Born in Senegal and enslaved in the colony of Saint-Domingue, Jean-Baptiste Belley fought in the American War of Independence and was elected as a deputy to the French National Convention. His career epitomizes the transnational connections of the era of Atlantic revolutions. (Jean-Baptiste Belley [1747–1805], Deputy of Santo Domingo at the French Convention, by Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson [1767–1824], 1797, oil on canvas. Inv. MV4616. Photo: Gérard Blot/Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles, France/© RMN–Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY)