Some French planters backed free-colored rights out of fear of repeating aristocratic ruin

Evidence

The planter-merchant lobby, united on the question of slavery, was less so when it came to the rights of free people of color. A minority of planters, such as the marquis de Rouvray, believed that they should be granted political rights; in fact he had earlier proposed that they be admitted to assemblies in Saint-Domingue through white proxies. Another planter noted that the demand of the free people of color was clearly based on reason and humanity and should not be refused. “Let us avoid the arrogance and rigidity that destroyed the French aristocracy,” he warned, which had “refused to give up its coat” and consequently lost everything. Many among the merchants, “who cared above all about the color of sugar,” were sympathetic to the demands emanating from a group of plantation owners who contributed to the commerce that enriched French ports. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 282

Categorization

• SEED: The ‘refused to give up its coat’ warning frames colonial intransigence as repeating the aristocracy’s fatal rigidity — a reusable historical parallel.
• XREF: connects to: The slave uprising drove France to grant political rights to free-coloreds — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 443; White planters sought British occupation to preserve slavery against revolutionary France — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 398; Planters blamed and legally censored French revolutionary writings for the revolt (+1 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: The slave uprising drove France to grant political rights to free-coloreds — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 443; White planters sought British occupation to preserve slavery against revolutionary France — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 398; Planters blamed and legally censored French revolutionary writings for the revolt (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• White planters sought British occupation to preserve slavery against revolutionary France #complicates (0.74) — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 398