A very good copy of this scarce work by Jean-Jacques Ambert (1765-1851), a French naval officer who saw action in both the American and French Revolutionary wars. He later served as military governor of Guadeloupe, though was recalled in 1808 after an outbreak of civil unrest. He remained active and interested in the island, and in this 1822 pamphlet, he responds to a speech given in 1821 by Jacques Claude Beugnot, which he considers detrimental to the interests of the colonies.
As ever, the work focuses on the sugar industry and Ambert cites relevant import and export figures in Havana and Brazil by way of comparison with Martinique and Guadeloupe. He broadens the remit of the discussion and complains of the dominance of the English empire with its colonies in New South Wales, New Zealand, Hawaii, Tahiti and the Cape of Good Hope. He also takes aim at Spain’s colonial outposts in Peru and Chile. The work provides much insight into the competing factions and debates in France, which mirrors the similar struggle that English abolitionists faced with their own colonies in the West Indies.
In 1847, Ambert was appointed president of the its Colonial Council, whose purpose he declared “should be a double action of enlightening the authorities and directing public opinion.” On July 10 the same year, he reported to the King that Guadeloupe was “prepared to advance with France ‘down the path of emancipation’ if this were accompanied by association to guarantee the maintenance of work” (Jennings).
Jennings, L, French Anti-Slavery The Movement for the Abolition of Slavery in France, 1802-1848. Cambridge, 2006, p.78, 251.
