Escapes from Cayenne: A Story of Socialism and Slavery in an Age of Revolution and Reaction

"Written by a French political refugee from the Revolution of 1848 for an American audience, Escapes from Cayennetraces the details of Leon Chautard's many imprisonments and attempts at escape. Initially imprisoned in France (Le Havre, Brest, and Belle Ille), Chautard was then sent to Algeria and, eventually, to the penal colony of Cayenne. He was assigned the number 170 upon his arrival in French Guyane in September 1852 and escaped five years later. The bulk of the narrative details his escape from Cayenne along with two of his fellow prisoners. It also illuminates their encounters with various colonial officials, free and enslaved Africans, Indigenous peoples, and English, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, and American colonists. The narrative also serves as a brief explanation of what "socialism" meant to the folks he encountered. Roy's critical edition of Escapes not only includes an annotated version of Chautard's narrative, but also a substantial introduction that discusses the French Revolution of 1848; republicanism and socialism; forced exile to Algeria and Cayenne; French republican exiles who ended up in the United States; their antislavery activism; the connections between the European spirit of '48 and American abolitionism; the pamphlet itself; and its publication and reception. Roy has also included several adjacent primary sources ("supplementary readings") that help fill out Chautard's story and the broader context of his experiences"--