News traveled slowly from the colonies back to France, and the first word of the emancipations in Saint Domingue aroused suspicion if not outright hostility in the National Convention. Many of the original members of the Society of the Friends of…
The most evident statistic to be seen here is that slaves, already making up almost nine–tenths of the population, were increasing at a far more rapid rate than either whites or free people of color. Inevitably, in a revolutionary situation, slaves…
This watercolor painting illustrates the "demolition" of what the text refers to as the "horrible prison" of the Bastille. As workmen tear down the spires on the roof, ordinary people rip stones off the base. These stones soon became collectors’…