The commissioners initially defended slavery to reassure colonists.

Evidence

Sonthonax declared that the colonial assemblies were the only bodies with “the right to rule on the lot of the slaves” and that slavery was “necessary to the cultivation and prosperity of the colonies.” It was neither his nor the National Assembly’s intention to attack the rights of the planters in this regard. (Several months later, in a private letter to Brissot, Sonthonax noted his opposition to any sudden emancipation, which would “undoubtedly lead to the massacre of all the whites.”) — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 494

Categorization

• QUESTION: Sonthonax is remembered as the great emancipator—yet initially opposed emancipation for fearing white massacre. When exactly did he flip?