Making Men: Enlightenment Ideas of Racial Engineering

A minor nobleman from Alsace, traveling in French colonial Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) on the eve of the French and Haitian revolutions, expressed surprise that “it has not already occurred to some ingenious speculator to monopolize … the fabrication of all mulattoes.”1 Perhaps no one had embarked upon this endeavor, the Baron de Wimpffen speculated, for fear that the metropolitan government would “take advantage of this bright idea to incorporate even the manufacture of the human race into its exclusive privilege.”2 While Wimpffen was clearly satirizing the Exclusif—the much-hated metropolitan monopoly on the trade and manufacture of natural resources and goods from the colonies—his comments reveal something that is not widely recognized about the eighteenth century: there was an understanding that the “fabrication” or “manufacture” of human beings was possible, and even desirable to some.3 Wimpffen's words are jarring, not only because they raise the possibility that human beings could be manufactured, but also because they do so in an offhand manner, presenting it as a whimsical observation or a delicate joke rather than as a ghastly vision of control and production in which human beings are merely another raw material to be transformed. The topic of sexual relations between people of African and European descent was not an uncommon one in eighteenth-century writing about Saint-Domingue, where it was generally agreed that such unions were more prevalent than in other French colonies; Wimpffen's comments, however, pointed beyond the usual tropes invoked against the social and moral ramifications of colonial métissage and libertinage (miscegenation and the debased pursuit of sensual pleasure). Although some masters seem to have profited from the sale of their own mulatto children, Wimpffen was presumably correct in believing that there were no actual businesses on Saint-Domingue that aimed to monopolize “the manufacture of the human race.”4 A decade earlier, however, two men with connections to the colonial administration—former governor-general Gabriel de Bory and a lawyer named Michel-René Hilliard d'Auberteuil—had published works calling for a similar kind of “manufacture.” In Essai sur la population des colonies à sucre (1776) and Considérations sur l'état présent de la colonie française de Saint-Domingue (1776–1777), respectively, Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil sketched out separate plans for the large-scale selective breeding of slaves, free people of color, and the white residents of the island.5 Neither viewed his project as a potential business venture; instead, each plan was envisioned as a solution to some of the colony's most significant social, political, and military problems. Their proposals were not highly detailed; nor were they even the focus of the books in which they were included. Yet they remain of great historical importance because they appear to have been the for large-scale selective breeding of that was to be out in a and than the of and with the of a The of plans the between the of about the selective breeding of human beings and the of of the of the eighteenth in and the a idea was of race as a and of that and and a for was a of and the and but people were and of the and that would the for the more to a of race in the and Yet even as of race were some people that human beings could be to on and The possibility of a in the eighteenth between men and race not to have been recognized of the French of was published a decade the of was on and of plans to the of for the of the French in the of of In it the of an for the of the of the more the plans that Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil for Saint-Domingue were not merely metropolitan or they were that upon metropolitan and colonial of social, political, and as as actual social and in the and the While there is not that proposals had a on colonial or metropolitan of breeding and they are and of the to which on race and the of had in the as the most of of but they were of a that has not been recognized in its its or its to the in natural The that Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil raise about the of the and the of that are and to be in a but their that a significant of historical to be are to the of the such of on of and natural the that it and of on the of of and is one of the and the of the to and of and social is in of the of and the that is in and to an the of the in a that the and of and in the potential of While the proposals for Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil are not a of and and that is they a of the and of the and its The plans Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil a and to the of but the of of selective the on the of the in on the and of and the and the of sexual in the to the of colonial the that had and Hilliard proposals were on a population that in the were and plans for the population rather than to the of and from the on in the possibility of of as as the population as a as to the and of the of a the that in the of the eighteenth in Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil on they were in their of selective Their also beyond to colonial the of and to and rather than merely a on or between people of European descent and people were to the of were Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil envisioned a for the government in to While there were significant between their Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil had the to a of would the to the would against a or white of the and the white to the metropolitan for the of The of Saint-Domingue, and to be in the were as human of could be to the French to the of are with the and but it that they had and in the colonial of the French Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil were of the and their plans its even were from Bory was a military and and on of and the to selective Hilliard d'Auberteuil was a on and the metropolitan and its that were with the and upon the to and Their for large-scale of selective breeding in Saint-Domingue are that European colonies as of and are another that the of has its and Hilliard proposals were to the that from the for Saint-Domingue and the social in but they were not merely were also to the in metropolitan in to had two that the of on could be and sexual and that be to control this the of two were to they the of human out of the a of French the most of was the de Their from the to the in a of natural as it was into with the of has the to this to an understanding of as a that was to historical and and were and historical in with on the of natural and the of that of and The also be to the that and his and the understanding of the human to control and beings The on of human and in the eighteenth and on the of in social and has on of as they to the in of were and in eighteenth-century social, political, and it was widely that could the moral as as the of the of that such were of a natural that occurred beyond the of human has been however, that the understanding of human beyond and that human selective breeding could or even the of in his works on and but also in his writing about the of the human In the of that the of could about than in so and that it was only of that the it would great of for people with to white the of was only sexual that to human and could be and that they could be on between into sexual could be to white in only that was the of the of human the human but that had been they could be to of the of even some of the of his of and race or this of his Although there is on the of natural in the as as a of that upon of human there has not been focus on the connections between the colonial and and the of of race in the of the eighteenth de from on a was an in the of of race because it was the the of the and its of of and to be as and and The in the and of human was and as were of that on the of or the of in of breeding and about and the of possibility were and it to that the of and could be selective The that human as as were not only but also selective breeding a and social to this to about selective Hilliard a of an to this and in to and into human in a Hilliard d'Auberteuil to the to the of human or to a of and Hilliard plans were each as a solution to from the as one of most social and the free for the and of the was most clearly in the of which the had been for free on the between the of and was to this from the white it as and people of were to own were also about the of their they were their and the of they on the their were to to military such as the of While had been a of between the government and the free people of the the the in The in the as it with was viewed as a of the of the to the as one governor-general “the of the an idea of the was not only a of white it was also as a military in the for the The of to the the of as the of an in the the the of the French a of that would to significant in French colonial A more and was clearly the French were to control of their The was on Saint-Domingue because it was the most in the and was to have a and In the of the as for the to be the a to the in of the the de that the would against a do not with their would have to be significant of the Saint-Domingue was to remain was a of the of the white and a military that could the of the more than a decade Bory would to for in the Essai sur la population des colonies à sucre would to be a of colonial and on in the the out his of the des Bory in his Essai that a could be the people were on the of on this of the human has a great on between mulatto and white between mulatto and and of could the mulatto and a of men would be to a in the military and of the as it has Bory was an an in his the of the to a in the of Saint-Domingue in the of the was of his in and to in than his in the the most in the des in named an a that the to in of the the of in and a of the de in in a to the and a of the that the des in Bory as governor-general for only two which even his control of the military to a more of the de had a in some of the that would the and of the and of Saint-Domingue between the and the Haitian Bory was of the of and also recognized the for a more and military to the that white be and that more free and be to In the of in the of a of or of free and The the of the but it would not the of for more than the of and mulatto to white however, was that all mulatto men of be so that they could be in military would in the Essai sur la population des colonies à sucre in that all and to be be also the a of people of African and European descent generally had a of European and than most of the people as While there was a of free and mulatto military and in Saint-Domingue and the it was an idea for to a of people would be for the military and of the While free people of the of the and the of Saint-Domingue the of the eighteenth the of was to for the or even to out has of the not Bory envisioned the it a in and all of the for the with people of color, a and separate the to white and to have the to free all the in the metropolitan government and but the of the decade the had even more than it was the The to the into a in and even it was the the of was to the of the Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil their works in the The was the most with the of white with the metropolitan The the were also an on the of the white of their were that they were people they and and that Saint-Domingue was a Essai was an of the military and that had to with of as could his for the of a mulatto and to that had significant and from the government and that had been in to had to as on the most and natural of the the of the that to an was the French government to a project to the of in would to be the the most and the and most selective breeding in that only was the project of great but it the possibility of the with of have the the de of the des to be but that it the potential for a more than the that the out to The of had been and in and the it was and of the of the eighteenth however, selective breeding was only to be and in a manner, French such as his and and the and de were to the that could for the of a in this of but was the most of the because of the importance to from the that in his of for the was the of his of a of to an of that all were of one and one his that a the his of the of with his of and his importance and as a natural only the and the that his was one of the most and works of the French and an of breeding from the his in also the most and for and could and and with to the that because of the of of the would some of the of the would each other out in the however, to the in the of the idea that could control the that would the of an such as all the in could be so as to such as and and and was not on the French government or on and had been in the to the and could also be in his with were two of that that it for Bory and his in was in the of that had the between In pursuit of this and with the of the a of from as as and that with had a of French that the in the and of their not only to the idea that a could be it also have to Bory that the were people of African and European descent were to this was not a but could be for of was his that the of the were more in the In two of it was to that the was the of the about the of in but about the importance of from to the social and as and of Bory this idea and it in was in writing about that the of an was on the of its In this the on sexual relations between men of and white and was to the sexual of in Bory was not the only one to about the of to not such in his published but the in his to one of the that published in the of the des In this from to was not an uncommon one in the of the eighteenth had breeding could as a for human breeding in the and the importance of similar could be natural books on and aimed men of Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil were the to that breeding plans be out in a human but a the de with to the de was the was the to a about breeding to Essai sur la de on of in the of the even as as Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil even that the of be so that could be on the of While to that it was for to be selective Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil that it was possible, that highly selective breeding be out on a on a and on with the of race as the of While Bory the on breeding of the metropolitan Hilliard to this was vision upon that had only with the in in Hilliard d'Auberteuil for Saint-Domingue was only as a is about his but in colonial as a of had or not of all with and in because of his and his of the as a and in his writing the two of Considérations sur l'état présent de la colonie française de Saint-Domingue, which in and would to be one of the most published of French colonial In Hilliard was the in the as as in the the as as the as as In an for in colonial but the was as a with and the to on the of the While Hilliard d'Auberteuil as an as have with the colonial significant in the In to of his in the des of the of the his the of the the this was in to from the of The from Hilliard The of Considérations is to because as a it that it was against about it was also of and Hilliard the of also that of men has more it be that Hilliard on the of the and that to be of trade and the of the military from of white in and a of on of the that it was only on the a of that one could the of the people of Saint-Domingue and they the was one was to the of and Although Hilliard d'Auberteuil had for white his generally the and generally the of the in its relations with the to Considérations more than other of the colonial to a of While of Hilliard about the of and merely from des beyond and all in that not only were the of a people but so were their In the population of Saint-Domingue and the of free people of from that the government and a and more to his that are the Hilliard d'Auberteuil his about human breeding in the of in a that on the expressed his to the of between the and free would to be from slaves, and this had to be that to the of and was the only that in his plan the of free people of into a Hilliard d'Auberteuil to the of Saint-Domingue to in would be would be would have and the would have their but would be to a of and would be with the of for the and the In the social and to the metropolitan of the Hilliard d'Auberteuil to a between and social and Hilliard plan also would have a on between white men and the of was to white men from but that such a could not be for from the of descent from a because that it would be to such a from of European to was not for the or the on or between and had been in the French colonies of in and in and a of to or such were in the Hilliard however, was in its focus on free people of and his about to be to people a The this was for all free men to be to mulatto and for mulatto men to free Hilliard d'Auberteuil not it would for all the of of the to be out into a this would have been a project aimed for the presumably of the in between the of and was other to the of more to all mulatto as to from the of the white that not all would be of African for and of one and one mulatto would to be but people as and that they to in presumably that even they were not of African their would be that they would be from the free Hilliard d'Auberteuil not the military envisioned for the mulatto as as Bory but it that they would have a to in from and their would be as they would a social the from the slaves, and they would also the for and Hilliard d'Auberteuil not into about the the government would to in out his but it is from the of the that it would have had to be a In it would have been beyond the of In of the of people would have been the of and would have been the significant of it would have the of and resources it would have to the or of the and free people of color, and the of that would have been to the plan to Hilliard plan would have been a the white population of Saint-Domingue in the and there was a with white that was in aimed the and social of free people of the there was a about and Hilliard d'Auberteuil was not the only one a plan to that no could as free people and that no free people of could for The of the of the another such a for in Saint-Domingue, the and of the of that some people of were to and that it would to that people were not of European was to of between free people of color, slaves, and that the free people of was to and the and to the of the race in the to a to the of the population of free people of and a to of their and also the that men be and of their While that no one to this idea that it was not because there was no of that could not and the and about an to be upon Hilliard d'Auberteuil to the people their their were and of their social and not merely to in which were or to that their the as was to a in metropolitan and more in the of de de de of Hilliard d'Auberteuil to they so as to their in with the social and was not merely to the of the people of had a more vision of a colonial for the that would the of white be no other than of and in the there be nor there be only free people slaves, and the The project of human breeding that was an of and this his on the as a of “the of the of and the of of free white people of color, and Hilliard a into the which the idea of race into in the eighteenth recognized that the between people were not of and but were merely that to be and they were to the for a of social In for the to a for a of to be In other had to be they could be Hilliard were not to that was not the of the would not be because they on the that it was already to a to the people to the of but in such people would be to the and the idea of Hilliard plan was an of the social of the of which was such an of French as and other metropolitan to a and of that could the of and Hilliard d'Auberteuil to a social human of their social of as the of human was a significant in the of the of to be as the of Hilliard vision of of people to have beyond of the of and in or the there do not appear to have been or proposals in the or in that as as his vision for the large-scale of a no one the and the of the a in Saint-Domingue a and one of the most French on colonial in the eighteenth with its and its own the in for the to the of so as to the for and as to the and of and Although it is a of the eighteenth people an and … of the that beyond the for sexual and Hilliard plans for human breeding were of a that for the of large-scale to control the of but they were also for understanding a of about human of is no or from which a idea of race but it that the from the to the in and the French colonies was in about significant The understanding of the of human as as the about human breeding that were this to have a significant in the of of The about human and that were and for people in the or had an or and Hilliard and of metropolitan about race and breeding is as more than other of race was The that Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil published their proposals in the that even as of race were into of the of race were already was already a between to human and the and to of and of of and the of this and their to a of race in the The not the production or of people to between of a in the of European colonial of and the in the and The and of connections between eighteenth-century of and and is however, this between the in human and the of to have an in the and the the of the of of race and in the and of the most and about the proposals for however, are to about the of the and its importance to the A to and the and its the of the as a to the and of some and and it the of the social and While about the of the and of its importance to are the and the that the be or While the of of of is is that have and the historical and that of and natural a for and is the of a of the that to the and the and remain the of its … or the and to from its of only this an but it the of the of the and in the of a this and the potential of of is in the most and of on the to appear which the importance of a of that with the of de and in the In and the of that as the of on and social generally the of the natural and of the of for the and of human are as the on the of sexual and of and clearly a of which not only but remain and not only to but to all actual or no and and no and The social of the in have an in of which the and with its not one or the presenting the as or instead, the of and and for the that the in which two in to one another and the that understanding of of is and and do not in to the and of with which they to and correct the of the historical that have and in of the not of the that with The to because of of and natural or were in the but also because they in to and and as on or of and a in or the for the idea of of the of and not to remain to the in which of were in to and of Hilliard for was a of the between of and on of and the of social and between white residents of Saint-Domingue was upon the and of a on of his was to the social and of some free people of a to raise the The of the with its of free people of from the of social and was the of possibility for the envisioned between Although correct the more and or the with and or some of their not and of the of the with its focus on and or of the between and and to and that there were such as Bory and Hilliard d'Auberteuil plans to human men and their were not as as they and they were not of the in on the in plans for selective While there is to about such a and as even of of the an in selective this of the are to have an understanding of its that is and to about the of and and and to the of and of and the of the have from an not only to a understanding of their it also understanding of the and the that the that such and of and social and also and of and

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