The Importance of the Enlightenment in the Haitian Revolution

The French colonial empire gave a class of intellectuals enough autonomy and ambition that they were able to envision overthrowing their own masters. It seems clear at least that the revolutionaries in France were pushed towards applying their own ideas to the topic of race, precisely by seeing what happened in the Caribbean. But perhaps this is no reason to dismiss the importance of the Enlightenment for the uprising in Saint-Domingue.