[SLAVERY & ABOLITION] -- [HAITIAN REVOLUTION]. POLVEREL, Étienne (1740-1795) and Léger-Félicité SONTHONAX (1763-1813). Proclamation. Le Cap, Haiti: Commission civile de la republique, 20 July 1793.

Visible 12 1/2 x 16 1/8 in. letterpress broadside (toning, a few pinholes to upper left); framed to 16 1/2 x 19 in. (not examined out of frame). Signed in type by Polverel and Sonthonax.

A proclamation issued in Le Cap, Saint-Domingue (now Cap-Haïtien, Haiti) by the French Civil Commissioners Étienne Polverel and Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, who had been sent by the Republic in response to the slave uprising and Haitian Revolution. Despite both men being abolitionists, their mission was not to abolish slavery but to give all free men, regardless of their color, equality of rights guaranteed to them by the decree of 4 April 1792. This was, however, reversed on 29 August 1793 when Sonthonax abolished enslavement in the northern province. Polverel followed suit in the western and southern provinces. This broadside advertises declarations made by the Commissioners regarding property abandoned by citizens who fled the Colony that will duly become property of the Republic.

Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana, and Historical Documents

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Katie Horstman

VP, Head of Department, American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography

[email protected]513.666.4958

Ms. Horstman has spent over a decade specializing in historic photography and Americana at auction. During her tenure, she has overseen several notable single owner auctions, including property from the inventory of celebrated Americana and antique arms expert Norm Flayderman. During her time with the firm, she has maintained an active membership in the Daguerreian Society. Ms. Horstman holds an MA in Art History from the University of Cincinnati and a BA in Art History from The Ohio State University.

African Americana

[SLAVERY & ABOLITION] -- [HAITIAN REVOLUTION]. POLVEREL, Étienne (1740-1795) and Léger-Félicité SONTHONAX (1763-1813). Proclamation. Le Cap, Haiti: Commission civile de la republique, 20 July 1793.

African Americana

[SLAVERY & ABOLITION] -- [HAITIAN REVOLUTION]. POLVEREL, Étienne (1740-1795) and Léger-Félicité SONTHONAX (1763-1813). Proclamation. Le Cap, Haiti: Commission civile de la republique, 20 July 1793.

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