Gens de couleur is a French term meaning "people of color." This is often a short form of gens de couleur libres ("free people of color"). In practice, it can refer to creoles of color with Latin blood, and certain other free blacks.^[1] The term was commonly used in France's West Indian colonies prior to the abolition of slavery. In the history of the slavery in the Americas, a free person of color was a person of full or partial African descent who was not enslaved. ... The word Creole is an adaptation of the Castillian-Spanish word criollo, which came into English from French between 1595 and 1605. ... Latin may refer to: The ancient world: Latin, an ancient language Latins, or Latini, an ancient people living in central Italy Latin is an adjective that relates to Roman culture, cf. ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... This article is about the abolition of slavery. ...

Before the Revolution broke out in Haiti, there were four distinct groups of people living in Saint-Domingue: whites, black slaves, the maroons, and the free people of color. There were approximately 28,000 gens de couleur in 1789. Roughly half of them were mulattoes, usually born of French men and slave women. There were similar such populations in Martinique and Guadeloupe. Combatants Haiti France Commanders Toussaint LOuverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines Charles Leclerc, vicomte de Rochambeau, Napoleon Strength Regular army: <55,000, Volunteers: <100,000 Regular army: 60,000, 86 warships and frigates Casualties Military deaths: unknown, Civilian deaths: <100,000 5,000-6,000 dead, 15,000 wounded, 10,000... Saint-Domingue was a French colony from 1697 to 1804 that is today the independent nation of Haiti. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Black cat, thought by some to cause bad luck Black is both a color and the shade of objects that do not reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum. ... The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Dame Kelly Holmes is half Black (Jamaican) and half White (English). ...

The terms affranchis/anciens libres, and gens de couleur/mulâtres have different but largely overlapping meanings. Affranchis, a term that meant ex-slave was widely used by whites to refer to all free people of color in Saint-Domingue. After slavery ended in the colony, the term anciens libres ("the former free") was widely used to refer to those people who were free prior to the general emancipation of 1793. Gens de couleur was another term applied to free people of color, but specifically to people of mixed French and African descent, as opposed to free blacks. This term was never used for enslaved people. Mulâtres ("mulattoes") also referred to people of mixed French and African descent, and usually referred to free people because mulattoes were frequently set free by their white fathers, due to varying degrees of guilt or concern on the fathers' part. (Nevertheless, there remained some mulatto slaves.) French colonial Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) had three social classes: French planters, affranchi landholders, and African slaves. ... French colonial Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) had three social classes: French planters, affranchi landholders, and African slaves. ... Saint-Domingue was a French colony from 1697 to 1804 that is today the independent nation of Haiti. ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

The other affranchis, numbering approximately 12,000, were black slaves who either purchased their freedom or had had it given to them by their masters for one reason or another.

Regardless of their color, affranchis could own plantations, and often owned large numbers of slaves themselves. The enslaved people were generally not friendly with the affranchis, who sometimes portrayed themselves as bulwarks against a slave uprising. As property owners themselves, affranchis sought very distinct lines set between their own class and that of slaves. Often working on their own account as artisans, shopkeepers or landowners, gens de couleur frequently became quite prosperous, and many prided themselves on their European culture and descent. They were often well educated in the French language, as distinct from the scorned Haitian Creole language used by slaves. Most gens de couleur were Roman Catholic, and many denounced the Vodoun religion originating in Africa. French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ... Haitian Creole (Kreyòl ayisyen) is a creole language based on the French language. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Voodoo (Vodou, Vodoun, Vudu, or Vudun in Benin, Togo, southeastern Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Senegal; also Vodou in Haiti) is a name attributed to a traditionally unwritten West African spiritual system of faith and ritual practices. ...

Under the ancien régime, the free people of color were drastically limited in their freedoms and did not possess the same rights as white Frenchmen. Nevertheless most gens de couleur were pro-slavery, at least up to the time of the French Revolution. Equal rights for free people of colour became an early central issue of the Haitian Revolution, and indeed of the French Revolution itself. Ancien Régime, a French term meaning Former Regime, but rendered in English as Old Rule, Old Order, or simply Old Regime, refers primarily to the aristocratic social and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties. ... i heart kate young The French Revolution was a period of major political and social change in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to... Combatants Haiti France Commanders Toussaint LOuverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines Charles Leclerc, vicomte de Rochambeau, Napoleon Strength Regular army: <55,000, Volunteers: <100,000 Regular army: 60,000, 86 warships and frigates Casualties Military deaths: unknown, Civilian deaths: <100,000 5,000-6,000 dead, 15,000 wounded, 10,000...

Examples of affranchis prominent in the history of Saint-Domingue and the Haitian Revolution are Toussaint Louverture (a black ancien libre), Julien Raimond, Vincent Ogé, André Rigaud, Alexandre Pétion, and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The recorded history of Haïti began when the island of Hispaniola was discovered by Christopher Columbus in December 1492. ... François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture  , also Toussaint Bréda, Toussaint-Louverture (c. ... Julien Raimond (1744-1801) was an indigo planter in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). ... Vincent Ogé the Younger is remembered as the instigator of a revolt against white colonial authority in French Saint-Domingue that lasted from October to December 1790 in the area outside Cap_Français, the colonys main city. ... André Rigaud (1761-1811) was the leading mulatto military leader during the Haitian Revolution. ... Alexandre Sabès Pétion (April 2, 1770 – March 29, 1818) was President of the southern Republic of Haiti from 1806 until his death. ... Portrait of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges The Chevalier de Saint-George (December 25, 1739–June 10, 1799), born Joseph Boulogne, was one of the most important figures in the Paris musical scene in the second half of the 18th century. ...

During the course of the Haitian Revolution, many wealthy gens de couleur left as refugees, whether for France, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Louisiana or elsewhere. Others, however, remained to play an influential role in Haitian politics. Official language(s) de jure: none de facto: English & French Capital Baton Rouge Largest city Baton Rouge [1] Area  Ranked 31st  - Total 51,885 sq mi (134,382 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 16  - Latitude 29°N to 33°N  - Longitude 89°W... Haiti is officially a presidential republic, although it is often claimed to be authoritarian in practice. ...

See also

• Free people of color
• Affranchi

In the history of the slavery in the Americas, a free person of color was a person of full or partial African descent who was not enslaved. ... French colonial Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) had three social classes: French planters, affranchi landholders, and African slaves. ...

Notes