Saint-Domingue Creoles

Etymology The word creole comes from the Portuguese term , which means "a person raised in one's house" and from the Latin , which means "to create, make, bring forth, produce, beget". In the New World, the term originally referred to Europeans born and raised in overseas colonies (as opposed to the European-born peninsulares). Origin of the Saint-Domingue Creoles French adventurers settled on Tortuga Island, which was close to the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo. As a result, in the late 17th century, the French had de facto control of the island close to the Spanish colony. The wars of Louis XIV in Europe finally convinced the Spaniards to give the western quarter of the island to the French under to the Treaty on Ryswick (1697). The French called their new colony Saint-Domingue. As the colony developed, a planter class emerged that created highly profitable plantations- these plantations generated so much wealth that Saint-Domingue soon became the richest colony in the world. In the late 17th century, French colonists made up more than 90% of the population in Saint-Domingue. However, as demand for sugar in Europe grew, planters imported African slaves to meet the demand. The population of Africans grew quickly, and many French settlers raped their African slaves, resulting in the growth of a multiracial Creole population. By the early 18th century, Creoles and Africans came to compose the majority of the colony. Throughout the 17th century, French Creoles became established in the Americas as a unique ethnicity originating from the mix of French, Indian, and African cultures. These French Creoles held a distinct ethno-cultural identity, a shared antique language, the Creole French language, and their civilization owed its existence to the overseas expansion of the French Empire. Martinique for a time was the center of French Creoles in the Caribbean; its decline lead to Saint-Domingue becoming the capital of the West Indian Creole civilization. Saint-Domingue Creole society Saint-Domingue had the largest and wealthiest free population of color in the Caribbean who were known as the Gens de couleur libres (free people of color). Population estimations in 1789 indicate that there were 28,000 to 32,000 affranchis and Creoles of color; 40,000 to 45,000 whites which included its largest group being the Petits blancs (white commoners; lit: little whites) and Creoles of lighter complexions; French subjects: engagés (white indentured servants), foreign European immigrants or refugees, and a small exclusive group of Grands blancs (white nobles; lit: big whites) of whom the majority lived or were born in France; Race was initially tied to culture and class, and some "white" Creoles had non-white ancestry. Development of Creole culture , previously Cap-Français Saint-Domingue underwent a cultural awakening in the years after the French and Indian War, where France lost all of its continental New France territory (French Louisiana, French Canada, and Acadia). Imperial French policy makers worried that future conflicts could test the loyalty of their Creole subjects, and as Saint-Domingue was the richest colony in the world, they couldn't afford to lose it. The Bourbon Regime thus expanded the colonial bureaucracy, hired administrative personnel, built new infrastructure, and started a colonial mail service as well as a Creole printing press. Creole entrepreneurs also added to the colony's development by building cafés and clubs. As African freedmen had full citizenship and civil equality with other French subjects, they took an interest in expanding the studies of each of their unique people's history. Africans contributed to the spiritual and mythological aspects of Saint-Domingue through their folklore, such as the widespread tales of Compère Lapin and Compère Bouqui. Further confusing the name's indication of ethnic, linguistic, religious, or other implications, the concurrent Bambara Empire had notoriety for its practice of slave-capturing wherein Bambara soldiers would raid neighbors and capture the young men of other ethnic groups, forcibly assimilate them, and turn them into slave soldiers known as Ton. The Bambara Empire depended on war-captives to replenish and increase its numbers; many of the people who called themselves Bambara were indeed not ethnic Bambara. • The Aradas, a tattooed people who used poison to kill their enemies. They worshipped the moon, mollusks, and serpents. Toussaint Louverture was reportedly of Arada heritage. • The Tacuas. Within a year, a reported 420 of the 700 Acadian settlers of Môle were dead, and most of the survivors fled to Louisiana shortly thereafter. Bombardopolis was founded in 1764 by German settlers with the support of the nearby Director of Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Mr. Fusée Aublet. A population of Acadians and Germans who had been living in Louisiana had arrived in Môle-Saint-Nicolas; and the local government wished to separate those of German ancestry from the Acadians, judging the two cultures could not happily coexist. The new community was named after Fusée Aublet's German benefactor, Mr. de Bombarde, a wealthy financier and amateur naturalist. Royalist curtailment of Creole rights Despite the cultural progress in Saint-Domingue, tensions between Creole families and royal administrators escalated. In 1769, Creole planters rallied Creoles of color and Petits blancs to help fight an unpopular militia reform. Although the Bourbon government crushed the uprising, it could not stomp out all of the Creole dissent. Creoles of all classes and colors resented the "tyrannical" royal administration. European born soldiers died rapidly in tropical locations such as Saint-Domingue, and royal officials preferred a native Creole militia; but the united forces of the Creole planter class, Creoles of color, and Petits Blancs posed an enormous threat to Bourbon royalist control. Starting in the early 1760s, and gaining much impetus after 1769, Bourbon royalist authorities began attempts to cut Creoles of color out of Saint-Domingue society, banning them from working in positions of public trust or as respected professionals. They began segregating theaters and other public spaces, and issued an edict preventing Creoles of color from dressing extravagantly and restricted their ability to ride in private carriages. They began referring to all Creoles of color as affranchis, a term that means ex-slave, an insult to all Creoles who came from long-standing free families. Militia companies also became segregated, and Creoles of color who previously served in militias with white Creoles were transferred into "colored" units. The Bourbon government spread rumors to destroy the society's cohesiveness. Prior to the 1760s, visitors to Saint-Domingue frequently described the great beauty, romance, and allure of the mixed-race Creole women. Afterwards, they became known as dangerous temptations. Mixed-race men who were known for passion, handsomeness, and chivalry became restereotyped as highly sexual, narcissistic, lazy, and physically weak. This new form of prejudice shattered the older idea of a social continuum in Saint-Domingue as mixed-race men and women were deemed inferior to both white and black Creoles no matter their wealth in an attempt to oust them from their high positions as being morally and physically inferior to both groups. The new color line drove the colony's wealthiest families of color into political action. In 1784, Julien Raimond, a free Creole of color planter, traveled to France to lobby the naval administrator to reform racist colonial policy implemented by the Bourbon government. More than a dozen wealthy Creole families supported Raimond's campaign, and continued supporting him in creating rights and equality for Creoles of color, which was the most important colonial issue during the years before the French Revolution in Saint-Domingue. Downturn of Saint-Domingue's economy As the social systems of Saint-Domingue began to erode after the 1760s, the plantation economy of Saint-Domingue also began to weaken. The price of slaves doubled between 1750 and 1780 and land in Saint-Domingue tripled in price during the same period. Sugar prices still increased, but at a much lower rate than before. The profitability of other crops like coffee collapsed in 1770, causing many planters to go into debt. The planters of Saint-Domingue were eclipsed in their profits by enterprising businessmen; they no longer had a guarantee on their plantation investment, and the slave-trading economy came under increased scrutiny. Along with the establishment of a French abolitionist movement, the Société des amis des Noirs, French economists demonstrated that paid labor or indentured servitude were much more cost-effective than slave labor. In principle the widespread implementation of indentured servitude on plantations could have produced the same output as slave labor. However, the Bourbon King Louis XVI didn't want to change the labor system in his colonies, as slave labor was directly responsible for allowing France to surpass Britain in trade. Nevertheless, Saint-Domingue did increase its reliance on indentured servants (known as Petits blanchets or engagés) and by 1789 about 6 percent of all white Creoles were employed as labor on plantations along with slaves. Despite signs of economic decline, Saint-Domingue continued to produce more sugar than all of the British Caribbean islands combined. Saint-Domingue Creoles in the American Revolutionary War Saint-Domingue Creoles such as Vincent Ogé, Jean-Baptiste Chavannes, and André Rigaud fought with American rebel forces during the American Revolutionary War. The Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue (Saint-Domingue Volunteers–Chasseurs) accompanied the Comte d'Estaing as part of the expeditionary force for service. The unit participated in the Siege of Savannah. The expeditionary force under the command of d'Estaing and his lieutenant, Jean-Baptiste Bernard Vaublanc, left Cap-Français on 15 August 1779, and arrived on 8 September 1779, in Savannah, Georgia. After arriving they were tasked to help the American rebels attempting to gain control of the city which British forces captured in 1778. The British Army sortied from their defenses on 24 September before dawn to engage their French and American besiegers. The Chasseurs-Volontaires fought back and lost one man while seven others were wounded, along with Comte D'Estaing. The siege ended in failure on 9 October 1779. The French did not disband the Chasseurs-Volontaires, but instead continued to use the unit. The Chasseurs-Volontaires did not return to Saint-Domingue until 1780. Afterwards, the majority of the regiment served in Saint-Domingue as garrison troops. ==Revolutionary History of Saint-Domingue==