The Raudot Ordinance of 1709 was a law in the French colony of New France that legalized slavery.
On April 13, 1709, New France intendant Jacques Raudot passed the Ordinance Rendered on the Subject of the Negroes and the Savages Called Panis, legalizing the purchase and possession of indigenous slaves in New France.
"Having good knowledge of how this colony would benefit if it were possible for the inhabitants to purchase slaves known as panis, whose nation is Distant from this country [...] We for the great pleasure of his Majesty, ordain that all Panis and Negroes who have been purchased or who will be purchased at some time, will belong to Those who have purchased them."[1]