Étienne Polverel facts for kids

Étienne Polverel (1740–1795) was a French lawyer and a key figure during the French Revolution. He was part of the Jacobin Club, a powerful political group. In 1792, he was sent to Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) with Léger Félicité Sonthonax. Their mission was to deal with a slave revolt and make sure a new law was followed. This law, passed on April 4, 1792, said that all free men, no matter their skin color, had equal rights.

Even though Polverel and Sonthonax were against slavery, they didn't plan to end it when they first arrived in September 1792. They didn't even have the power to do so. But to keep the colony for France, they had to offer freedom to Black enslaved people who would fight alongside them. Under great pressure, between August and October 1793, they gradually freed all enslaved people in Saint-Domingue.

Later, in 1793, they were accused of wrongdoing by the French government. However, a ship to bring them back to France didn't arrive until June 1794. They returned to France when a major political leader, Robespierre, had lost power. In 1795, they had a fair trial. They were found innocent of the charges brought by white colonists. Sadly, Polverel died during this trial.

Étienne Polverel's Early Life

Report on the independence of Navarre defended by Polverel in Paris

Étienne Polverel was born in a region of France called Bearn. He came from a wealthy, noble family. He worked as a lawyer and also served as a syndic, which was like a local official for his region. He was hired by the Estates of Navarre, a local assembly, to represent them. His job was to defend the independence of the Kingdom of Navarre before the Parlement of Paris, a high court.

Polverel was also a Freemason, a member of a social and charitable organization. He was a strong supporter of the Jacobin Club, a very important political group during the French Revolution. Some members of his Freemason group in Bordeaux were free Black people from Saint-Domingue. This meant he had connections with them even before he was sent to the colony in 1792.

Mission to Saint-Domingue

Polverel was sent to Saint-Domingue with Léger-Félicité Sonthonax. Their main goal was to make sure a new law from April 4, 1792, was followed. This law said that free Black people and white people in the colony should have equal rights. Before this, free Black people could not vote or hold important positions in the Colonial Assembly, which was the local government run only by white people. About 10,000 French soldiers went with Polverel and Sonthonax to help make sure this law was enforced.

In 1795, after they had declared the end of slavery in Saint-Domingue, Polverel was called back to France. The National Convention, France's main government, had also passed its own law ending slavery. This showed that Polverel and Sonthonax had made the right decision. However, plantation owners in France were very angry with Polverel for freeing their enslaved people. They put him on trial when he returned. The Committee of Public Safety, a powerful government group, discussed what to do about Sonthonax and Polverel for several months. Sadly, Polverel became ill and died before a final decision was made about his case.

Views on Slavery and the French Revolution

Like many Jacobins, Polverel strongly supported the French Revolution and its ideas of freedom and equality. He was also a nationalist, meaning he deeply believed in his country, France. Polverel felt it was most important to uphold the laws passed by the French assembly. In the Jacobin view, anyone who disagreed with these laws was seen as an enemy of the revolution. Polverel seemed to agree with this strong belief.

After the French Revolution began in 1789, Polverel started writing for radical newspapers. He published articles that spoke out against slavery. He was so against slavery that he even tried to remove some members from the Jacobin Club because they supported slavery. Polverel believed that there was no place for pro-slavery ideas within the Revolution.

Despite his personal feelings against slavery, Polverel always put the laws of France first. When he and Sonthonax first arrived in Saint-Domingue, one of their first actions was to announce that they had come to protect slavery, not to end it. This shows how complex the situation was and how they had to balance their beliefs with their orders.

Saint-Domingue Before the Commissioners Arrived

Saint-Domingue was one of the richest colonies in the world before 1789. Wealthy white settlers owned the best land, mostly using it to grow sugar cane. Less profitable land was used for coffee plantations, which were owned by both free Black people and white people. These coffee and sugar plantations brought huge wealth to France, but the enslaved workers had very few rights and could not enjoy the benefits of their hard work.

The Haitian Revolution, which began around 1790, was not just a slave uprising. It was a mix of two different revolts happening at the same time. First, free Black people in Saint-Domingue started fighting to gain equal rights with white settlers. Even though free Black people and white colonists often got along, white people held all the political power and were willing to use violence to keep it. This issue with the white colonists needed to be solved before the problem of slavery. But even the white people were not united: poor white people were angry about the wealth of the rich plantation owners, and the rich were afraid their property would be stolen.

Second, enslaved people revolted for many reasons. Some wanted immediate freedom, while others fought for better conditions on the plantations. For example, some enslaved people heard that King Louis XVI might allow them to work freely for three days a week. While this rumor was not confirmed, it encouraged some enslaved people to join the revolt to gain the rights they believed were promised. The situation in the colony was very unstable and needed careful handling.

Polverel's Role in Ending Slavery

Polverel arrived in Le Cap, Saint-Domingue, on September 17, 1792. He was a Civil Commissioner, along with Sonthonax and Jean-Antoine Ailhaud. Polverel was put in charge of the Ouest (West) region. When Ailhaud left his post, Polverel also took responsibility for the Sud (South) province.

When Sonthonax and Polverel first arrived, white settlers were hostile towards them. The white settlers feared that Polverel had come to end slavery, so few of them supported the commissioners. Because of this, Polverel turned to the free Black people for support. They proved to be the only reliable group Polverel could ally with.

On May 5, 1793, Polverel issued an important announcement. It demanded that the Code Noir be enforced. The Code Noir was a set of laws from 1685 that said enslaved people should be treated with respect and not abused. However, white colonists rarely followed these laws and often abused enslaved people. Polverel's announcement on May 5 stated that enslaved people must be given basic supplies and small plots of land to manage. To make sure everyone knew about this, the announcement was translated into Creole and read aloud on all slave plantations. This made sure enslaved people learned about their new protections.

Soon after this, a new governor named François-Thomas Galbaud du Fort arrived in Le Cap. He owned property in the colony and wanted to keep slavery. Because of this, he disliked Polverel and Sonthonax. Galbaud insulted the commissioners, and many white people in Le Cap supported his pro-slavery views. Sonthonax and Polverel returned to Le Cap and imprisoned Galbaud on a ship because of his defiant actions.

However, Galbaud had support from sailors and other white people in the city. On June 20, 1793, Galbaud escaped and attacked Le Cap, trying to capture Sonthonax and Polverel. The commissioners were greatly outnumbered and escaped to the edge of the city. Galbaud's followers went wild through the city, and fires burned much of it to the ground. To take back the city, Polverel and Sonthonax made a statement. They promised French citizenship to all Black people who would join them and fight against Galbaud. Some of the revolting enslaved people answered their call, as did many freed Black people. Some white soldiers also remained loyal to Polverel. With the help of these three groups, Polverel returned to Le Cap, defeated Galbaud, and took control of the city.

By this time, France and its empire were at war with Spain and Britain due to the French Revolutionary Wars. French plantation owners who were against the revolution had already made a deal with the British government to fight against Republican control in Saint-Domingue. Both Spain and Britain wanted to control this rich colony. Spain, in particular, controlled the eastern half of the island, called Captaincy General of Santo Domingo. Polverel knew there were many threats to French control. He quickly realized he needed more support to keep Saint-Domingue French.

In August 1793, Polverel and Sonthonax declared that all Black people born in France's colonies, including their families, were free. Polverel then made another announcement in October, stating that all Black people would be French citizens and have full and complete equality. After freeing them, Polverel wanted to give another reason for Black people to fight for the French Republic. He declared that Black people would have special rights to land in a year's time. He also passed laws about how freed people should work, including a rule that they had to continue working on their plantations for one year after being freed. These actions eventually won over the Black population of Saint-Domingue to the French Republican cause. Polverel quickly enlisted them into the pro-Republican forces on the island. These new recruits helped Polverel and other Republican leaders keep the colony French for almost ten years.

See also

In Spanish: Étienne Polverel para niños