1793-03-05
The Convention puts the colonies in a state of war and arms free men there
Haitian
On 5 March 1793 the National Convention in Paris decreed every French colony to be in a state of war. Article I subordinated governors and administrators to the national civil commissioners. Article II allowed free men in the colonies to form legions and companies. Article III let the commissioners provisionally alter the police and discipline rules governing the plantation work gangs: the legal hook Sonthonax would use five months later to proclaim emancipation in the North. Later articles barred men deported by Ailhaud, Sonthonax and Polverel from returning without the legislature’s leave.
Source
Primary source: Decree of the National Convention, 5 March 1793, Marxists Internet Archive