Eighteenth and early nineteenth-century French freemasonry was a racially exclusive enterprise, which served to incubate intimate bonds of racial solidarity among white men in France and its colonies. However, in the late 1820s, masonic lodges in France began initiating free men of color to combat colonial prejudices and promote universal brotherhood. By 1835, several of these new initiates had returned to the French colony of Guadeloupe where they founded the first lodge for men of color in the French empire, bringing together many of the colony’s strongest advocates for abolition and colonial reform.
The role of masonry in abolitionist politics is debated, with some historians emphasizing its significance and others downplaying it. Join Noah Pinkham to explore the intersection of abolition, colonial practices, and masonic fraternities under the July Monarchy. Pinkham argues that masonry provided a flexible framework for advocating for or against colonial slavery and imperialism, without aligning with specific political ideologies.
