1793-August-29: Commissioner Léger-Félicité Sonthonax issued a unilateral decree abolishing slavery in the northern province of Saint-Domingue to gain the su…

1793-August-29: Commissioner Léger-Félicité Sonthonax issued a unilateral decree abolishing slavery in the northern province of Saint-Domingue to gain the support of the black population. This radical move was intended to help the French Republic defend the colony against invading British and Spanish forces. The decree was later ratified by the French National Convention in Paris on February 4, 1794. In the United States, this news caused widespread alarm among slaveholders who feared the influence of “French principles” on their own enslaved populations. This shift in French policy significantly strained the relationship between the revolutionary governments of the United States and France.