Belley, Jean-Baptiste

(ca. 1765-1830)

   political figure

   Born in Guadeloupe, Jean-Baptiste Belley, a black descendant of slaves, was sent during the revolution of 1789 to the National Convention (1792) in Paris to ask for recognition of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and Guadeloupe as free departments of France. There, he made such a rousing and moving appeal to the assembly for the abolition of slavery that he drowned out all opposition. The Convention, taken by his eloquence, voted at once to abolish all slavery in Guadeloupe, Saint-Domingue, and all other French territories. Belley was later made an adjutant general by napoléon i and took part in the defense of Guadeloupe against the British.