1788–1791: (The Fragile Opulence of France’s Richest Colony): On the eve of revolution, Saint-Domingue was characterized by a “veneer of prosperity” that mas…

1788–1791: (The Fragile Opulence of France’s Richest Colony): On the eve of revolution, Saint-Domingue was characterized by a “veneer of prosperity” that masked deep structural instability. The colony’s net worth was estimated at $300 million, with 1791 exports to France totaling approximately $41 million from thousands of sugar, coffee, and indigo plantations. However, absenteeism was rife; by 1752, only ten of thirty-nine sugar plantations in the Plaine de Léogâne were run by resident owners, while the rest were managed by stewards for proprietors living in France. This “suffocating materialism” was devoid of real education or a university, leading visitors like Baron de Wimpffen to remark that “nothing resembles a state of wretchedness so much as their opulence”. The social pyramid was precariously balanced, with roughly 30,000 whites and 25,000 affranchis living amidst a demographic of more than 700,000 enslaved people.