The First Word of the Declaration of the Rights of Man

When word of the bastille hit, colonial whites immediately followed the lead of their countrymen back in the metropole. The once hated militias were recast as national guard companies and patriotic whites eagerly joined up. For them, the revolution looked like it would mean the final triumph of white supremacy in the colony. So the royal officials started to look to the free coloreds. But in october, the intendant to flee the island, probably one step ahead of a good old fashioned lynching.