France exported its own labor tax to its colonies
Evidence
- Prestations were regulated by the arretes of Nov. II, I9I2, Dec. 3I, I9I?, Sep. 23, I9I8, and Feb. 2, I933, which allowed each lieutenant governor to establish the details of enforcement in his colony. Prestations had been introduced in France in 1836 for the upkeep of local roads. They were not to exceed three days a year and could be commuted to a cash payment if desired. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 1357
Categorization
- XREF: Shows continuities between metropolitan French institutions and their imposition in West Africa — relevant to the reader’s causal question of how republican ideas traveled.