The French Revolution derailed colonial historians’ projects and forced moderates into exile
Evidence
It was a classic Enlightenment project, based on the idea that knowledge would promote better governance. Because many of the archives he needed to consult were in Paris, he returned there in 1783. The Colonial Ministry provided him with an allowance and access to its archives. In 1784 he published the first part of what became a six-volume history of colonial legislation. He returned to Saint-Domingue, where he continued his research and his struggles with the royal administration. In 1788 he again left the colony for Paris. He was poised to produce his Description of the Spanish and French colonies when the French Revolution began. Moreau quickly became active in politics. He was chosen as the president of the electors of the city of Paris and participated in the raging debates about colonial policy. Meanwhile his project languished. There was little time to write history as he tried to survive it. Like many political moderates, he ended on the wrong side during the Jacobin Terror and had to flee for his life. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 43
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the wider pattern of revolution scrambling careers and archives, paralleling the trap experienced by administrators in other imperial histories. — connects to: The French Revolution derailed Moreau’s colonial history project and drove him into exile; Fascism shattered a school of historians whose members dispersed into exile or regime service
- yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: The French Revolution derailed Moreau’s colonial history project and drove him into exile; Fascism shattered a school of historians whose members dispersed into exile or regime service