which later ceded the colony to France. France controlled Saint-Domingue from 1659 to 1804, and it became the most lucrative colony in the French colonial empire, as well as throughout the Caribbean. Saint-Domingue was known as the “Pearl of the Antilles” for its resources, subsequent profitability and beauty. The economy hinged on slave plantations and their production of export crops. Enslaved Africans grew sugar in the northern plains around Cap Français, and coffee in the mountainous terrain. Georges and his family laboured on a sugar plantation. By the 1780s, Saint-Domingue produced 40% of all sugar and 60% of all coffee in Europe, profiting the French government and further reinforcing its dominance. To maintain this economy, from 1786 onwards, approximately 40,000 slaves were annually imported into Saint-Domingue from Africa. The Saint-Domingue colony was regarded as one of the harshest, considering the high levels of violence and mortality. The plantation owners were notoriously brutal, often using whips for the punishment of their slaves, producing an unprecedented standard of violence. Social structure Saint-Domingue's population was stratified with a rigid caste system. The population was divided into three groups. White colonists, or 'les blancs' were of the highest rank. This group was subdivided into government officials and plantation owners, referred to as 'grandes blancs', and a lower class of whites, referred to as 'petits blancs', who were usually shopkeepers, artisans and labourers. Free persons of colour, or 'gens de couleur libres, were 'mulattoes' who were decedents of white fathers and black mothers. They were relatively educated and were usually administrators on plantations, or in the army. Some even owned their own plantations and slaves. This strata also included 'affranchis', who had been free for generations, owned property and enjoyed considerable rights. They were, however, excluded from positions in office and some occupations. Members of this stratum often identified more so with the whites, however still faced distinct social differentiation. African-born slaves, such as Georges Biassou, ranked the lowest. In 1789, Saint-Domingue housed 500,000 slaves and 32,000 whites. This colonial stratification pattern laid the foundation of Haiti's present day class system. Social conflict White colonists and black slaves continually participated in violent conflict, many of which involved “maroons”. Paul Fregosi, in his book Dreams of Empire: Napoleon and the First World war 1792-1815, emphases that each of the three social classes in Saint-Domingue despised one another. In May 1791, the French government granted citizenship to