Leger-Félicité Sonthonax, son of a prosperous French merchant, was a revolutionary affiliated with the Girondin party. He rose in the ranks during the French Revolution and in 1792 was sent to Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) as part of the Revolutionary Commission. His main goal was to maintain French control of Saint Domingue and enforce the civil equality recently granted to free people of colour by the National Convention.