Also known as: Law of 4 April 1792, Decree of 4 April 1792, April 4, 1792 decree, Decree of 28 March / 4 April 1792, Decree of 28 mars 1792
Last updated: April 26, 2026
The decree of 4 April 1792 granted full political rights to free men of color and free Blacks in the French colonies, breaking the formal monopoly of white colonial citizenship. It represented a stronger legislative response after the failure of the March 1790 decree's ambiguous language and the Ogé crisis. The decree also authorized the appointment of commissioners Sonthonax, Polverel, and Ailhaud, who arrived in Saint-Domingue in September 1792 with the mission to enforce the new equality.
His son only took the Borgella name after the law of 4 April 1792 recognized free-colored equality
The April 4, 1792 decree granting rights to all free men of color was the legislative culmination of Raimond's years of lobbying.
The law of April 4, 1792 allowed Borgella to take the Borgella family name openly for the first time — the legal recognition colonial law had denied him.
Roume remained in the colony to oversee implementation of the 4 April 1792 decree extending political rights to free people of color — one of the central acts of his first commissioner phase.
Led Girondin support for the April 4, 1792 decree extending political rights to free people of color
Helped publish the April 1792 decree granting free-colored political rights
The commissioners acted under the authority of the April 1792 law granting equality to free people of color
The April 1792 decree reversed this decree's restoration of colonial white authority
The Ogé revolt's failure made clear that only outside metropolitan intervention could enforce equality for free coloreds
The decree applied to Saint-Domingue and the French colonies
The decree granted political equality to free people of color, the gens de couleur
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"April 4 Decree 1792." 1792. Rasin.ai, 2026. https://rasin.ai/connections/events/april-4-decree-1792. Accessed 2026-05-05.