A note at the end of the decree explained that by “creole” the government meant “any individual born in the colony or in Africa.” This was a departure from the traditional use of the term, generally used to refer only to American-born and slaves. It was an important step, for it in essence identified the majority in the colony who had come from Africa as natives of Saint-Domingue. It did so, however, not to grant them rights as citizens but to limit those rights.

Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ …, loc. 372