Földvári Books

Decree on the Status of Refugees During the Haitian Revolution

[Convention Nationale]

Décret de la Convention nationale relatif aux citoyens de Saint-Domingue, de la Martinique et de la Guadeloupe, qui se sont réfugiés à Sainte-Lucie et autres contrées de l’Amérique. [1793. No. 729.]

[Côte-d’Or]: [1793]. Côte-d’Or imprint, dated in Paris 21 June 1793. Folio broadside (ca. 27 × 20 cm), printed on one leaf, verso with official manuscript certifications and signatures. Unbound, as issued. Tanned and dusted at the upper edge. A natural paper flaw at lower blank margin (from the original pulp quality, not later damage). Minor toning and light edge wear. Otherwise in fine condition.

Rare Revolutionary decree regulating the status and military integration of Caribbean refugees during the Haitian Revolution.

Official decree issued by the French National Convention during a critical stage of the Haitian Revolution, concerning citizens of Saint-Domingue, Martinique, and Guadeloupe who had fled their homes amid revolutionary turmoil and taken refuge in Saint Lucia and neighboring territories in the Americas. This decree sheds light on a lesser-known aspect of the Haitian Revolution: the experience of refugees whose political allegiance remained uncertain. While many also went to Martinique, the United States, or France, the Convention saw their regulation and possible reintegration as a pressing issue. Enacted in Paris on 26 June 1793, it was subsequently printed locally in the department of Côte-d’Or for recording and public posting by municipal authorities.

The decree distinguishes between counter-revolutionary émigrés and those who fled only to escape violence while remaining loyal to the Republic. Loyal refugees were required to present municipal certificates attesting to their civic virtue (civisme) and to the circumstances of their flight. Once certified, they could be employed by General François-Thomas Galbaud du Fort, governor of the Îles du Vent (Windward Islands), and other officials for land or naval service, organized into volunteer companies with the same pay and conditions as regular troops. Registers of their names and origins were to be maintained and sent to the Convention, while copies of the decree were to be forwarded to the governments of the United States, inviting them to inform French refugees there of its provisions.

The decree was issued at a moment when tensions in Saint-Domingue were reaching a breaking point. In June 1793, white royalist planters and free men of color were struggling for control of Cap-Français, while formerly enslaved insurgents under leaders such as Toussaint Louverture were gaining strength in the northern plains. On 20–22 June 1793, violent clashes erupted when Governor Galbaud attempted to rally white colonists and other loyalists, culminating in a catastrophic fire that destroyed much of the city and drove thousands into exile.

Amid this upheaval, and with Britain and Spain preparing to invade France’s Caribbean colonies, the Convention sought to act preemptively. The decree provided a framework to identify and integrate loyal refugees, turning them into a military and political resource rather than a potential threat. It reflects the Convention’s urgent effort to secure both manpower and allegiance, stabilizing its Caribbean possessions at a moment of extreme vulnerability.

Signed in print in Paris on 26 June 1793 by Collot d’Herbois (president of the Convention and leading Montagnard), Charles Delacroix, and secretaries Gossuin and P. A. Laloy, and certified in manuscript by two officials of the Côte-d’Or on 14 July 1793, confirming its registration and promulgation within the department.

The decree is scarce both in institutions and the market. We have not located another copy of this Côte-d’Or imprint, and RBH records only two copies sold at auction.

A rare survival, illustrating how Revolutionary France sought to balance loyalty, military needs, and colonial governance during the upheavals of 1793 and the Haitian Revolution.

.

Price: €2,000.00