Page "Guadeloupe" Paragraph 12

In 1790, following the outbreak of the French Revolution, the upper classes of Guadeloupe refused to obey the new laws of equal rights for the free colored.

They attempted to declare independence, causing a fire to break out in Pointe-à-Pitre that devastated a third of the town.

A struggle between the monarchists ( who wanted independence ) and the republicans ( who were faithful to revolutionary France ) ensued.

It ended with a victory by the monarchists, who declared independence in 1791.

The monarchists refused to receive the new governor appointed by Paris in 1792.

In 1793, a slave rebellion started, which made the upper classes turn to the British and ask them to occupy the island.