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When, in pursuance of the treaty of Damiens, the army of colored men entered Port-au-Prince on October 24, Beauvais, its general, and Caradeux, the most aggressive of the planters of Saint-Domingue and commander-in-chief of the militia of the Western departement, were to be seen marching along arm in arm.

In the Artibonite the whites had also signed, on September 22, a concordat with the colored men of Saint-Marc who had taken up arms under the leadership of Savary.

Everywhere the blacks and mulattoes were victorious. They believed that they had at last acquired their political rights.

Whilst the affranchis were deluding themselves with the brightest hopes, their enemies in France did not remain inactive. Their intrigues were carried on with such success that on September 24, 1791, the Constituent Assembly adopted a decree stating that "all laws concerning the position of persons without their freedom, and the state of free colored men and blacks, as well as the regulations for the execution of such laws, would be passed by the now existing and the future Colonial Assemblies. …"

This untimely decree put an end to all the advantages which the affranchis had just secured by main force. Henceforth their fate depended on the Colonial Assembly, which was in session at Cap-Français since August 9; on that very assembly whose arrogance and hostility toward the black race were well-known facts.

As soon as the colonists of Port-au-Prince became aware of this decree they did not fail to find a pretext for refusing to ratify the treaty of Damiens. On the morning of November 21 a black man by the name of Scapin, a drummer in Beauvais's army, had a quarrel with a white soldier; for this he was flogged and afterward hanged by the whites. Valmé, a colored lieutenant, lost no time in avenging Scapin's death by killing a white artilleryman. This was sufficient cause to re-kindle the strife. Both sides took up arms again. After a bloody fight, Beauvais, at the head of his army, marched to La Croix-des-Bouquets. Port-au-Prince was on fire. The whites availed themselves of the opportunity afforded by the disorder and confusion which ensued, to massacre all the affranchis of whatever age or sex which they met on their way. More than 2,000 mulattresses were put to death. (Placide Justin, History of Haiti, p. 219.) A white man called Larousse killed Madame Beaulieu, a colored woman who was in an advanced state of pregnancy; he opened her abdomen, tore out the child, and threw it into the fire. (B. Ardouin, Studies of Haitian History, p. 282.)

The blacks and mulattoes were in a great state of indignation over these atrocities. Their

one desire was for vengeance. André Rigaud, who had left for the South, was not long in returning at the head of a strong army, which he marched as far as Martissant, where he encamped. On the other side, Beauvais besieged Port-au-Prince on the north and on the east. The water supply was cut off. The whole southern portion of the island was in arms.

At Trou Coffin in the neighborhood of Léogane, a Spanish mulatto known as Romaine-la-Prophetesse had gathered a large band of followers. He pretended that he had had frequent apparitions of the Blessed Virgin, and in this way he acquired a great amount of influence over his companions.

In the North the slaves were still in arms, their overtures for peace having been contemptuously rejected by the whites.

Such was the situation of the colony when, on November 28, 1791, the first Civil Commissioners, Mirbeck, Roume, and Saint-Léger, arrived at Cap-Français. They had been instructed to restore peace in Saint-Domingue and to enforce the enactment of the Decree of September 24. They tried in vain to restore peace in the island. The arrogant Colonial Assembly of Cap-Français, to which the Decree of September 24 had given special powers, thwarted all their good intentions. The affranchis knew only too well the futility of expecting any concessions on the part of the planters; they decided to support the Civil Commissioners, hoping that their assistance would secure for them the recognition of their political rights. On the arrival of Saint-Léger at Port-au-Prince (January, 1792), the leaders of the colored army which was besieging the town immediately requested an interview with him. They showed the greatest deference to the agent of the metropolis. Complying with his request they allowed the city to be revictualed. And in order to entirely win him over, they agreed even to raise the siege: they accordingly retuned to La Croix-des-Bouquets.

The affranchis Defeat the Colonists

The whites of Port-au-Prince, highly displeased with Saint-Léger on account of his good disposition toward the colored men, refused to assist him in the repression of the crimes which the followers of Roumaine-la-Prophetesse were committing in the plain of Léogane. The affranchis very cleverly profited by this opportunity to make themselves useful: Beauvais and Pinchinat placed a body of 100 soldiers at the disposal of the Civil Commissioner.

Whilst Saint-Léger was at Léogane endeavoring to restore harmony and concord between the colored men and the whites, the planters of Port-au-Prince tried to surprise the army of the affranchis quartered at La Croix-des-Bouquets. Being warned in time of the approach of the troops despatched against them, Beauvais and his companions retreated into the mountains of grand-Bois and Pensez-y-Bien. Incensed by the perfidy of the whites, the affranchis who up to that time had been very moderate, resorted to radical measures: they roused the slaves of the Cul-de-Sac plain to rebellion. Headed by Hyacinthe, an intelligent and gallant black, these slaves attacked the colonists at La-Croix-des-Bouquets, defeated them and pursued them as far as the neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, which was again besieged (April, 1792).

In the South the struggle still continued between the affranchis and the whites; the latter, in order to rid themselves of their foes, called upon their slaves to arm themselves in order to render them assistance. (Hyacinthe believed that an ox-tail which he always carried in his hand had the power of preserving him from bullets; he was regarded as invulnerable.)

In the North the slaves who had broken into rebellion tried in vain to make peace. Toussaint, who was not yet known by the name of Louverture, had given the first proof of his perspicacity. Sent to Cap-Français under a flag of truce he was not long in finding out that the Civil Commissioners possessed in reality no power, and that the Colonial Assembly was the supreme authority. Through his advice all parleys were put an end to.

Exposed to the anger of the wealthy planters, hindered by their limited powers and foreseeing grave dangers for the colony, the Civil Commissioners decided to return to France. On April 1, 1792, Mirbeck left Cap-Français; on the 3rd of the same month Saint-Leger sailed from Saint-Marc. Roume, however, remained in Saint-Domingue.

Whilst the foregoing events were taking place in the Island of Saint-Domingue, the Constituent Assembly in France had been replaced by the Legislative Assembly. The liberal and generous ideas of the "Girondins" were destined to have a decided influence on the future of the "affranchis." The latter won their first victory at the beginning of December. A decree adopted on the 7th of the same month forbade the use, against the colored men, of the soldiers sent out to the colony. Shortly after this the Legislative Assembly granted to the affranchis the equality of political rights for the possession of which so much blood had been shed in Saint Domingue. On March 28, 1792, a decree, approved by the King on April 4, was enacted stating that henceforth free blacks and mulattoes were to have the same political rights as the white colonists; and that, in consequence, they were entitled to participate in the election of the assemblies, to which they were also eligible. Another decree, passed on the 15th and approved on the 22d of June, vested special powers in the Civil Commissioners: instead of being dependent on the Colonial Assembly they were authorized to dissolve that body as well as the other assemblies which were made use of by the colonists so as to undermine the authority of the agents of the mother country.

Army of the affranchis Occupy Port-au-Prince

The Decree of March 28 (better known as the Decree of April 4) was received at Saint-Domingue on May 28. Bourne, whose powers had been greatly increased, hastened to have it enrolled by the Colonial Assembly of Cap-Français. With the cooperation of Governor de Blanchelande he decided to subdue the colonists of Port-au-Prince. The affranchis gladly tendered their assistance. The colored men of Saint-Marc escorted the Civil Commissioner to La Croix-des-Bouquets (June 20). Soon after Beauvais and Rigaud reoccupied Port-au-Prince (July 5). The slaves of La Croix-des-Bouquets, l'Arcahaye, and the Cul-de-Sac plain resumed their work. Freedom, however, was granted to 144 of them upon their agreeing to serve for five years in the gendarmery and to help in maintaining order on the plantations.

Whilst Roume was doing his utmost to restore peace at Port-au-Prince, Governor de Blanchelande had gone to Jérémie, accompanied by André Rigaud. The whites of La Grand'Anse had flatly refused to accept the Decree of April 4. After defeating the colored men, many of the prisoners taken were put to death; the rest were kept in chains on prison-ships in the harbor of Jérémie; among these were even old men, women, and children. The most that Blanchelande could obtain for them was that they be sent to Cap-Français. Satisfied with this relative success he left for Aux Cayes, where he failed in his campaign against the rebellious slaves intrenched at Platons. Disheartened by his defeat he went back to Cap-Français. André Rigaud succeeded in pacifying the rebellious slaves by freeing 700 of them.

Success had at last crowned the efforts of the affranchis; by force of arms, blacks and mulattoes had acquired the exercise of their political rights. In the West and in the South more than 1,000 slaves had obtained their freedom. The first blow had been struck at the colonial system!