France’s 1790 colonial decree exempted colonies from the constitution

Evidence

The constitution of France would not be applied to the colonies. Instead, each colony would elect its own assembly, which would propose a constitution regarding the “internal” regimes of the colonies—notably the administration of slavery and the laws regarding free-coloreds—which would be reviewed and ratified in Paris. The colonies would be governed by particular laws developed by their populations, laws unconstrained by the constitution of France or, presumably, the Declaration of the Rights of Man. These provisions granted planters the freedom they had long demanded to govern their colonies internally. But the decree also protected the interests of French merchants. There were to be “no innovations” in “any of the branches of commerce between France and the colonies,” the law promised. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 291