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The French spared not even the children. At Petite Rivière de l'Artibonite a party of 25 whites, after searching in vain for a mulatto, ended by killing his two children; in the same locality they murdered a father and his two sons. A black freedman was, without the least provocation, put to death by a party of whites; whilst at Cap-Français there took place a wholesale slaughter of the affranchis by the colonists. Such are the atrocities with which the wealthy planters started the French revolution in Saint-Domingue. By and by both "affranchis" and slaves retaliated by taking revenge of all the horrible crimes of which they had been the victims. Many foreign writers unfriendly toward Haiti make mention only of the reprisals; but they intentionally omit all allusion to the frequent revolting crimes which had caused them.

By a decree of March 8, 1790, the National Assembly had, however, indicated the powers vested in the colonial assemblies of the French possessions. And, according to article 4 of the Instructions adopted on the 28th of the same month, all persons 25 years old, owning real estate or domiciled in the parish for two years and paying taxes, were authorized to take part in the election of those assemblies. The affranchis possessed the full requirements, and therefore imagined that they would at last be able to exercise their political rights. Their illusions did not last long. The colonists of Saint-Domingue did not consider as persons men of the black race; they regarded them as things. In consequence they were not allowed to vote.

Foreseeing the decision of the wealthy planters, Vincent Ogé, one of the commissioners of the affranchis decided to return to Saint-Domingue in order to demand the fair application of the Decree and the Instructions of March, 1790. He assumed the pseudonym of Poissac; and in spite of all the hindrances placed in his way he succeeded in leaving France. He arrived at Cap-Français in the evening of October 16, 1790, and proceeded forthwith to Dondon," his native place. As soon as his arrival became known the colonists took the necessary steps to secure his arrest. From Dondon, Ogé went to Grande-Rivière" to the house of Jean-Baptiste Chavanne. Of a practical mind, Chavanne was firmly convinced that nothing would be obtained from the whites by persuasion only. He therefore advised an immediate uprising of the slaves. Ogé deemed this plan too radical. In consequence, on October 21, he wrote to Count Peinier, then Governor of the island, saying that he had come to secure the application of the Decree of March, 1790, and that, in order to put an end to an unjust and absurd prejudice, he would, in case of need, repel force by force. As a result of this step, and in spite of his threat, a price was set upon his head, and 800 soldiers were despatched against him. Ogé had only 250 followers. The first encounter was favorable to him. But new forces sent from Cap-Français defeated his small army. He succeeded, with Chavanne and a few companions, in reaching the Spanish part of the island. The Governor, Don Joachim Garcia. had the cruelty to give them up to the government of Saint-Domingue. After a so-called trial, Ogé and Chavanne, to whom even the assistance of a lawyer was denied, were sentenced "whilst alive to have their "arms, legs, thighs and spines broken; and afterward to be placed on a wheel, their faces toward Heaven, and there to stay as long as it would please God to preserve their lives; and when dead, their heads were to be cut off and exposed on poles, Vincent Ogé's on the highway leading to Dondon, and Chavanne's on the road to La Grande Rivière, opposite the estate of Poisson." This barbarous sentence was executed in all its horror on February 25, 1791. The northern provincial assembly gathered together in state to witness this inhuman punishment. Ogé and Chavanne, hacked to death, bore their sufferings stoically. For many months following, their unfortunate companions were hunted and when caught were hanged. The method employed for quelling the insurrection was savage and merciless. But the revenge soon to be taken equalled in mercilessness the acts which provoked it. Before the end of 1791 the colonists were to begin to expiate their crimes.

The Colonists Murder Mauduit

Remaining still haughty and full of pride they imagined that the martyrdom of Ogé and Chavanne would so intimidate the affranchis that they would not dare to renew the struggle. As a matter of fact, after Ogé's defeat, the free blacks and mulattoes of the South, who, under the leadership of André Rigaud, had gathered on the plantation of Prou, willingly laid down their arms. But this proved to be only a truce. The colored men wanted time in which to form and to mature their plans. Ogé's fate made it clear to them that by force alone they would conquer the power of exercising the political rights which they had vainly endeavored to acquire peacefully.

Tranquilized by their recent victory and the apparent submission of the affranchis the wealthy planters began to renew their intrigues against the colonial government. Two battalions, sent from France with a view to helping to maintain order in Saint-Domingue, arrived at Port-au-Prince on March 2, 1791. The friends of the former Colonial Assembly of Saint-Marc, which had been severely arraigned by the National Assembly in a resolution adopted on October 12, 1790, won over the soldiers to their cause. The latter landed in Port-au-Prince in disobedience to the orders given them by the Governor-General, Mr. de Blanchelande. The city was in open rebellion. The prison was stormed. André Rigaud, Pinchinat, and some other affranchis who were then in jail were set free. Mr. de Blanchelande left hastily for Cap-Français. The colonists murdered Colonel Mauduit, whose fidelity to the colonial government had displeased them; his body was mutilated and his head, stuck on the end of a pole, was carried through the streets of Port-au-Prince. They usurped the authority and organized a municipality which they called the Western Provincial Assembly.

Whilst the whites were creating this disturbance of the peace at Saint-Domingue, the National Assembly uneasy concerning the vengeance of the blacks which would most likely follow the inhuman punishment of Ogé and Chavanne, agreed that the time had come for granting some concessions to the "affranchis." Therefore on May 15, 1791, a decree was adopted stating that free-born colored men would henceforth be eligible to the provincial assemblies. This news upon reaching Saint-Domingue at the end of June, 1791, provoker great excitement. The affranchis thinking once more that at last they had acquired the rights which they had been claiming with so much perseverance, showed the wildest enthusiasm; but the whites, whose indignation knew no bounds, protested vigorously against this step; they even went so far as to implore the protection of the English. And pretending that the decree of May 15 had not been officially notified to the Governor of the island, they hastened to elect a new Colonial Assembly with power to regulate the political condition of the "affranchis."

The blacks and mulattoes, regarding this action as a challenge, decided to resort to arms. Having gained wisdom from Ogé's misfortune the affranchis this time did not trust to chance.

On August 7, 1791, they held a meeting in the church of Mirebalais and appointed a committee of forty members, of which Pierre Pinchinat was elected president (Born on July 12, 1746, Pinchinat was brought up in France. Garan de Coulon says of him: "In his new position he showed, besides his commendable patriotism, wisdom and knowledge, in contradiction of the false impressions which the whites tried to make in France as to the ignorance and incapacity of the colored men." (B. Ardouin, Studies on Haitian History, vol. I, p. 179.)). Whilst this political council was striving to obtain from Mr. de Blanchelande the fair application of the decree of May 15, the colored men of Port-au-Prince, secretly assembled on the plantation of Louise Rabuteau, decided on their military organisation (August 21). Beauvais was appointed leader of the insurrection; and it was resolved that the uprising should take place on the 26th of August.