mauritius french period 5

When news of the French Revolution of 1789 reached Isle de France by a ship from Bordeaux at the end of 1790, this information was more or less welcomed on the island. The settlers saw in this a way to liberate themselves from the absolute authority of the Royal Administration. But because Isle de France was so far away from France and because class distinction and the feudal regime was almost inexistant in Isle de France, the revolution did not have a transforming effect on the island.

The unstable situation back in France meant that the news coming from France was often conflicting, confusing and outdated. The years were therefore very uncertain for the inhabitants but it was clear for them that the King’s Authority had seriously been challenged.

The Government of Conway, of Irish origin, governed the island at that time, while Machamara, of Irish origin, was commander of the French fleet in the Indian Ocean. Governor Conway was greatly unpopular and his approach to government embodied the arbitrary character of the Ancient regime ‘Loyal to the King’, he tried to organise a counter-revolution but finally had to give way. At the end of April 1790 the settlers created a General Assembly of the colony. This General Assembly would take the name of Colonial Assembly as recommended by the decree passed by the National Assembly in France. Conway who had opposed these movements finally resigned his post in July 1790 and was replaced by Charpentier de Cossigny. However, unlike the revolutionary movement in France, the revolution in Mauritius did not cause any revolutionary fury and limited itself to a municipal revolution whereby names of streets and public places were changed. The only case of revolutionary fury came along in 1790 when Count Machamara, a staunch loyalist supporter, was arrested and brought before the National Assembly. Whilst being brought back to prison, he tried to escape and was brutally hacked to death by soldiers. A few bitter outbursts of violence followed in 1791 but revolutionary fervour was dampened down by an outbreak of smallpox in June 1792. As a result of that epidemic, about 8% of the population died.

After Cossigny, General Malartic was appointed in 1792 by the new authorities as new governor. Malartic proved to be a quite moderate if not conservative man who managed to curb the activities of revolutionary extremists. The most critical moment during his governorship was when he stood by the Colonial Assembly and defied the order of the Revolutionary Government in France on the subject of slavery. In 1794, the National Assembly in France had abolished slavery. Isle de France was at that time very much a plantation economy and relied heavily on slave labour. Thus, despite having been abolished in France, slavery continued on Isle de France. As a result, a naval squadron under the command of the Sercey arrived in Port Louis on 18th June 1796, it brought two battalions of French soldiers and two commissioners called Baco and Burnel. The consequences of this incident was that, until General Decaën came seven years later, Isle de France, which had openly defied the French Law and the French Government, was an independent territory.

During that period of ‘independence’ (1796-1703), Isle de France depended heavily on the activity of corsairs. Having rejected French authority, who were in a war against Britain, its situation was precarious. Among the corsairs of that time were Lemême, Hodoul, Malioux, Le Vaillant, Distertre and Robert Surcrouf who became known as the King of Corsairs.

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