Laveaux defended Louverture publicly as a humane republican loyalist

Evidence

Louverture, Laveaux admitted, had indeed fought against France until 1794, but only because he was fighting for liberty. Having rallied to the French side, he had demonstrated his military skills—it was primarily thanks to him that the colony was still in French hands—and his humanity. He had helped destitute white women, Laveaux explained, and these grateful women called the black general their friend and their father. He had been forgiving of whites, even those who had betrayed the Republic, asking of them nothing more than that they take an oath of loyalty to France. “You are French,” Louverture had reportedly declared; “I must show you the generosity of a black man who was once a slave.” “This is the Republican some call a drinker of blood!” — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 740

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s recurring theme of magnanimity and decorum toward former enemies, and debates over who counts as loyal.