Conclusion

Summary

This study ends with the decline of tutelle and its aftermath. It posits that guardianship declined after 1905 – the year that French law made the alienation of a person’s liberty illegal – thus bringing an end to slavery in areas of Senegal where its existence was still legal after 1848. Thus, the conclusion reinforces the position taken throughout about the correlation between tutelle and slavery. In the absence of the 1905 law, tutelle would likely have continued to function as before. This points to limitations in the 1848 Abolition Act and subsequent legislation that led to the liberation of minors and fostered their integration into society through adoption without assurance of outright freedom from coercive labor that adversely impacted the lives of the majority of adoptees. In 1905, the French made no pronouncements about the fate of tutelle. Since tutelle was not considered slavery, and slavery did not legally exist in urban Senegal after 1848, the alienation of the liberty of minors was not deemed to be an issue. But tutelle held on unofficially beyond 1905, demonstrating the tenacity and entrenchment of coercive labor systems in Africa.