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Primary sourceDocument4 February 1794

Law of 4 February 1794

National Convention · 4 February 1794

The French National Convention's decree abolishing slavery in all French colonies, a turning point that led Toussaint to switch sides to the French Republic.

Danton spoke in the Convention's debate on this law, urging liberty be extended as a weapon against Britain.

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Scan of the handwritten and printed French decree of the National Convention, dated the sixteenth day of Pluviôse, year two of the Republic, declaring the abolition of slavery in all colonies. Printed heading DÉCRET with Republic seal above; archive stamp and annotations in margins.
Décret d'abolition de l'esclavage, National Convention, 4 February 1794. Archives nationales.

About this source

What it is

This is the decree passed by the National Convention of the French First Republic on 4 February 1794 (16 Pluviôse, Year II), abolishing slavery throughout France's colonial empire and declaring all men, regardless of color, to be French citizens.

Why it matters

The law followed earlier emancipation proclamations in Saint-Domingue by French officials Sonthonax and Polverel. Toussaint Louverture, then allied with Spain and doubtful of French sincerity, may have been influenced by this law in his decision to switch his allegiance to the French Republic. The decree shows how the revolution in France and the revolution in Saint-Domingue were deeply connected, even though it was later reversed by Napoleon.

Look closer

  • Why might the National Convention have passed this law so quickly, by acclamation rather than long debate?
  • Whose voices from Saint-Domingue helped push this law through in Paris?
  • What does it mean that this law was later overturned—what does that reveal about the limits of revolutionary promises?

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Black and white scan of a handwritten French document with a block of cursive text at the top and many signatures below, including Billaud-Varenne, Carnot, Collot d'Herbois, Robespierre and others. An oval stamp reads Archives nationales. Some signatures are large and looping.Document

Primary source

Arrest Warrant Against Danton and His Friends

Committee of Public Safety · March 1794

Red chalk drawing in an oval frame of a man with curly hair, a heavy brow, and a slight smirk, wearing an open-collared shirt with a loose jacket or cloak fastened at the chest. Handwritten inscription at right reads 'Dessiné de Fontenay' with a date in 1794.Painting

Primary source

Danton Led to Execution

Attributed to Pierre-Alexandre Wille · 1794

Framed oil painting in a gilded wooden frame. A half-length portrait of a man with powdered gray hair, wearing a dark coat and white cravat, against a dark background, turned slightly to his left.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Georges Danton

Title page of the printed circular 'Aux tribunaux' with a handwritten note 'Par Danton, Ministre de la Justice, 19 août 1792' and a Bibliothèque Impériale stamp and an ACQ.46.194 Labédoyère library stamp.Document

Primary source

Aux tribunaux

Georges Danton · 19 August 1792

Engraving of an interior courtroom during the French Revolution. Judges sit at a raised bench at the back under three busts and a central tablet; a clerk sits at a table in front, and a crowded gallery of spectators fills the foreground and the tiered seating on the left and right.Painting

Secondary source

The Revolutionary Tribunal

1868 (depicting 1793)

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