France was riven by grave social and political turmoil during the French Revolution (1789) when the King Louis XVI lost both his throne and his head. While there was a scrambling for power between the monarchists and the revolutionists, another major happening struck in 1791. The Caribbean French colony of Saint Domingue – which was considered as one of the biggest contributors to the French economy – was witnessing the bloodiest slave revolt in history. Unlike the American and French Revolutions which were driven by ideals of equality and freedom to « free » men, the Saint Domingue revolt was actuated by the fight for freedom and rights long suppressed for the slave population and the coloured called the ‘gens de couleur’.
Spurred by the prevailing instability and the “Reign of Terror” unleashed in France, the enslaved population and the coloured began flexing their muscles. They claimed the same rights as enjoyed by the white colonists (“grands blancs”). Their demands were repudiated. White residents abhorred the idea of blacks and gens de couleur becoming their equals. They, therefore, lobbied, as always, for maintaining the status-quo in order to perpetuate the slavery system and discriminatory practices.
Boiling cauldron…
In short, Saint Domingue’s social structure divided, like in all other colonies, along class and colour lines contained all the ingredients in the boiling cauldron ready to explode. After two failed attempts to overthrow the French colonial administration, including one by the coloureds when their leader Vincent Ogé was captured and executed, slaves who accounted for 80% of the 500,000 population went on a rampage through the colony on 23 August 1791. That was the most successful revolt ever engineered by a slave population against a European power.
The magnitude of the revolt saw killings of thousands of whites and their properties torched so much so that it was likened to “a thunderbolt from heaven”. Toussaint Louverture, a free black, who led the rebellion, justified his action by saying “vengeance long withheld has gone loose”.
That was the revolt that brought France down on its knees and gave control of Saint Domingue to a slave population originating from Africa. The end result was that Saint Domingue became an independent republic as Haiti on 1st January 1804 and the first independent nation in the world to be entirely administered by former slaves.
Yet before 1804, successive attempts by the French to take back control of Saint Domingue met with failures. Though Britain and Spain tried to take advantage of the French misfortune by an invasion of the colony and promising blacks and coloureds freedom and equal rights, they failed in their designs. In a desperate move to prevent France from losing its foothold in the colony, France’s representative at Port-au-Prince stepped in to proclaim the abolition of slavery and the establishment of civil rights without even having prior consultations with Paris. 
“Society of the Friends of Blacks”
The ‘fait accompli’ threw the French National Assembly off gear. It intensified the debates in France on the “Rights of Man” that encompassed the liberation of African slaves. Foremost in the struggle was the “Society of the Friends of Blacks” – Amis des Noirs – with which the ‘gens de couleur’ were very much connected. They argued that though classified as “free”, and being wealthy landed proprietors and men of intellect, they were systematically debarred from all the privileges afforded to whites.
Under pressure from abolitionists championing the cause of freedom and equality, the National Convention controlled by the radical Jacobin government in France voted on 4 February 1794 the “Declaration of Rights of Man” proclaiming that “all men are born free and remain free and equal as to their rights”.
The decree declared “slavery of the black abolished in all the colonies; consequently, all men irrespective of colour living in the colonies are French citizens and shall enjoy all the rights provided by the Constitution…”
That principle of equality had it been adopted could have been hailed as a landmark in the sense that it would have ushered in a new era for millions of people and changed the course of history. Unfortunately, it remained a dead letter because of the strong resistance against emancipation put up by colonists throughout the French empire.
Isle de France
The resentment that was built up in the colonies could well be illustrated by the show of force at the Isle de France. The French settlers in the colony had no qualms about the French Revolution having taken place and the monarchy toppled when it was first announced on 31 January 1790 by Captain Gabriel de Coriolis de Limaye. Port Louis then wore a festive look.
However, news of the 1794 decree abolishing slavery sent a cold shiver down the spine of the slave holders who vowed to fight tooth and nail to maintain the existing slave and social system. The Saint Domingue bloody revolt haunted them.
The two Commissioners of the French Directory, Baco de la Chapelle and Pierre Burnel, escorted by four frigates and 780 soldiers arrived at Port Louis on 18 June 1796 to ensure that measures in the decree were enforced.
The following day, a furious mob attacked them at the Palais du Gouvernement (Government House) and exerted pressure on Governor Malartic to deport them at once.
The French Commissioners were announcing to the Colonial Assembly that Isle de France was about to be annexed to France as a department when someone barged in the meeting room and opened fire, the bullet missing Baco who riposted by drawing out his sword to strike but was held up by members of the Assembly. At the same time, those who had thronged the vicinity of Government House fired gunshots and insisted that Baco and Burnel be sent off with shouts of “Embarque, Embarque!” that echoed within Port Louis. Pressurised by the threatening mob, Malartic signed the deportation order. Baco and Burnel were forced in a corvette with instructions to the Captain to take them to far away Batavia, not even to France.
France suffered a setback in its mission to abolish slavery. The failure in the implementation of the 1794 decree paved the way for the First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte, to reinstate colonial slavery in 1802 in order to bolster France’s sagging economy.