France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaimed liberty and equality as universal principles, but colonial slavery and racial hierarchy remained in place. Enslaved people, free people of color, and white colonists contested who counted as a rights-bearing citizen. The gap between universal language and colonial practice sharpened the struggle over slavery.
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What contradiction did the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man expose in Saint-Domingue?
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Explanation
Universal rights language coexisted with slavery and racial hierarchy in the colonies.
The 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man immediately freed enslaved people in Saint-Domingue.
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Explanation
Slavery continued; the contradiction between universal rights and colonial slavery was contested.