ABSTRACT
Few of the large planters came from the ranks of the buccaneers or tobacco planters. The large planters in Saint-Domingue originated from port cities and maritime provinces in France. Some large planters, intendants, and high-ranking functionaries in the colony came from the French nobility, particularly the provincial nobility. Sugar refining provides one example of how the French government attempted to promote industrial development in France at the expense of the colonies. The primary consuming population in the colony consisted of the colonial administrators, military personnel, resident merchants, planters, and the white and affranchis middle classes. Although the resident planters retreated from their push for independence, they remained determined to control the colonial state and achieve a high degree of autonomy from France. The general assembly sought to undermine the legislative powers of the French National Assembly over the colony. It also stipulated that the colony would not enforce the laws of the "exterior regime" until the Assemblee Generale approved them.
