Who were the affranchis in colonial Saint-Domingue?

In colonial Saint-Domingue, the affranchis were a social group consisting of free Black people and individuals of mixed African and European descent (often referred to as mulattoes). By 1789, this population numbered approximately 24,000.12

Although the affranchis sometimes owned enslaved people themselves and aspired to the social and economic status of the European colonists, they faced systemic discrimination from the white population. This marginalization, combined with their desire for equal rights, made their political aspirations a significant factor in the colony's struggle for independence.12

During the Haitian Revolution, the affranchis played a complex role, at times forming shifting alliances with enslaved people, colonists, and foreign powers. Their frustrations with the colony's racist social structure helped precipitate the conflict, leading the French revolutionary government to eventually grant them citizenship in 1792 in an attempt to stabilize the region.3