Background: the French Revolution
From the beginning of the 17th century, the European powers were racing to conquer the Caribbean islands. They settled there and devoted a large part of the land to planting products with high added value for European markets. One might have thought that their settlement and takeover of the territories would have stopped the infighting between Europeans, but it was not to be - quite the contrary. Ravishing a territory also meant appropriating the riches of the plantations there and selling them in Europe. As a result, the islands were frequently attacked by increasingly ambitious and greedy rivals.
In 1789, Martinique was French, and a Governor appointed by the King's services relayed the decrees and implemented them on the island. He was based in Fort Royal, the island's administrative capital, designated as the residence of governors since Jacques Dyel du Parquet.
The landowners, descendants of the French colonists, owned vast estates on which slaves worked, and also wielded political power through their contacts in France and with the governor.
The French Republic: supporters and opposition
In 1789, the Revolution and the declaration of the Republic in 1792 had a direct impact on the colonies. The planters supported the Monarchy, which had guaranteed them full power over the slaves, and rejected the French Revolution and the ideas of the Enlightenment, which called for equality between all men, whatever their status, and an end to the slave trade. On August 11, 1792, the bounty granted to the slave trade was abolished by the Assembly known as La Convention. Its aim was to reduce the slave trade to the point of phasing it out. Martinique obtained 3 deputies, compared with 2 previously.
The Convention decides to send 2,000 men to Martinique under the command of Comte de Rochambeau, whose name is Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur (photo opposite), to impose the Republic on Martinique. When they landed in Fort-de-France Bay, the representatives of the King's party flew the white flag, a sign of support for royalty, and opposed the landing of the Republic's troops. They left Martinique for Saint-Domingue, without having succeeded in imposing the Republic on the island. The Planters' Party takes power in Martinique. They send two representatives, Dubuc and Curt, to London to meet two brothers of Louis XIV, exiled in England, and affirm their full support.
Other voices on the island were more inclined to accept the Republic. These were the Free Blacks, who owned property and slaves but were not as powerful as the Whites, who held the largest dwellings and decision-making powers. In the Colonial Assembly, where only supporters of the Republic remained, they decided to accept the establishment of the Republic in Martinique. The Royalists had decided to leave the assembly, but did not give up their support for maintaining the monarchical system in Martinique.
Reassured by Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse, an officer in the French Navy and the planters' direct contact, that they would not lose their slaves and that they would remain their property, the landowners resolved to accept the Republic. On January 28, 1793, they sent a letter to Lacrosse signifying their agreement. Comte de Rochambeau, then Governor General of Saint-Domingue, arrived with his troops in Martinique on February 3, 1793. He installed the republican regime and became Governor of Martinique himself. Symbolically, Fort-Royal became Républiqueville.
On February 1, 1793, France went to war against England. This gave renewed hope to the Royalists, whose representatives Dubuc and Curt had signed the Whitehall Agreement with the English. This agreement stipulated that the planters would help the English seize Martinique, and that once Martinique was English, the English would put the white colonists at the head of the institutions until the Monarchy was re-established in France. They were convinced that the Republic would soon be a thing of the past. The execution of Louis XIV was a huge blow to the Royalists.
In Case Navire (the former name of the commune of Schœlcher), a colonist, De Percin, and his royalist companions seized the batteries and forts and soon controlled the center of the island.
Faced with the internal threat, Rochambeau tried to rally the men of color to the Republican cause. He promoted them to prestigious positions and military ranks. Among them, Magloire Pélage, a free black who was a soldier in the 1st Battalion of Chasseurs, was appointed sergeant by Rochambeau. He promised freedom to slaves who rallied to the Republic, and created two battalions of men of color.
1,334 men of color volunteered to capture central Martinique from the Royalists. The Royalists fled Martinique and abandoned their properties. Rochambeau continued to praise his men for helping to defeat the Royalists.
On the night of June 18-19, 1793, the English landed near Saint-Pierre to seize the island, and were defeated by Rochambeau's armies. The English withdrew from the island and took the Royalists on their boats, who fled to the surrounding islands (Trinidad, Grenada, Barbados and Dominica).
On February 6, 1794, the English returned, better prepared than the first time, and attacked three points on the island: Sainte-Luce, Trinité and Case-Navire. Rochambeau tried to resist as best he could, locking himself up in Républiqueville, which was under siege, but he had no choice but to capitulate on March 21, 1794. Martinique was now English!
On February 4, 1794, the Convention had decided to abolish slavery in the colonies, but for a law to be applied in Martinique, a government ship had to arrive on the island with decrees and other official texts, and these laws then had to be enunciated by the governor. By February 6, the English had seized Martinique.
As a result, Martinique never saw the abolition of slavery in 1794, as it was now a colony under the English flag.
Conclusion
Although the French Revolution had brought hope to the slaves, liberation was not just around the corner. The colonists had no intention of losing a workforce that provided them with a lucrative income. Free blacks who owned property were divided. They too owned slaves, and losing them would have had colossal economic consequences. As a result, some joined the Royalists, while others, often less fortunate, chose the Republic, which advocated equality between men.
Intent on defending their social position and wealth at all costs, had the colonists not hesitated to betray France and pact with the English to attack the French? In a world where the patrie was inscribed deep within, was it not surprising to see elites rallying their worst enemy out of greed and fear of downgrading?