Answer: The free blacks and mulattos, many of them substantial property owners and slaveholders, sent delegates to the National Assembly in France with a list of their stated grievances and demands. This list of grievances—modeled on those sent from the various districts of France in the spring of 1789—demonstrates the power of the idea of rights but also the particular concerns of those living in the colonies; the free blacks wanted freedom and rights for themselves but assume the continuance of slavery.
