Sonthonax and the Abolition of Slavery in 1794

By 1793 Saint-Domingue was in chaos. France was at war with Britain and Spain, and Spanish forces in neighbouring Santo Domingo recruited Black insurgent leaders, including Toussaint, while British forces landed to seize the colony with the support of many planters. Facing military collapse, the French commissioner Léger-Félicité Sonthonax proclaimed the freedom of all enslaved people in the northern province on 29 August 1793, and his colleague Polverel followed in the rest of the colony.

A delegation from Saint-Domingue, including Jean-Baptiste Belley, a formerly enslaved man, was seated in the Convention in February 1794. On 4 February 1794 (16 Pluviôse Year II) the Convention abolished slavery in all French colonies and declared all men living there French citizens. Historians debate the motives: principle, military necessity, or pressure from the enslaved themselves; most stress that the revolt forced the question.