To describe the transition from slavery to freedom, Chapter 2 centers on the evolution and development of tutelle and its relationship to other forms of servility in nineteenth-century Senegal. It begins with an exploration of slavery in highly stratified Wolof society, and the use of slaves in urban Senegal where domestic labor was pervasive before 1848. Some slaves became part of French naval operations manning garrisons. Others worked as domestics, stevedores, and boat hands. Still others worked as helpers in the construction industry. Slaves were artisans and laptots (sailors). Enslaved minors, mostly female, were largely confined to domestic tasks in urban households headed by signares and others. The chapter traces the roots of engagement à temps – a form of indentured labor to which a significant number of women and children were subjected under the same conditions in Saint-Louis. It deals with the process of redemption from slavery through rachat (ransom), and highlights judicial cases and rulings which demonstrate how the process was abused. The chapter ends with the 1849 decree under which Governor Baudin created guardianship councils for boys and girls in Saint-Louis and Gorée simultaneously.

The introduction outlines the scope and parameters of the study and evaluates the historiography of child servitude in Senegal while pointing to the daunting challenges that researchers face in tackling this subject due to fragmented and spotty data. It begins by explaining the meaning of tutelle – a system of guardianship or wardship that emerged after 1848 when slavery ended in the French colonial empire. It associates guardianship with slavery and other forms of coercive labor systems such as engagement à temps or indentureship to which enslaved people, including children, were often subjected through the process of rachat or ransom from slavery. It posits that guardianship in Senegal was institutionalized servitude sanctioned by the colonial administration which spearheaded the distribution of liberated and orphaned children, formerly enslaved and free, to habitants – African and European merchants, traders, and residents, primarily in Saint-Louis – the most important and vibrant economic entity in urban Senegal. Of the habitants, the signares – mixed-race women (métis) – played a major role in shaping guardianship that subsequent chapters explore. The introduction ends with an outline of the chapters that encompass the social condition of children in tutelle in colonial Senegal from 1848 to 1910.