Léger-Félicité Sonthonax
French activist and politician (1763–1813) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Léger-Félicité Sonthonax?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Léger-Félicité Sonthonax (7 March 1763 – 23 July 1813) was a French abolitionist and Jacobin before joining the Girondist party, which emerged in 1791. During the French Revolution, he controlled 7,000 French troops in Saint-Domingue during part of the Haitian Revolution.[2] His official title was Civil Commissioner. From September 1792, he and Polverel became the de facto rulers of Saint-Domingue's non-slave population. Because they were associated with Brissot’s party, they were put in accusation by the convention on July 16, 1793, but a ship to bring them back in France didn’t arrive in the colony until June 1794, and they arrived in France in the time of the downfall of Robespierre. They had a fair trial in 1795 and were acquitted of the charges the white colonists brought against them.[3] Sonthonax believed that Saint-Domingue's whites were royalists or separatists, so he attacked the military power of the white settlers and by doing so alienated the colonial settlers from their government. Many gens de couleur (mixed-race residents of the colony) asserted that they could form the military backbone of Saint-Domingue if they were given rights, but Sonthonax rejected this view as outdated in the wake of the August 1791 slave uprising. He believed that Saint-Domingue would need ex-slave soldiers among the ranks of the colonial army if it was to survive. On August 1793, he proclaimed freedom for all slaves in the north province. His critics allege that he was forced into ending slavery in order to maintain his own power.[4]
Léger-Félicité Sonthonax | |
---|---|
Commissioner of Saint-Domingue (North) | |
In office 18 September 1792 – 24 August 1797 | |
Governor of Saint-Domingue | |
In office 2 January 1793 – 7 May 1793 | |
Preceded by | Vicomte de Rochambeau |
Succeeded by | François-Thomas Galbaud du Fort |
In office 11 May 1796 – 24 August 1797 | |
Preceded by | Étienne Maynaud de Bizefranc de Laveaux |
Succeeded by | Toussaint Louverture |
Deputy in the Council of Five Hundred | |
In office 14 October 1795 – 19 May 1799[1] | |
Constituency | Saint-Domingue |
Personal details | |
Born | (1763-03-07)March 7, 1763 Oyonnax, France |
Died | July 23, 1813(1813-07-23) (aged 50) Oyonnax, France |
Occupation | Abolitionist |