A French governor banned slave-status categories from colonial censuses

Evidence

For example, the future governor general William Panty, Dakar’s delegate to the Western Sudan, wrote to his subordinates that they owed it to the “traditions of republican France” to “take measures that would make this ancient wound disappear.” Henceforth, he no longer wished to see a category for “captives or unfree [non-libre]” on their censuses. This nomenclature appeared to recognize officially “a social state absolutely opposed to any idea of civilization.” — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 335

Categorization

• DEFINE: Shows how abolishing the census category ‘non-libre’ was itself a civilizing stance — a naming act with political force.