Sunday 14 June 2020

Women Warriors: La Mulâtresse Solitude


This is Solitude. Her mother was brought from Africa, possibly Sierra Leone, and she was born in Guadeloupe in around 1772 as the result of her mother's rape on the slave ship. I've found several different accounts of her life, but most of them seem to agree on this.
In 1794, the French abolished slavery in their colonies after the Haitian slave revolt, and she joined the Maroon community of La Goyave on Guadeloupe. This was a group of free Africans, from the French word meaning "fugitive".
In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte re-enstated the institution of slavery in the French colonies. Solitude and her followers from the Maroon community joined Louis Delgrès, who had been a military officer in the Revolutionary Army, to fight for freedom. Their last battle against the French Napoleonic Army was on 28th May at Matouba, where the remaining freedom fighters ignited their gunpowder supplies, committing suicide while taking as many of the French with them as they could.
Solitude survived the battle. She was pregnant at the time, so was imprisoned by the French until she had her baby. In November 1802, a day after she had given birth, she was hanged.
Slavery was finally abolished on the island in 1848.
Solitude is now remembered as a heroine on Guadeloupe.

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