Abbé Grégoire tells the free men of colour their rights are a debt

On 8 June 1791 Henri Grégoire, deputy of the National Assembly and Bishop of Loir-et-Cher, published an open letter to the citizens of colour and free Negroes of Saint-Domingue. He told them the political rights the Assembly had granted were owed to them, and refused the language of privilege. He argued that the Assembly’s instructions to the colonies of 28 March 1790 had already covered them, and that Barnave had conceded as much in debate. He defended the Société des Amis des Noirs against the charge that it was paid by England and was shipping arms, and praised Julien Raimond’s advocacy. The pamphlet was printed in Paris by the Imprimerie du Patriote Français.