Bonaparte justified the invasion by raw racial ideology but later regretted it

Evidence

One contemporary reported that, as Bonaparte’s plans unraveled in Saint- Domingue, he angrily declared: “I am for the whites because I am white; I have no other reason, and that one is good.” “How is it possible that liberty was given to Africans, to men who had no civilization, who didn’t even know what the colony was, what France was? It is perfectly clear that those who wanted the freedom of the blacks wanted the slavery of the whites.” But years later Bonaparte would look back with regret on the decisions he had made regarding Saint-Domingue. On his deathbed he explained that he should have “recognized Toussaint” and governed the colony through him, rather than sending his forces against him. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 922

Categorization

Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims

• XREF: Bonaparte’s deathbed regret ‘should have recognized Toussaint’ resonates with the counterfactual Talleyrand laid out in 920.

Related

• Napoleon came to regret fighting Louverture instead of ruling through him (similarity 0.89)
• Bonaparte on his deathbed regretted not recognizing Toussaint Louverture (similarity 0.87)
• France seriously weighed recognizing a black Saint-Domingue as a military ally (similarity 0.81)
• France seriously weighed allying with rather than invading Saint-Domingue (similarity 0.80)