1791-May-15: News of Vincent Ogé’s brutal execution prompted the National Assembly in France to pass a decree enfranchising a small percentage of free people…
1791-May-15: News of Vincent Ogé’s brutal execution prompted the National Assembly in France to pass a decree enfranchising a small percentage of free people of color born of free parents. The measure also boldly asserted the Assembly’s right to legislate upon the “status of persons” within the colonies. When word of the May Decree reached Saint-Domingue in late June, it triggered a wave of rage and indignation among propertied white colonists. The elite reacted by resurrecting regional assemblies to resist metropolitan authority and launching violent attacks against free blacks who defended their new rights. This legislative intervention from Paris served to further fracture the ruling classes, creating the political vacuum necessary for the massive slave rebellion.