Editing History of Martinique (section)

==French Revolution==
[[File:Capture of Fort Louis, Martinique, 1794.jpg|thumb|Martinique during the [[Battle of Martinique (1794)|British attack in 1794]]]]

The [[French Revolution]] (1789) also affected [[Trinidad]] when Martiniquan planters and their slaves [[emigrated]] there and started to grow sugar and cocoa.<ref>Besson, Gerard. 2000. The 'Land of Beginnings'. A historical digest, ''Newsday'', Sunday August 27, 2000</ref> [[Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry]], the [[List of members of the National Constituent Assembly of 1789|deputy]] to the [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Constituent Assembly]] for Martinique opposed representation for [[Free people of color]].<ref>{{cite book
| first = Catherine A.
| last = Reinhardt
| year = 2005
| title = Claims to Memory: Beyond Slavery and Emancipation in the French Caribbean
| publisher = Polygons
| publication-place = New York
| page = 112
}}</ref>

On 4 April 1792, the French [[Legislative Assembly (France)|Legislative Assembly]] extended citizenship to all [[men of color]]. [[Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau]] was sent to Martinique to apply this law. The Constituent Assembly of Martinique agreed to promulgate this law. However they refused to allow Rochambeau to disembark with his troops. In 1793 there was a small, unsuccessful slave rebellion in Saint Pierre. The French executed six of the ringleaders. On 4 February 1793, [[Louis-Francois Dubuc]] signed the [[Whitehall Accord]], putting Martinique under British jurisdiction until the French monarchy was reestablished. In doing so he forestalled the spread of the [[French Revolution]] to Martinique, preventing the Republican regime in France from acquiring control over the colony. Notably, the accord guaranteed all French colonists in Martinique the right to continue owning slaves.<ref name=":0">Geggus, David. “The British Government and the Saint Domingue Slave Revolt, 1791-1793.” The English Historical Review 96.379 (April, 1981), 285-305.</ref>

In 1794 the [[French Convention]] issued a decree abolished slavery. However, before the decree could be transmitted to Martinique and implemented, the British [[Battle of Martinique (1794)|invaded the island and occupied it]]. A British force under Admiral [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|Sir John Jervis]] and Lieutenant-General [[Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey|Sir Charles Grey]] captured [[Fort Royal]] and [[Fort Saint Louis (Martinique)|Fort Saint Louis]] on 22 March and [[Fort Desaix|Fort Bourbon]] two days later. At that point all French resistance ceased. On 30 March 1794, the British occupation reinstated the ''[[ancien regime]]'', including the French Monarchy's Supreme Council and the [[seneschal]]'s courts of [[La Trinité, Martinique|Trinité]], [[Le Marin]], and [[Saint-Pierre, Martinique|St Pierre]]. French Royalists regained possession of their properties and positions, including their slaves, and emancipation was forbidden by the Royalist authorities, who also promulgated an ordinance banning all gatherings of blacks or meetings by slaves, and forbade [[Carnival]].<ref name=":0" />