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Primary sourceArtifactc. 1791

Discussion sur les hommes de couleur

c. 1791

A satirical engraving on the 1791 National Assembly debate over rights for free people of colour in the French colonies, in which Robespierre appears as an allegorical figure.

Robespierre is depicted allegorically as 'humanity' in this satire of the 1791 debate on rights for free people of colour, where he opposed sacrificing principle for profit.

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Satirical engraving titled Discussion sur les hommes de couleur. A crowd of caricatured figures in 18th-century dress struggles over a rope in the center, with a seated figure and a palm tree at left, a Liberty-like allegorical figure with scales and clouds at upper center, and a ship at right. Dense French caption text lines the bottom edge.
Anonymous, Discussion sur les hommes de couleur, Paris, c. 1791. Bibliothèque nationale de France.

About this source

What it is

This is a satirical engraving made around 1791, mocking the debates in the French National Assembly over whether free people of colour in the colonies should have political rights. It shows a crowd of caricatured figures pulling on a rope, with allegorical figures above representing abstract ideas, and real deputies identifiable among the crowd.

Why it matters

The print captures a major argument of the Revolution: did its principles of liberty and equality apply to colonial subjects of colour? Robespierre is shown allegorically as 'humanity', alongside Pétion as 'justice' and the abbé Grégoire as 'reason' — showing how contemporaries linked him to the pro-rights side of this fierce dispute, where he reportedly said he would rather see the colonies perish than sacrifice a principle.

Look closer

  • Why might the artist have drawn the debate as a tug-of-war?
  • What does it mean that real politicians appear next to invented allegorical figures?
  • Whose viewpoint does a satirical print usually take, and how might that shape what is shown?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Maximilien Robespierre on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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