legalized in New France until 13 April 1709, by an ordinance of Intendant Jacques Raudot. Nevertheless, slavery did exist in the 17th century, and the ordinance of 1709 merely sanctioned an established practice. The majority of slaves in 18th-century New France were Indigenous, mainly Pawnee from the Mississippi valley, whose name in French, “Panis,” came to be used to mean any enslaved Indigenous person. Enslaved Black people made their appearance principally under the British regime. The nearly 4,000 slaves who are known to have existed during the French regime belonged to some 1,500 individuals, about 30 of whom held more than 10.