Victor Hugues (1761—1826) was a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
politician and
colonial administratorThe French colonial empire is the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 1600s to the late 1960s . In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire...
during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, who governed
GuadeloupeGuadeloupe is an archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at , with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres . It is an overseas department of France. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also one of the twenty-six regions of France and an integral part of the Republic...
from 1794 to 1798,
emancipatingAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical...
the island's
slavesThe slave trade in Africa existed for thousands of years. The first main route passed through the Sahara, tying in to the Arab slave trade. After the European Age of Exploration, African slaves became part of the Atlantic slave trade, from which comes the modern, Western conception of slavery as...
under orders from the
National ConventionDirectory|Directory]], commencing 2 November 1795. Prominent members of the original Convention included Maximilien Robespierre of the Jacobin Club, Jean-Paul Marat , and Georges Danton of the Cordeliers...
.
Hugues was born in
MarseilleMarseille , formerly known as Massalia , is the 2nd most populous French city as well as the oldest city in France...
and was a
colonistThe French colonial empire is the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 1600s to the late 1960s . In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire...
in
Saint-DomingueSaint-Domingue was a French colony on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola from 1659 to 1804, when it became the independent nation of Haiti.Saint-Domingue is the French version of the Spanish name Santo Domingo. The Arawak, Carib and Tainos people occupied the island before the arrival of the...
in the late 1780s and early 1790s. He returned to France and became an official in
La RochelleLa Rochelle is a city in south-western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department....
through his activity in the local
Jacobin ClubThe Jacobin Club was the largest and most powerful political club of the French Revolution. It originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles as a group of Breton deputies to the Estates General of 1789. At the height of its influence, there were thousands of chapters throughout France,...
. After the emancipation decrees of
Léger-Félicité SonthonaxLéger-Félicité Sonthonax was a French Jacobin and abolitionist during the French Revolution who controlled the 7,000 French troops sent to Saint-Domingue during the Haitian Revolution. He believed that Saint-Domingue's whites were royalists or separatists and therefore he attacked the military...
and
Étienne PolverelÉtienne Polverel was one of two French Revolutionary Civil Commissioners who ended slavery in Saint-Domingue in 1793 during the Haïtian Revolution.-Life:...
during the
Haitian RevolutionThe Haitian Revolution is, as historian C.L.R. James affirms, "the only successful slave revolt in history." It established Haiti as the first republic ruled by blacks. At the time of the revolution, Haiti was known as Saint-Domingue and was a colony of France...
, the National Convention declared the end of slavery in all French territories in February 1794, and named Hugues civil
commissionerCommissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission, in the sense of a mandate, whether individually or shared, notably as member of a collegial commission....
to Guadeloupe.
The island was under
BritishThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
control when he arrived in the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
, as
plantersA plantation economy is an economy which is based on agricultural mass production, usually of a few staple products grown on large farms called plantations. Plantation economies rely on the export of cash crops as a source of income...
and other
RoyalistsThe House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples & Sicily, and Parma...
had called in France's rival as a way of rejecting revolutionary events.
Victor Hugues (1761—1826) was a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
politician and
colonial administratorThe French colonial empire is the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 1600s to the late 1960s . In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire...
during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, who governed
GuadeloupeGuadeloupe is an archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at , with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres . It is an overseas department of France. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also one of the twenty-six regions of France and an integral part of the Republic...
from 1794 to 1798,
emancipatingAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical...
the island's
slavesThe slave trade in Africa existed for thousands of years. The first main route passed through the Sahara, tying in to the Arab slave trade. After the European Age of Exploration, African slaves became part of the Atlantic slave trade, from which comes the modern, Western conception of slavery as...
under orders from the
National ConventionDirectory|Directory]], commencing 2 November 1795. Prominent members of the original Convention included Maximilien Robespierre of the Jacobin Club, Jean-Paul Marat , and Georges Danton of the Cordeliers...
.
Early life and appointment
Hugues was born in
MarseilleMarseille , formerly known as Massalia , is the 2nd most populous French city as well as the oldest city in France...
and was a
colonistThe French colonial empire is the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 1600s to the late 1960s . In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire...
in
Saint-DomingueSaint-Domingue was a French colony on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola from 1659 to 1804, when it became the independent nation of Haiti.Saint-Domingue is the French version of the Spanish name Santo Domingo. The Arawak, Carib and Tainos people occupied the island before the arrival of the...
in the late 1780s and early 1790s. He returned to France and became an official in
La RochelleLa Rochelle is a city in south-western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department....
through his activity in the local
Jacobin ClubThe Jacobin Club was the largest and most powerful political club of the French Revolution. It originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles as a group of Breton deputies to the Estates General of 1789. At the height of its influence, there were thousands of chapters throughout France,...
. After the emancipation decrees of
Léger-Félicité SonthonaxLéger-Félicité Sonthonax was a French Jacobin and abolitionist during the French Revolution who controlled the 7,000 French troops sent to Saint-Domingue during the Haitian Revolution. He believed that Saint-Domingue's whites were royalists or separatists and therefore he attacked the military...
and
Étienne PolverelÉtienne Polverel was one of two French Revolutionary Civil Commissioners who ended slavery in Saint-Domingue in 1793 during the Haïtian Revolution.-Life:...
during the
Haitian RevolutionThe Haitian Revolution is, as historian C.L.R. James affirms, "the only successful slave revolt in history." It established Haiti as the first republic ruled by blacks. At the time of the revolution, Haiti was known as Saint-Domingue and was a colony of France...
, the National Convention declared the end of slavery in all French territories in February 1794, and named Hugues civil
commissionerCommissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission, in the sense of a mandate, whether individually or shared, notably as member of a collegial commission....
to Guadeloupe.
Conflicts with Great Britain and the United States
The island was under
BritishThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
control when he arrived in the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
, as
plantersA plantation economy is an economy which is based on agricultural mass production, usually of a few staple products grown on large farms called plantations. Plantation economies rely on the export of cash crops as a source of income...
and other
RoyalistsThe House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples & Sicily, and Parma...
had called in France's rival as a way of rejecting revolutionary events. But by rallying slaves and
gens de couleurGens de couleur is a French term meaning "people of color." This is often a short form of gens de couleur libres . In practice, it can refer to creoles of color with Latin blood, and certain other free blacks...
, Hugues was able to retake the island by 6 October 1794, when
Victor HuguesVictor Hugues was a French politician and colonial administrator during the French Revolution, who governed Guadeloupe from 1794 to 1798, emancipating the island's slaves under orders from the National Convention.-Early life and appointment:...
obliged the English general to surrender in his camp of Barville with his whole force, in which were comprised 800 French emigres and 900 colored soldiers. He ruled for four years before being recalled to France. During that time, he purged the island of counter-revolutionaries, using a
guillotineThe guillotine was a device used for carrying out executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which a blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the victim's head from their body...
brought from France, and also worked to create a viable post-slavery regime, in which the islands farms and plantations still functioned. Hugues is perhaps best known for authorizing privateers to attack shipping through the Caribbean, which brought great wealth to the island but also was part of the tensions between France and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(known as the
Quasi-WarThe Quasi-War was an undeclared war fought almost entirely at sea between the United States and France from 1798 to 1800. In the United States, the conflict was sometimes also referred to as the Franco-American War, the Undeclared War with France, the Undeclared Naval War, the Pirate Wars, or the...
in American history). With an army composed of White,
MulattoMulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent or a person who has both black ancestry and white ancestry. The term may be perceived as pejorative in some cultures and situations. Its current usage varies greatly.-Etymology:...
and ex-slave soldiers, Hugues worked to export the revolution to neighboring islands, including
DominicaDominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. To the north-northwest lies Guadeloupe, to the southeast Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth of Dominica has an...
, Saint-Martin, la
GrenadeGrenada is an island country and sovereign state consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the...
,
Saint-VincentSaint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean, the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains...
and
Saint LuciaSaint Lucia is an island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. Its size is 620 km² with an...
.
Guiana
In 1799, Hugues was envoyed to
French GuianaFrench Guiana is an overseas department of France, located on the northern coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil and Suriname. Like the other DOMs, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France. Its currency is the euro...
by the
French ConsulateThe Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804...
, where he was responsible for legislating
unfree labourUnfree labour is a generic or collective term for those work relations, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will by the threat of destitution, detention, violence , or other extreme hardship to themselves, or to members of their families.Many of...
, and then slavery itself. He remained an administrator under the early years
First EmpireThe French Empire
, also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire, but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I in France...
, but was forced out by a provincial maneuver of the
Napoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts declared against Napoleon's French Empire and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played...
, when
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
invaded the colony.
Upon his return, he was prosecuted for
treasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife...
and
conspiracyIn a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'état or through assassination....
with the enemy.
AcquittedIn the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the innocence of the accused, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
in 1814, he returned to Guiana in 1817, served as governor and then stayed on as a mere citizen. He later left for France, and died in
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
.