Before Leclerc and his men's ships reached Saint-Domingue, someone had already set fires and carried out a scorched-earth policy.
Leclerc himself would not go around saying that slavery was to be restored. It was Bonaparte's secret order to him, and the soldiers aboard would not speak of it either. They would not even know where they were going until it was time to set out.
So who had arrived in Saint-Domingue before Leclerc and his men?
The Spanish had already withdrawn by then. It could also have been the British or the Royalists.
In fact, Saint-Domingue had exercised autonomy for many years. Only, those wielding that power had once been slave owners. Now the people of Saint-Domingue governed themselves, so long as they paid their taxes on time.
Of course, some would call that plundering the colonies. But if that was true, then the entire Republic, even Britain itself, was being plundered as well. Taxes used one portion of money to protect another. Those who could not understand would never understand.
Where had Saint-Domingue's white working class come from? Naturally, they were people who had fled overseas because they could no longer endure exploitation in their homeland. Georgiana had wondered why Earl of Malmesbury had handed her the Factory Act. There were no holidays, and wages were low. People would always choose places better suited to their survival. It was the migratory instinct of animals. Once these workers who could not bear exploitation at home arrived on Saint-Domingue, they became learned men.
When the people lived in excessive poverty, they became a threat to their rulers.
Marie Antoinette was the famous Queen of Deficits. Whether or not she had taken the blame for others, there was no escaping the fact that she had lived extravagantly.
Madame du Barry's final words