While the French settlers debated how new revolutionary laws would apply to Saint-Domingue, outright civil war broke out in 1790 when the free men of color claimed they too were French citizens under the terms of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Mens de franske kolonister diskuterede hvordan revolutionens love skulle gælde i Saint-Dominique, brød borgerkrigen ud i 1790 da de frie farvede mænd krævede at være franske statsborgere for hvem Erklæringen om menneskets og borgerens rettigheder også var gældende.