Nevertheless, the assembly rejected the interventions of the veteran officers, deferring any discussion of the status of the free-coloreds until after the insurrection was defeated. Having successfully held the free-coloreds at bay through violence in Saint-Domingue and lobbying in Paris, they were unwilling to relent, even in the dramatic situation that surrounded them. “One day,” Rouvray warned them, “the pitying laughs with which you greet the important truths I share with you will turn to tears of blood.”

Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ …, loc. 170