C'est la grande propriété qui a inventé et soutient le trafic des blancs et des noirs qui vend et achète les hommes... C'est elle qui dans les colonies donne aux nègres de nos plantations plus de coup de fouet que de morceau de pain." - Meaning and context.">
It is the system of great landed estates which invented and sustains the trafficking of whites and blacks who sell and buy men. ... It is this system which in the colonies gives the blacks of our plantations only a blow with a whip and a morsel of bread.
 • Jean-Marc Shiappa, , ed. (1991), in Gracchus Babeuf avec les Egaux page: 19, publisher: Les éditions ouvrières, ISBN: 27082 2892-7
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C'est la grande propriété qui a inventé et soutient le trafic des blancs et des noirs qui vend et achète les hommes... C'est elle qui dans les colonies donne aux nègres de nos plantations plus de coup de fouet que de morceau de pain.

— François-Noël Babeuf

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "C'est la grande propriété qui a inventé et soutient le trafic des blancs et des noirs qui vend et achète les hommes... C'est elle qui dans les colonies donne aux nègres de nos plantations plus de coup de fouet que de morceau de pain." in the context of "It is the system of great landed estates which invented and sustains the trafficking of whites and blacks who sell and buy men. ... It is this system which in the colonies gives the blacks of our plantations only a blow with a whip and a morsel of bread.
 • Jean-Marc Shiappa, , ed. (1991), in Gracchus Babeuf avec les Egaux page: 19, publisher: Les éditions ouvrières, ISBN: 27082 2892-7" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "François-Noël Babeuf" (On property) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
François-Noël Babeuf

About François-Noël Babeuf

François-Noël Babeuf, known as Gracchus Babeuf, (23 November 1760 - 27 May 1797) (8 prairial year V), was a French revolutionary. He fomented the conjuration des Égaux (conspiracy of the Equals) against the Directory to enforce the constitution of 1793. He was guillotined. His doctrine babouvisme (Babeufism) is a precursor of communism.