1794-Feb.: The French National Convention in Paris passed a landmark decree officially outlawing slavery in all French colonies and granting full citizenship…

1794-Feb.: The French National Convention in Paris passed a landmark decree officially outlawing slavery in all French colonies and granting full citizenship to the unfree. This news reaching the Americas triggered an abrupt shift in regional alliances, most notably prompting Toussaint Louverture to defect from the Spanish service. Toussaint recognized that the French cause now represented the most viable path toward the universal emancipation of his people. His brilliant military leadership thereafter altered the entire course of the Haitian Revolution and Caribbean history. This decree proved to be a decisive political stroke that neutralized Spanish and British efforts to annex the colony.