Maximilien Robespierre
Abolition of slavery

Robespierre's stance on abolition exhibits certain contradictions, prompting doubts about his intentions regarding slavery.

On 13 May 1791, he opposed the inclusion of the term "slaves" in a law, vehemently denouncing the slave trade. He emphasized that slavery contradicted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. On 15 May 1791, the Constituent Assembly granted citizenship to " all people of colour born of free parents ". Robespierre passionately argued in the Assembly against the Colonial Committee, which was composed predominantly of plantation owners and slaveholders in the Caribbean. The colonial lobby contented that granting political rights to black individuals would lead to France losing her colonies. In response, Robespierre asserted, "We should not compromise the interests humanity holds most dear, the sacred rights of a significant number of our fellow citizens," later exclaiming, "Perish the colonies, if it will cost you your happiness, your glory, your freedom. Perish the colonies!" Robespierre expressed fury at the assembly's decision to grant "constitutional sanction to slavery in the colonies", and advocating for equal political rights regardless of skin colour. Despite the decree, the colonial whites refused to comply the decree, leading them to contemplate separation from France thereafter.

Robespierre did not advocate for the immediate abolition of slavery. However, proponents of slavery in France viewed Robespierre as a "bloodthirsty innovator" and accused him of conspiring to surrender French colonies to England. On 4 April 1792, Louis XVI affirmed the Jacobin decree, which granted equal political rights to free blacks and mulattoes in Saint-Domingue. On 2 June 1792, the National Assembly appointed a three-man Civil Commission, led by Léger Félicité Sonthonax, to travel to Saint-Domingue and ensure the enforcement of the 4 April decree. However, the commission eventually issued a proclamation of general emancipation that included black slaves. Robespierre condemned the slave trade in a speech before the Convention in April 1793.

Ask a merchant of human flesh what is property; he will answer by showing you that long coffin he calls a ship... Ask a gentleman who has lands and vassals... and he will give you almost the identical ideas.

Babeuf urged Chaumette to spearhead efforts to persuade the Convention to adopt the seven additional articles proposed by Maximilien Robespierre on 24 April 1793, regarding the scale and scope of property rights, to be incorporated into the new Declaration of Rights. On 3 June 1793, Robespierre attended a Jacobin meeting to lend support for a decree aimed at ending slavery. On 4 June 1793, a delegation of sans-culottes and men of colour, led by Chaumette, presented a petition to the Convention requesting the general emancipation of the blacks in the colonies. The abolition of slavery was officially included into the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793. The radical 1793 constitution, championed by Robespierre and the Montagnards, was ratified in August through a national referendum. It granted universal suffrage to French men and explicitly condemned slavery. However, the French Constitution of 1793 was never put in effect.

Starting in August, former slaves in St Domingue were granted "all the rights of French citizens". In August 1793, an increasing number of slaves in St Domingue initiated a Haitian revolution against slavery and colonial domination. Robespierre, however, prioritized the rights of free people of color over those of the enslaved. On 31 October 1793, slavery was officially abolished in St Domingue. Robespierre criticised the actions of the former governor of Saint-Domingue Sonthonax and Étienne Polverel, who initially had freed slaves in Haïti, but then proposed arming them. Robespierre also cautioned the Committee against relying on white individuals to govern the colony. In 1794 the National Convention passed a decree abolishing slavery in all the colonies. On the day following the emancipation decree, Robespierre addressed the Convention, lauding the French as pioneers to "summon all men to equality and liberty, and their full rights as citizens". Although Robespierre mentioned slavery twice in his speech, he did not specifically reference the French colonies. Despite petitions from the slaveholding delegation, the Convention resolved to fully endorse the decree. However, its implementation and application were limited to St Domingue (1793), Guadeloupe (December 1794) and French Guiana.

The National Convention declares the abolition of negro slavery in all the Colonies; consequently it decrees that all men, without distinction of color, domiciled in the Colonies, are French citizens, and will enjoy all the rights assured by the constitution.

Robespierre's stance on the decree of 16 Pluviose year II regarding the emancipation of the slaves, remains a topic of contention. French historian Claude Mazauric interpreted Robespierre's cautious approach in February 1794 toward the abolition decree as an attempt to avoid controversy. On 11 April 1794, the decree underwent alterations, with Robespierre endorsing orders to ratify it. This decree significantly bolstered the Republic's popularity among Black individuals in St. Domingue, many of whom had already liberated themselves and sought military alliances to safeguard their freedom. In May 1794, Toussaint Louverture aligned with the French after the Spanish declined to take actions against slavery and in repelling the English. Following the events of 9–10 Thermidor, an anti-slavery campaign emerged targeting Robespierre. Critics accused him of attempting to perpetuate slavery, despite its abolition by the Convention on 4 February 1794, following the precedent set by Sonthonax's abolition decree in August 1793 in St. Domingue.
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