In August 1789, as events in Paris escalated toward revolution, a rumor began to circulate among slaves on the French island of Martinique that the king had abolished slavery, but that local officials refused to implement the king’s will. Against this backdrop, the “slaves of Martinique” wrote to the island’s governor, urging him to take up their cause. Interestingly, their letter focused less on the actions of local officials than it did on the “vile actions” of the island’s free men of color, whom the authors accused of claiming liberty for themselves at the expense of Martinique’s slaves. As you read the letter, pay particular attention to the authors’ efforts to counter stereotypes about themselves. What arguments did they make in favor of their own freedom? What consequences did they imply would follow from a failure to hear their voices?

Great General:

The entire Nation of the Black Slaves very humbly begs your august person to accept its respectful homage and to cast a humanitarian eye on the reflections it takes the liberty of presenting to you.

We are not unaware, Great General, of all the negative things that have been presented to you about us; we are painted in such a foul way that even the most solidly virtuous person would have reason to turn against us; but God, who sooner or later always stops the proud plans of men, this God who is so just knows what is deep inside us; he knows that we have never had any project but to patiently accept the oppression of our persecutors. This eternal God, who could no longer suffer so much persecution, must have given Louis XVI, the greatest of monarchs, the charge of delivering all the miserable Christians oppressed by their unjust fellow men. . . .

We have just learned with extreme desperation that the mulattos, far from taking care of their enslaved mothers, brothers, and sisters, have dared claim that we do not deserve to enjoy, as they do, the benefits that come from peace and liberty and are incapable of continuing the hard work that supports the merchants of the white nation and cannot provide any service to the state. This is a great absurdity, and this vile action must demonstrate to you the baseness of spirit of this proud nation and make you see the hate, the jealousy, and all the horror of the disdain this nation has for us. . . . It is not jealousy that forces us to complain about the mulattos, but the harshness they have shown in creating a plan for liberty for only themselves, when we are all of the same family. We do not know, Great General, if you have received the request of the mulattos, but you will receive it soon, and we are happy if we have the good fortune to have reached you before it. . . .

We end our reflections by declaring to you that the entire Nation of Black Slaves united together has a single wish, a single desire for independence, and all the slaves with a unanimous voice send out only one cry, one clamor to reclaim the liberty they have gained through centuries of suffering and ignominious servitude.

This is no longer a Nation that is blinded by ignorance and that trembles at the threat of the lightest punishments; its suffering has enlightened it and has determined it to spill to its last drop of blood rather than support the yoke of slavery, a horrible yoke attacked by the laws, by humanity, and by all of nature, by the Divinity and by our good King Louis XVI. We hope it will be condemned by the illustrious [Governor] Vioménil. Your response, Great General, will decide our destiny and that of the colony. Please send it to the parish priests who will inform us about it at the announcements at the end of mass. We await it with the greatest impatience, but without leaving behind the respect that is due to your dignity, and the Nation asks you to believe it to be, [Great] Grand General, your most humble and obedient servant.

Signed,

The Entire Nation

Saint-Pierre, August 29, 1789

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. 66–67.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER