In the end, the National Assembly sided with the white planters. On October 12, 1790, its members voted to give all power to reform racial laws to the Colonial Assemblies, agreeing to refrain from even discussing racial discrimination unless expressly asked to do so by those bodies. Fear of the economic cost of racial reform seemed to be at the heart of this decision. As a later decree would explain, “local circumstances and the kind of agriculture that brings colonial prosperity appear to require introducing into the colonial constitution several exceptions to the [French Revolution’s] general principles.” In response to the decision, Abbé Grégoire, a fierce advocate for Parisian men of color, published this pamphlet. In it, he accused the National Assembly of hypocrisy and ridiculed the notion that only the most ardent opponents of racial reform should have the right to initiate such reform. More importantly, perhaps, he argued that the National Assembly’s actions were contrary to France’s economic interests. As you read the pamphlet, pay particular attention to the light it sheds on the racial politics of France’s Caribbean colonies. What connection did Grégoire make between race relations and colonial prosperity?

October 12, 1790, is a date forever sorrowful in the annals of history. Every year Liberty, Humanity, and Justice will mourn its passing, while our descendants will remember with shock or indignation that on this day one part of the nation was sacrificed to the prejudices and greed of another. This was no Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. But is it more humane to rob a man of his life and its sorrows in an instant, or to prolong his existence while stripping him of everything that might make it more bearable?

. . . We have decided (something unheard of in any nation!) that there will be no change in the status of the people in our islands, except at the colonists’ request. That is, the National Assembly will not stamp out injustice except at the request of those who feed on the situation and want to prolong it! In other words, the eternal rights of men are less important than pride and avarice! Put another way, these men will be the victims of oppression until their tyrants agree to lighten their fate.

The representatives of the French people voted this strange decree almost unanimously, at the very moment in which they were congratulating themselves for having struck down tyranny and reconquered liberty. Moreover, as if they were afraid of gaining some insight on an issue of such great importance, they had already voted to prohibit any discussion of this one. . . .

The political world is certainly going to look different. The volcano of liberty that has been lit in France will soon bring about a general explosion and change the fate of the human species in the two hemispheres. The interests of the colony and of the metropole, their internal and external security, require that all forces work together, like the bundle of sticks that, according to the story, a dying father offered his family as an emblem. But our islands harbor the seeds of their own destruction, which are sending out roots. It is always a despicable policy to degrade one group of people instead of involving them in maintaining order. Did not the oppression of soldiers cause regimental uprisings [in France] that almost dissolved the army? It would be a great mistake to imagine that the colonies could remain in this unnatural repressed state very long; to believe this, one would have to know very little about human affairs. And the following considerations reinforce this opinion.

Everywhere the people of mixed race see this cockade, which, according to the prediction, will be known around the world; they see the revolutionary flag paraded with honor. How can one believe that the cries of liberty ringing endlessly in their ears will not awaken in their hearts a longing for their rights? Add to this a consideration of their strength, whose steady growth is extraordinary. I will cite just one fact. In 1779, there were 7,055 people of color in Saint-Domingue; in 1787, 19,632 were counted. Therefore, in the period of eight years, the population more than doubled; while France’s population barely grew by one-ninth over a period of seventy-two years.

How can you limit that population when the unrestrained lechery of so many whites guarantees its future growth? The mulattos’ industriousness and its results will follow the same pattern. Will you disarm all the free colored militias and patrols in fear of an uprising? They would have to be replaced and restrained by multiple expeditions of French soldiers, who would have to carry out all duties in a burning climate that devours effeminate Europeans and overworked nègres.

Who can say whether this degraded caste, pushed to despair, will not use its strength to rescue justice, if the mulattos will not ally with the nègres against those whites who might have easily claimed them, thanks to filial love or the habit of respect? The easiest path for them would be to emigrate to the neighboring Spanish territory, where a diversity of skin colors has not produced legal distinctions. Already several have taken this step, and I can assure you, for I have proof, that if the injustices of the whites do not end soon, many people of mixed race plan to abandon a country where the sun shines only on their sorrows, and take their productivity and wealth elsewhere.

Moreover, do you not fear a coalition between the people of mixed race, those whites who aim at independence, and others who would greedily seize an opportunity to free themselves from paying the enormous sums they owe to France? Might not bitterness, ambition, and disloyalty stir up trouble and cause secession, with incalculable consequences? . . .

Oh, that I were a false prophet! But if events prove my fears correct, at least I will not have to reproach myself for saying nothing about these important matters. Is it not obvious that, if pride could be set aside, there would be more citizens and they would have less to fear from the slaves? If people of mixed race and whites could be brought together by their common interests and advantages, the size of their combined forces would more efficiently ensure the colonies’ tranquility. There can be no doubt that sooner or later the repressed energy of the mulattos will rise up with an unstoppable violence. The oppressed can be forced into inactivity now only because they are temporarily weak. Such dangerous apathy! Evil’s frightening silence is usually broken only by a tumultuous dash for liberty.

Source: Laurent Dubois and John D. Garrigus, Slave Revolution in the Caribbean, 1789–1804: A Brief History with Documents (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006), pp. 73–75.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER