Spanish flogging of slaves triggered revolts that swung the colony back toward France

Evidence

When the Spanish attempted to reinstitute the use of the whip on plantations, slaves in some parts of the northern peninsula rose up in revolt. Free-colored auxiliaries of Spain revolted in the same region, declaring that it was vital to follow the “maxims of the Republic” in order to “keep the freedom” they had fought for. There were similar defections in Gonaïves and the mountains of the Artibonite region. The British, too, found some of their erstwhile allies turning against them. In March and early April several free-colored commanders in the northern peninsula joined the French side, leaving the British in control only of the region around the Môle Saint-Nicolas. The Republic’s fortunes seemed to be improving. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 613

Categorization

• XREF: The whip as a symbol that instantly collapsed loyalty to a side—echoes the earlier insurgent motivations in chapters 1-3 where fear of re-enslavement drove revolt.