Planters blamed and legally censored French revolutionary writings for the revolt
Evidence
Many planters believed the ideals of the French Revolution, spread by uncomprehending and overenthusiastic whites, were responsible for bringing fire and carnage to the colonies. In early September the colony’s assembly passed a “provisional decree, prohibiting the sale, impression, or distribution of any pieces relative to the politics and revolution of France.” — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 351
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
Related
- Planters used abolitionists’ rhetoric to discredit their free-colored allies as revolt instigators (similarity 0.84)
- Colonial planters believed the slave revolt was orchestrated by French abolitionists and revolutionaries (similarity 0.83)
- Planters blamed abolitionist propaganda and white agitators for the revolt. (similarity 0.82)
- Planters’ treason pushed France to emancipate slaves as defenders. (similarity 0.81)
- Saint-Domingue planters in Paris launched a reactionary attack on emancipation (similarity 0.81)
- White planters blamed abolitionists, not slavery, for inciting the revolt. (similarity 0.81)
- Planters feared the very word liberty would ignite colonial revolution (similarity 0.80)
- France criminalized abolitionist agitation as treason in 1790 (similarity 0.80)
- White colonists blamed the Enlightenment for inspiring the slave revolt. (similarity 0.79)
- Planters’ treason pushed the French to arm rebel slaves (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Planters smeared abolitionists as instigators of slave revolt
#expands(0.80) - Saint-Domingue planters in Paris launched a reactionary attack on emancipation
#corroborates(0.65) — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 726 - Planters tried to quarantine the Declaration of Rights from the colonies
#corroborates(0.60) - Planters’ exaggerated fear of abolitionists drove violent repression in the colony
#expands(0.55) — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 276 - Colonial paranoia about French emissaries produced a decree expelling immigrants
#corroborates(0.50) — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 352