Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (1762 - 1806)

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas had a unique social position as an eighteenth-century mulatto who grew up in a plantation society. His mixed racial background would end up building a foundation for how he tackled the revolution. Because of the often contradictory processes of intensification of the slave trade and growing economic status for free people of African descent in the French Caribbean, Dumas’s identity and status in French Saint-Domingue were never secure. He was raised primarily by his mother on his father’s plantation for the first 15 years of his life. His mother's influence, the intense social climate, and the absence of his father would all allow him to develop sympathy for his mother’s status as a slave and a clear sense of the need for changing an unjust system. As a result, in honor of his mother he changed his last name solely to Dumas. Dumas was wary of Saint-Domingue’s decrepit social conditions: he was considered to be black and therefore subject to exclusion from public office or any other position of trust and confidence. Exclusion limited Dumas’s mobility, leaving him yearning for a better future. His son, famous nineteenth-century novelist Alexandre Dumas, tended to glorify his upbringing in Saint-Domingue’s plantation society, but the truth was that once Thomas-Alexandre Dumas was of age he immediately sailed to France with his father. Once in Paris, he lived a life of leisure, pleasure, and personal growth. Ironically, he had been treated better as a mulatto in France than in Saint-Domingue. Even with the improved lifestyle, Dumas was well aware that he was, “black in an all-white society, a society that recognized slavery as the law of the kingdom.” This looming pressure is precisely why he embraced the promises of liberty and equality of the French Revolution. The virtues that were solidified by his upbringing reinforced his bravery, a quality that would allow him to climb up the social ladder.[4]

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas’s trajectory in the French military was exceptional for his time. It was the transformative spirit of the Revolution that allowed him to have an eventful military career. By the time he enlisted, the French army was at its apex; a modern army in which only those in the upper ranks were remnants of an old system characterized by the practice of buying and inheriting positions. The army Dumas entered was merit-driven. However, following the Storming of the Bastille, there was mass confusion within the military on where loyalties should lie. Dumas was in the military before and during the revolution. Therefore, he had a unique perspective on the French military that would allow him to be loyal to the republican cause and its principles. It should be noted that his regiment did nothing of importance throughout the initial years of the revolution. This gave Dumas the chance to develop his standing on the revolution and train to be a better soldier. Eventually, with six years of service, Dumas was promoted to corporal and subsequently fought as France was surrounded by internal and external enemies. Dumas’s service during the revolutionary period provided him with an avenue of advancement as he protected France amidst the chaos of the revolution. The establishment of several black army divisions under the values of the revolution opened up many opportunities for him. In just a year, Dumas had risen from private to general. What made his rapid ascent possible, was his never-ending courage on the battlefield, especially in a demoralized France midway through a war and revolution. His participation in reconnaissance missions with his soldiers stands out as an example of his bravery as a commander. Furthermore, as a commander in chief, he brought in major successes for France. Dumas would often be on the front lines facing enemy fire despite his rank. These two examples are only few of the many actions that brought Dumas fame and some degree of recognition beyond his own time. They exemplify the traits and actions that allowed him to get so far as a mulatto in France.[5]