94:, or any white man in practice, was free to impose summary punishment for any of 34 (later 12) vague headings of infractions of the code: from murder down to 'disrespect' of France, its symbols, or functionaries. These could range from fines, to 15 days in prison, executed immediately. While the statute stated that all punishments must be signed by the colonial governor, this was almost always done after the fact. Corporal punishment was outlawed, but still regularly used. And while reforms were periodically placed upon these powers, in practice they became common and arbitrary. Over 1,500 officially reported infractions were punished under the indigĂ©nat in Moyen Congo in 1908â1909 alone.
17:
61:). Below the "cercle commander" was a series of African "chefs de canton" and "chefs du village": "chiefs" appointed by the French and subject to removal by the Europeans. As well, the "cercle commander" made use of a large number of servants, employees, and African officers such as the "gardes-de-cercle" police, any military units seconded to them by government authorities, and sub-administrators such as the
103:
French chose to exercise it. It was only in 1924 that chiefs du canton were exempted from the Indigénat, and if they showed insubordination or disloyalty they could still (as all
Africans) be imprisoned for up to ten years for "political offences" by French officials (subject to a signature of the minister of colonies).
106:
Gardes-de-cercle supported the
European officer. Gardes-de-cercle were Africans used as auxiliary policemen to support local colonial administrators. Since they were often called upon to arrest people and to compel them to supply forced labor, the French usually recruited them from outside the cercle
102:
In addition, native sub-officials, such as the appointed local chiefs, made use of forced labor, compulsory crops, and taxes in kind at their discretion. As the enforcers of the indigénat, they were also, in part, beneficiaries. Still, they themselves were quite firmly under French authority when the
124:
Legally, the Indigénat and the power of cercle commanders was dismantled in three steps. The ordinance of 7 May 1944 suppressed the summary punishment statutes, and offered citizenship to those who met certain criteria and would give up their rights to native or Muslim courts. This citizenship was
129:
law of 7 April 1946 formally extended citizenship across the empire, indigĂšnes included. Third, the law of 20 September 1947 removed the two tier court system and mandated equal access to public employment.
137:
and stripped of the personal power of the cercle commander system, the cercle name retained enough imperial connotations to be changed by most nations upon independence to departments or sub-prefectures.
42:
that was headed by a
European officer. A cercle consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages, and was instituted in France's African colonies from 1895 to 1946.
257:
Benton, Lauren: Colonial Law and
Cultural Difference: Jurisdictional Politics and the Formation of the Colonial State in Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Jul., 1999)
49:") was subject to the authority of a district commander, and the government of the colony above him, but was independent of the military structure (outside of military areas, e.g. modern
121:
law finally enabled some form of small political representation from the colonies after the war. One year later, the courts and labor laws of the Indigénat were removed.
83:
legal code in the area they commanded. Commanders were expected to make regular tours of their areas to enforce policies, rule on cases, extract taxes and
87:
labor and implement political and economic projects of either the colonial governor, the French
Overseas Ministry, or of their own creation.
263:
Crowder, Michael: Indirect Rule: French and
British Style Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Jul., 1964)
84:
242:
107:
where they served. As a consequence, they were often disliked and distrusted by the local inhabitants, even though they were
Africans.
20:
A French colonial administrator makes his "tour" of outposts, c. 1905. Presumably the other
European (right) is a French
297:
271:
226:
205:
184:
156:
117:
292:
142:
is the only nation in sub-Saharan Africa to retain the name cercle for its second level sub-divisions.
260:
Crowder, Michael: West Africa Under
Colonial Rule Northwestern Univ. Press (1968) ASIN: B000NUU584
125:
given on a personal basis: their (even future) children would still fall under the Indigénat. The
39:
266:
Samuel Decalo. Historical
Dictionary of Niger. Scarecrow Press, London and New Jersey (1979).
238:
134:
279:
Jean Suret-Canele. French Colonialism in Tropical Africa 1900-1945. Trans. Pica Press (1971)
16:
8:
267:
222:
201:
180:
58:
246:
34:
276:
Mortimer, Edward France and the Africans, 1944â1960, A Political History (1970)
286:
151:
79:
Cercle commanders and district commanders were also the chief judges of the
80:
74:
54:
45:
At the bottom of the European administration the "cercle commander" ("
133:
Reduced to a political subdivision roughly equivalent to a French
38:) was the smallest unit of French political administration in
50:
239:
Le corps dâexception : questions Ă Sidi Mohammed Barkat
139:
284:
198:Leisure and Society in Colonial Brazzaville
200:. Cambridge University Press. pp. 83â87.
110:
68:
15:
249:), mouvement-egalite.org, 14 June 2006.
285:
219:Colonial West Africa: Collected Essays
33:
13:
14:
309:
157:Circle (administrative division)
97:
232:
211:
190:
177:Politics in Francophone Africa
169:
1:
179:. Lynne Rienner. pp. 48â51.
162:
7:
221:. Routledge. pp. 142â143.
175:Le Vine, Victor T. (2004).
145:
10:
314:
72:
298:French Equatorial Africa
217:Michael Crowder (1978).
196:Martin, Phyllis (1995).
65:trade inspectors, etc.
32:(French pronunciation:
111:Coming of independence
69:Indigénat legal system
40:French colonial Africa
25:
73:Further information:
19:
92:commandant de cercle
63:precepteur du marché
47:commandant de cercle
35:[sÉÊ.kl(É)]
293:French West Africa
245:2007-09-27 at the
26:
305:
250:
236:
230:
215:
209:
194:
188:
173:
59:Second World War
37:
313:
312:
308:
307:
306:
304:
303:
302:
283:
282:
254:
253:
247:Wayback Machine
237:
233:
216:
212:
195:
191:
174:
170:
165:
148:
113:
100:
77:
71:
12:
11:
5:
311:
301:
300:
295:
281:
280:
277:
274:
264:
261:
258:
252:
251:
231:
210:
189:
167:
166:
164:
161:
160:
159:
154:
147:
144:
112:
109:
99:
96:
70:
67:
24:administrator.
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
310:
299:
296:
294:
291:
290:
288:
278:
275:
273:
272:0-8108-1229-0
269:
265:
262:
259:
256:
255:
248:
244:
240:
235:
228:
227:0-7146-2943-X
224:
220:
214:
207:
206:0-521-52446-6
203:
199:
193:
186:
185:1-58826-249-9
182:
178:
172:
168:
158:
155:
153:
152:Cercle (Mali)
150:
149:
143:
141:
136:
131:
128:
122:
120:
119:
108:
104:
98:Sub-officials
95:
93:
88:
86:
82:
76:
66:
64:
60:
57:prior to the
56:
52:
48:
43:
41:
36:
31:
23:
18:
234:
218:
213:
197:
192:
176:
171:
132:
127:Lamine GuĂšye
126:
123:
118:Lamine GuĂšye
116:
114:
105:
101:
91:
89:
78:
62:
46:
44:
29:
27:
21:
287:Categories
163:References
135:department
85:Prestation
55:Mauritania
81:Indigénat
75:Indigénat
243:Archived
146:See also
270:
225:
204:
183:
30:cercle
22:cercle
51:Niger
268:ISBN
223:ISBN
202:ISBN
181:ISBN
140:Mali
115:The
90:The
53:and
289::
28:A
241:(
229:.
208:.
187:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
