Cause of the revolution in the colony.—People of colour in France.—Their proceedings.—League with the society of Amis des Noirs.—OgÉ’s rebellion.—His defeat and death.—Conduct of the proprietors and planters.—Consequences of it. It has been very erroneously thought by some persons, who feel interested in the fate of the slave population of the West Indies, or at all events they have, with no little industry, propagated the impression, that the revolution in Hayti begun with the revolt of the blacks, when it is evident, from the very best authors and from the testimony of people now living, who were present during its opening scenes, that such was not the fact, and that the slaves remained perfectly tranquil for two years after the celebrated “Declaration of Rights” was promulgated in France. Such persons give themselves but little trouble in searching the history of the island—they are satisfied with the report of others, who may be equally uninformed with themselves; and thus it is that they imbibe ideas and notions of the wonderful capacities of the negro population, who could have commenced, and so effectually carried “With these people” (meaning the men of colour The society of Amis des Noirs, aided by a corresponding institution in London, together with the united body of the coloured people in France, lost no time in sending out this very celebrated declaration, and in disseminating its principles throughout the whole island; their efforts were not unavailing, for the mulattoes, conscious that the French nation were favourable towards their designs of demanding a restitution of their rights, and the full and unqualified enjoyment of those privileges hitherto confined It appears that the governor of the colony had lost a great deal of his popularity, and consequently of his power, by his interposition; for a general colonial assembly, convoked in January 1790 by order from the king, determined that his instructions were imperfect and inapplicable, and the people therefore proceeded on a plan of their own, and changed both the time and the place at which the assembly should be held. Nothing could have emanated from the deliberations of the body convoked by this determination of the people, for the discontented and confused state of the colony being soon known in the mother-country, and an apprehension having arisen that the island was likely soon to be declared independent, the national assembly, in March 1790, came to the following decision: “That it never was the intention of the assembly to comprehend the interior government of the colonies in the constitution which they had framed for the mother-country, or to subject them to laws which were incompatible with their local establishments; they therefore authorize the inhabitants of each colony to signify to the national assembly their sentiments and wishes concerning the plan of interior legislation and commercial arrangement which would be most conducive to their prosperity.” Then followed a resolution, “That the national assembly would not cause any innovation to be made, directly or indirectly, in any system of The people of colour and the society of Amis des Noirs were, as it might have been anticipated, thrown into considerable alarm by the promulgation of a decree of so ambiguous a character, and no little surprise and consternation followed its appearance in the island. It was construed into an acquiescence in the further continuance of the slave-trade; it was also conceived to confer upon the colonists the power of settling and affixing their colonial constitutions, and to absolve them from their allegiance to the French crown. The first general assembly of the island which was convoked after these decrees had been received, and had excited the astonishment of the people, was held at St. Marc on the 16th of April 1790. Their deliberative functions commenced with a discussion upon the hardships to which the people of colour were subjected under the military system of the colony, and it was determined, that on no subsequent occasion should they be required to perform more duty than was usually exacted from the whites. An inquiry into the abuses alleged to prevail in the colonial courts of judicature, and the discussion of a new plan of colonial government, were the M. Paynier was at this time governor-general of St. Domingo: he had neither the capacity nor the disposition required for administering the affairs of the colony at such a period. Instead of being actuated with the desire of conciliating the parties opposed to each other, he secretly gave every possible aid and encouragement to the supporters of ancient despotism. The appearance of Colonel Mauduit, however, a man of some talent and energy, effected a change; for he soon acquired much influence over the governor-general, and prevented the coalition which was about to take place between the assembly and the mulattoes; and declaring himself the protector of the latter, he speedily gained over to his interest the greater part of that class of people. The planters at this time, too, were in an undecided state, wavering in their opinions, and fixed to no measures likely to preserve the tranquillity of the island, and there was not one of their body capable of impressing them with a due sense of the condition into which they were likely to be precipitated by their want of energy and decision. Forming as they did a numerous class of the inhabitants, had they been unanimous in their opinions, and united in their views, the repose of the colony would in all probability have been preserved. Such not being “First. The legislative authority, in every thing which relates to the internal concerns of the colony (rÉgime interieur), is vested in the assembly of its representatives, which shall be called ‘The General Assembly of the French Part of St. Domingo.’ “Secondly. No act of the legislative body, in what relates to the internal concerns of the colony, shall be considered as a law definitive, unless it may be made by the representatives of the French part of St. Domingo, freely and legally chosen, and confirmed by the king. “Thirdly. In cases of urgent necessity, a legislative decree of the general assembly, in what relates to the internal concerns of the colony, shall “Fourthly. The necessity of the case, on which the execution of such provisional decree is to depend, shall be a separate question, and be carried in the affirmative by a majority of two-thirds of the general assembly; the names and numbers being taken down (prises par l’appel nominal). “Fifthly. If the governor-general shall send down his observations on any such decree, the same shall be entered in the journals of the general assembly, who shall then proceed to revise the decree, and consider the observations thereon, in three several sittings. The votes for confirming or annulling the decree shall be given in the words Yes or No, and a minute of the proceedings shall be signed by the members present, in which shall be enumerated the votes on each side of the question, and if there appears a majority of two-thirds for confirming the decree, it shall be immediately enforced by the governor-general. “Sixthly. As every law ought to be founded on the consent of those who are to be bound by it, the French part of St. Domingo shall be allowed to propose regulations concerning commercial arrangements, “Seventhly. In cases of pressing necessity, the importation of articles for the support of the inhabitants shall not be considered as any breach of the system of commercial regulations between St. Domingo and France; provided that the decrees to be made in such cases by the general assembly shall be submitted to the revision of the governor-general, under the same conditions and modifications as are prescribed in articles three and five. “Eighthly. Provided also, that every legislative act of the general assembly executed provisionally, in cases of urgent necessity, shall be transmitted forthwith for the royal sanction. And if the king shall refuse his consent to any such act, its execution shall be suspended as soon as the king’s refusal shall be legally notified to the general assembly. “Ninthly. A new general assembly shall be chosen every two years, and none of the members who have served in the former assembly shall be eligible in the new one. “Tenthly. The general assembly decree that the preceding articles, as forming part of the constitution of the French colony in St. Domingo, shall be It was not likely that a decree, the articles of which were thus opposed to the maintenance of order, could exact the acquiescence and submission of the people, and lead them to an approval of that which seemed to aim at the destruction of all subordination. Serious apprehensions arose as to the measures which would be adopted and pursued at this juncture, to avert the impending storm which was expected at no distant period to burst forth. It was imagined, and was a received opinion, that the “declaring of the colony an independent state, in imitation of the English American provinces”, was certain, and every effort was made to avert such a proceeding. No obedience to the general assembly could be enforced. The inhabitants of Cape FranÇois were the first to set the example of renouncing all respect for that body, and of calling upon the governor-general to dissolve them. With this request he instantly complied, charging the general assembly with a design of undermining the peace of the colony, by forming projects of independency, contrary to the voice of the colonists; he even charged them with having been accessories or instigators of the mutiny of the crew of one of the An attempt was made to arrest the committee of the western provincial assembly, and a force under M. Mauduit was sent for that purpose, but he failed in effecting his object, for the members, hearing of his approach, collected about four hundred of the national guard for their defence, and M. Mauduit retired after a skirmish or two, without any other advantage than the capture of the national colours. The general assembly being apprised of this attack, immediately summoned the people to the support and protection of their representatives. The northern provincial assembly adhered to the governor-general, and, to oppose the progress of his opponents, they sent him all the troops stationed in that quarter, together with an additional force of about two hundred mulattoes. The western province collected a much greater force, and everything seemed to indicate a sanguinary civil war, when an event occurred which for a time averted all those unhappy results that would inevitably have taken place, had the opposing parties come in contact. Most unexpectedly, at this momentous juncture, for the purpose of trying the effect of a personal appeal to the national assembly of France, the general Immediately after this storm had subsided, every effort was made by the governor-general, Paynier, to restore confidence and tranquillity amongst the people, and for some time, there was a strong indication of the peace of the colony being once more established; but the designs of the people of colour in France, abetted by the society of Amis des Noirs, at the head of which were some of the most violent of the revolutionary characters of France, destroyed all their hopes, and every species of anarchy and confusion was anticipated from the proceedings of these disseminators of the pernicious doctrine of equality and the rights of man. It was at this period that the first mulatto rebellion took place, at the head of which was the famous OgÉ, the protegÉ and disciple of La Fayette and Robespierre, a young man about thirty years of age, and a native of the northern part of St. Domingo. He had been educated in France at the expense of his mother, a woman of property living near Cape FranÇois; having been admitted to the meetings of the society of Amis des Noirs, he had imbibed all their principles, and had become enthusiastic in demanding an equality of rights and privileges for his coloured brethren. Encouraged by the society, and the revolutionary leaders, he left France for the purpose of instigating his fellow colonists of colour to take up arms in the assertion of their claims. To give him something like an appearance of military command, the society purchased for him the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the army of one of the German states. To conceal his designs from the king and the national assembly, he made a circuitous voyage by North America; but his object was known before he left France, and intimation was sent out to the governor-general that he had embarked for St. Domingo, and that his scheme was to excite his coloured brethren to arms. A description of his person, and I believe a portrait also, were transmitted for the better discovery of him on his arrival; but notwithstanding every precaution, he Supported by so small a body, and no simultaneous movement taking place in any other part of the colony, the career of OgÉ and his associates was not likely to be of any long duration. Steps were immediately taken by the governor to suppress the revolt, and to bring the leaders to trial, if it were found practicable to apprehend them. Troops and the Cape militia were sent to oppose them, when a skirmish ensued in which many of the rebels fell, and some were taken prisoners. OgÉ escaped with Chevane; but as it was known that they had fled into the Spanish territory, they were demanded by the successor of Peynier, M. Blanchelande (the former having resigned his command, and embarked for Europe,) who brought them to trial in March 1791, and they were condemned: OgÉ and Chevane to be broken on the wheel, and his brother and some of his followers to be hanged. The fortitude of Chevane never forsook him to the last, and he met his fate with extraordinary resolution and courage; but OgÉ exhibited the greatest pusillanimity, supplicating in the most abject manner that mercy might be extended to him. It appears that a respite was granted to him, in consideration of his promise to make the most important discoveries were his life spared. He made a full confession before commissioners appointed for that purpose, It seemed a case of peculiar hardship, if not of great injustice, and breach of all faith and honour, that after the unfortunate and deluded man had made such important disclosures, and had informed the governor of the whole of their designs, by which their further progress might be defeated, his life should be sacrificed; mercy having been held out as the price of his confession, it should have been extended to him, for this he had unquestionably, upon every principle of justice, a right to expect and to demand. Why it should not have been granted to him, no reason has been assigned. He was executed immediately after, and at the fatal spot he shewed neither the firmness, fortitude, nor the mind of a brave man suffering in that cause of which he had been the leader. The proceedings of the government with respect to the revolt of OgÉ, and the very unjust execution of the latter, excited great animosity between the whites and the people of colour, the latter of whom had collected in large bodies in various parts. In the western and southern districts they formed encampments, and displayed a determination to resist the oppression and the unjust decrees of the governor. At Jeremie, and at Aux Cayes in particular, a most formidable body had collected, well The members of the colonial assembly who had gone to France for the purpose of laying their complaints at the foot of the throne, were not received with much favour; on the contrary, having appeared at the bar of the national assembly they were dismissed with considerable disappointment and chagrin. The report of the committee appointed to examine their claims, displays no little disapprobation of the proceedings of the general colonial assembly. It concludes by saying, “that all the pretended decrees and acts of the said colonial assembly should be reversed and pronounced utterly null and of no effect; that the said assembly should be declared Nothing could exceed the consternation which this decree excited throughout the colony, and the indignation of the people was manifest from one extremity of it to the other. To have called another general colonial assembly would have been an act of impossibility, for the people in many districts absolutely refused to return other representatives, declaring those that were under arrest in France to be the only legal ones, and that they would not proceed to another election. The national guards, who had for some time felt, with no little mortification, the insult offered them by Mauduit, who had previously carried off their colours, evinced a disposition to resent the affront, About this period the accounts of the fatal end of OgÉ had arrived in Paris, an event that caused an amazing sensation amongst the advocates of the people of colour and the society of Amis des Noirs; it brought forward the Abbe Gregoire, the staunch This decree, on being received in the colony, excited no little sensation; the greatest indignation was manifested by the white people in every quarter, but still they refrained from acts of hostility to the measures of the mother-country, under the hope that when the new colonial assembly, which was to meet at Leogane on the 9th of August, entered upon its legislative functions, it would without doubt afford them that redress which they so anxiously desired. The mulattoes, no doubt, expected that a most serious opposition would be given to this decree, as the governor, M. Blanchelande, had assured the provincial assembly of the north, “that he would suspend the execution of this obnoxious decree whenever it should come to him properly authenticated”; Here, it will be perceived, the first serious symptoms of tumult and insubordination appeared, not from any revolt of the slave population, but from the unhappy interference of the national assembly of France, influenced by the supporters and advocates of the people of colour, and the society of Amis des Noirs. Had this interference been declined by the mother-country, and had the colonial assembly been invested with the sole legislative power of framing regulations for the internal government of the island, all those lamentable scenes which subsequently followed would have been averted, and the colony would have preserved its peace and repose, and have proceeded on, in its highly rich and cultivated condition, to the great advantage of the proprietors, to the enhancement of the revenues of the parent state, and without, in any way, oppressing the slave cultivators or increasing the burthens under which they were said to labour. At the period of this narrative to which we have now arrived, the effects of the Revolution in France had made a very sensible impression on the whites, as well as on the people of colour; and it has been a matter of no little astonishment, that during the The mass of society had become so depraved, that vice in every shape was gloried in, whilst virtue was scarcely known; it cannot therefore be a matter of much surprise, that the rude, untaught, and unlettered slave, just emerging from his savage customs, I cannot better illustrate the characters of the planters and the slave population at this period, than by the description given of them by Rainsford in his History of St. Domingo, who must have been conversant with them from having been a sojourner |