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Hatian revolution

 

Virtually half of these free people of color were mulattoes, they were usually the product of a white Frenchman and a black slave women. Another portion of freed people were blacks who had purchased their freedom or were given freedom by their master for various reasons. Some of these free people were wealthy, some even more wealthy than the second class whites. They would even own slaves, accounts of harsh treatment towards slaves by freed blacks was not uncommon. They would often treat their slaves poorly to draw a distinct line between them and the slaves. Much of the free people of color were pro slavery. Though whites treated them unfairly the free people of color imitated everything that was considered white, seeing this as a way of separating themselves from slave status.
             The final class of people inhabiting Saint-Domingue were the slaves. This class was strong in number as they had close to 500,000 people, that is a ration of 10-1. Slaves also had sub-classes, the first were domestic slaves running around 100,000 strong. They worked as cooks, personal servants, and did ends and odds around the household. Generally these slaves were treated much better and for the early stages of the revolt stayed loyal to their masters. .
             The largest groups of slaves were the field hands. This group had nearly 400,000 people. These slaves had it harsh, and lived a hopeless life. They worked from sun up to sun down in the most extreme climate. They had no medical care were given inadequate food and were not allowed to learn to read or write. .
             Some slaves ran away to remote parts of the island. They kept alive by keeping African ways and looking out for one another. They raided plantations for food and developed a defense system to stop planters from re-enslave them. Before the start of the revolution their numbers were estimated in the tens of thousands.
             One of the first stages of revolt on Saint-Domingue did not include the slaves.


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