Sonthonax justified harsh rule by denying rights applied in a slave society
Evidence
In late October the three commissioners split up, with Polverel and Ailhaud leaving to assume governance in the west and south. Ailhaud took advantage of the move to escape from Saint-Domingue, leaving Polverel in charge of both regions. Sonthonax, more strident and combative than Polverel, was soon embroiled in conflict in Le Cap. When a group of whites broke into a prison and massacred whites and slave insurgents locked up there, he blamed the attack on a political group in Le Cap and disbanded it. When Polverel criticized his actions, Sonthonax retorted: “You accuse me of having violated in this the rights of man and citizen, as if the rights of men could be claimed in a land of slavery.” — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 502
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
Related
- Sonthonax defended violent rights violations by denying that rights applied in a slave colony. (similarity 0.96)
- Sonthonax saw revolutionary rights claims as hollow in a slave colony (similarity 0.91)
- Sonthonax initially defended slavery as necessary to colonial prosperity. (similarity 0.86)
- The commissioners initially defended slavery to reassure colonists. (similarity 0.84)
- French commissioners initially backed slavery as necessary to colonial survival (similarity 0.81)
- Sonthonax framed insurgent slaves as fighting France’s own anti-tyranny struggle. (similarity 0.80)
- Sonthonax failed to break Rigaud’s hold over southern Saint-Domingue (similarity 0.80)
Broader Connections
- Sonthonax initially defended slavery as necessary to colonial prosperity.
#contradicts(0.60) — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 494