Louverture sought renegotiated autonomy, not independence from France.

Evidence

Nevertheless, Louverture never articulated a plan for independence of the kind attributed to him by some British and U.S. observers. In strengthening the autonomy of his regime, Louverture was preparing not to break with France, but to renegotiate its relationship with the colony. Ironically, his regime represented the fulfillment of some of the dreams of autonomy enunciated by the planters of Saint-Marc years before. Like these earlier planter activists, Louverture wanted free trade, control over economic policy within the colony, and political autonomy. Unlike them, he had successfully forced such a regime on the metropolitan officials in the colony. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 791

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts with the usual narrative that Louverture was working toward independence all along; relates to the reader’s stated goal of tracing the narrative arc. — connects to: Revolutionary France exempted the colonies from constitutional universalism while reserving trade control for Paris.; Insurgent allegiance followed kings, not the French Republic.; Louverture never declared independence and still wanted Saint-Domingue tied to France. (+1 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 791

Broader Connections

• Louverture never declared independence and still wanted Saint-Domingue tied to France. #corroborates (0.85)
• Initial slave insurgents sought freedom within the French empire, not independence #expands (0.60) — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 26