THE POSSIBILITY

1794 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY?

As Michael Rapport suggests, there is the possibility that a British revolution could have led to the abolition of slavery. A slave revolt in France led the revolutionaries to abolish slavery in 1794 but Napoleon would later reinstate it. In Haiti, inspired by the French Revolution as well as the horrific racist culture and brutality of slave owners, revolutionary sentiment was growing. When citizenship status was granted to the affrantis (free individuals who were of African or mixed descent), white Europeans chose to ignore this. A slave revolt broke out and the country was torn into rival fractions. Toussaint Louverture was a former slave and general who gained control of several areas and operated an almost independent Haiti, until Napoleon had him captured and imprisoned. By 1804, Haiti was able to claim independence. What would have happened on British colonies and whether Britain could have abolished slavery, we will never know.

1793 LONG LIVE THE KING?

Much of our popular imagery of the French Revolution comes from the execution of the monarchy, in particular Marie-antoinette. In 1791, King Louis XVI had attempted to flee to Austria but was spotted at the French border town of Varennes, where he was arrested and returned to Paris. Having been returned to Paris the king was forced to approve a new constitution that had stripped him of most of his power. However, a mere year later he was arrested and the monarchy abolished. Placed on trial for treason, he was sentenced to execution. A violent revolution in Britain may well have led to the British monarchy suffering the same fate.