Former slaves resisted longer labor contracts as a return to slavery

Evidence

Many plantation laborers, however, saw the new policy as a retraction of their rights. In his 1793 labor regulations, Sonthonax had required cultivators to sign one-year contracts on their plantations, after which they were permitted to move to another plantation if they wished. Rigaud’s administration in the south had instituted a similar practice. Louverture had consistently ordered workers to return to their plantations, but he had not issued regulations regarding the length of their terms of contracts. In the areas under his control many former slaves seem to have moved between plantations, seeking better treatment or the company of family and friends, with relative impunity. In the increase in the terms of the contracts, some smelled the scent of slavery. A few laborers claimed they would rather “live in the woods their whole life” than sign three-year contracts, and in some towns the registers in which the contracts were to be signed were ripped up. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 770

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the wider arc of post-emancipation labor coercion across the Atlantic world, and to the earlier chapter’s labor regulations by Sonthonax. — connects to: Freed slaves feared the uncertainty of independent work more than slavery’s abuses.; Freed laborers chose free time over pay, trusting their own plots more than wages; Former slaves revolted against Louverture fearing he would restore slavery. (+9 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 770

Broader Connections

• Ex-slaves resisted masters’ return while tolerating them as mere residents #corroborates (0.75)
• Brazilian ex-slaves resisted exchanging freedom for proletarianized labor. #corroborates (0.70)
• Former slaves refused to surrender land to returning planters. #corroborates (0.70)
• Former slaves sought land independence by buying small plots and leaving plantations #expands (0.60)