Monsieur Blanchelande was then Governor, a weak man at the head of the Royalist party, who had not the courage to follow the energetic counsels of Colonel Mauduit. By his vacillation all discipline was lost both in the army and in the fleet, and the revolutionary party rose in arms in Port-au-Prince, murdered Colonel Mauduit, and drove the pusillanimous Governor to seek refuge in the plain of Cul-de-Sac. Thus the whites were everywhere divided, but were still strong enough to disperse any assembly of the freedmen.
The news of the troubles in Hayti produced a great effect in Paris, and the Constituent Assembly determined to send three commissioners to restore tranquillity; but they prefaced this measure by decreeing (May 15, 1791) that every man of colour born of free parents should enjoy equal political rights with the whites. On the planters declaring that this would bring about civil war and the loss of the colony, the famous phrase was uttered, “Perish the colonies rather than a principle,” which phrase has not been forgotten by those amongst us who would sacrifice India to the perverse idea of abandoning our high political status in the world.
When the substance of this decree reached Hayti, it roused to fury the passions of the whites; all sections united in declaring that they would oppose its execution even by force of arms, and a strong party was formed either to declare the independence of the colony, or, if that were not possible, to invite England to take possession. The coloured men, on the other hand, determined to assert their rights, and held secret meetings to bring about an accord among all the members of their party; and when they heard that Governor Blanchelande had declared he would not execute the decree, they summoned their followers to meet at Mirebalais in the western department.
The whites in the meantime determined that the second Colonial Assembly should be elected before the official text of the dreaded decree of the 15th May should arrive; and so rapidly did they act, that on the 1st August 1791 the Assembly met at Leogâne, and was opened under the presidency of the Marquis de Cadusch, a Royalist. They called Governor Blanchelande to the bar of the House, and made him swear that he would not carry into effect the law giving equal rights to the freedmen. As Cap Haïtien had become in reality the capital of the colony, both the Governor and the Assembly soon removed there.
The Royalist party, headed by the Governor, found their influence gradually declining, and, to strengthen their hands against both the Colonial Assembly with its traitorous projects and the violence of the lower part of the white population, are accused of having first thought of enlisting the blacks to further their schemes and to strengthen their party. It is said that they proposed to Toussaint, a slave on the Breda estates, to raise the negroes in revolt in the name of the King. This account I believe to be a pure invention of the coloured historians, and the conduct of the blacks clearly proved that they were not moved by French officers. Whoever was the instigator, it is certain that the negroes in the northern province rose in insurrection, put to death every white that fell into their hands, began to burn the factories, and then rushed en masse to pillage the town of Cap Haïtien. Here, however, their numbers availed them little against the arms and discipline of the French troops, and they were driven back with great slaughter, and many then retired to the mountains. It would naturally be suspected that the coloured people were the instigators of this movement, were it not certain that they were as much opposed to the freedom of the blacks as the most impassioned white planter.
The insurgent slaves called themselves “Les Gens du Roi,” declaring that he was their friend, and was persecuted for their sake; they hoisted the white flag, and placed an ignorant negro, Jean François, at their head. The second in command was a Papaloi or priest of the Vaudoux, named Biassou. He encouraged his followers to carry on the rites of their African religion, and when under its wildest influence, he dashed his bands to the attack of their civilised enemies, to meet their death in Hayti, but to rise again free in their beloved Africa. The ferocity of the negro nature had now full swing, and the whites who fell into their hands felt its effects. Prisoners were placed between planks and sawn in two, or were skinned alive and slowly roasted, the girls violated and then murdered. Unhappily some of these blacks had seen their companions thus tortured, though probably in very exceptional cases. Descriptions of these horrors fill pages in every Haytian history, but it is needless to dwell on them. On either side there was but little mercy.
The Governor at length collected 3000 white troops, who, after various skirmishes, dispersed these bands with much slaughter; but as this success was not followed up, Jean François and Biassou soon rallied their followers.
In the meantime the coloured men at Mirebalais, under the leadership of Pinchinat, began to arouse their brethren; and having freed nine hundred slaves, commenced forming the nucleus of an army, that, under the leadership of a very intelligent mulatto named Bauvais, gained some successes over the undisciplined forces in Port-au-Prince, commanded by an Italian adventurer, Praloto. The Royalists, who had been driven from the city by the mob, had assembled at “La Croix des Bouquets” in the plains, and to strengthen, their party entered into an alliance with the freedmen. This alarmed the inhabitants of Port-au-Prince, and they also recognised the existence of Pinchinat and his party by entering into a regular treaty with them. The Haytians, as I may call the coloured races, began now to understand that their position must depend on their own courage and conduct.
When everything had been settled between the chiefs of the two parties, the Haytians returned to Port-au-Prince, and were received with every demonstration of joy; they then agreed to a plan which showed how little they cared for the liberty of others, so that they themselves obtained their rights. Among those who had fought valiantly at their side were the freed slaves previously referred to. For fear these men should incite ideas of liberty among those blacks who were still working on the estates, the coloured officers consented that they should be deported from the country. In the end they were placed as prisoners on board a pontoon in Mole St. Nicolas, and at night were for the most part butchered by unknown assassins. And Bauvais and Pinchinat, the leaders and the most intelligent of the freedmen, were those that agreed to this deportation of their brethren-in-arms who had the misfortune to be lately slaves! I doubt if the blacks ever forgot this incident.
The coloured men gained little by this breach of faith, as shortly after news arrived that the French Assembly had reversed the decree of May 15, which gave equal rights to the freedmen; and then dissensions broke out, and the coloured men were again driven from Port-au-Prince with heavy loss. This was the signal for disorders throughout the whole country, and the whites and the freedmen were skirmishing in every district. Praloto and the rabble reigned supreme in Port-au-Prince, and soon made the rich merchants and shopkeepers feel the effects of their internal divisions. They set fire to the town, and during the confusion plundered the stores, and exercised their private vengeance on their enemies.