Question: What divisions were there among the blacks of Saint Domingue during the rebellions?

Answer:

During the revolt in 1791 one of the biggest divisions that we see among the rebels is over the question of what to do with the whites of the island. Some, such as Jeannot, who is mentioned in In the Camps of the Insurgents, wanted to kill all whites on the island, fearing that any who survived would try to reinstate slavery. Others, such as Jean-Francois, who is also mentioned in that source, were more lenient towards the whites, preferring to treat his prisoners humanely. During the revolt in 1793 we see similar divisions rise again. The rebels who were supported by the Spanish wanted total independence from France and all whites to be removed from the island, as can be seen in Insurgent Responses to Emancipation. Opposed to them were some free blacks and people of mixed race who supported continuing to live under the French republic as equals to the whites. There were also divisions between monarchists and republicans among both blacks and whites. This conflict mirrored the one going on in France at the time, where some fought to keep the monarchy in power, while others fought to establish a republic. The black rebels who were supported by the Spanish seem to favor monarchy over a republic, although they valued independence highest of all it seems. Those who supported the republic were a mixture of whites, blacks, and mixed race people who at least claimed to want a society where the races were equal. Finally, the white monarchists opposed the republican revolutionaries, but tried to win over the black rebels by playing on their monarchist sympathies. Evidence of all of this can be seen in the Decree of General Liberty, where the republicans try to win over blacks by promising them equality, while also saying that monarchist promises of freedom were false.