Haitian society was segregated based on skin color, class, and gender. The “white” population included grands blancs (usually merchants and landowners/royals), petits blancs (artisans), and blancs menants (peasants). The Franks, who were mostly mulattoes, were sometimes slave owners themselves. They aspired to maintain the economic/social levels of Europeans. Colonists generally discriminated against mulattoes, which added another factor to the colony's fight for independence. Some slaves managed to escape into the mountains, where they became known as Maroons and fought guerrilla battles against colonial militias. Seeking some sort of spiritual help, large numbers of slaves, Maroons, and Franks found solace in Vodou and Roman Catholicism. Inspired by the French Revolution (1789), slaves in Saint-Domingue and the French West Indies pressed for freedom and greater civil rights. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In May 1791 the French government granted citizenship to a group of wealthier affranchis, but the European population of Haiti refused to accept. As the disagreement continued, within two months fighting broke out between Europeans and affranchis, and thousands of slaves rebelled. The Europeans tried to appease the mulattoes to end the slave revolt, so much so that the French assembly granted citizenship to all freedmen in April 1792. In 1793 Léger Félicité Sonthonax offered freedom to slaves who joined his army; he soon abolished slavery altogether, and the following year the French government confirmed its decision. Spain soon ceded the remainder of the island to France in the Treaty of Basel (1795). In the late 1790s Toussaint Louverture, a military leader and former slave, gained control of several areas and gained initial support from French groups. He gave formal allegiance to France while pursuing his own political and military ideas that included negotiation with the English, and in May 1801 he had himself declared "governor general for life". Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to maintain control of the island to try to restore the old regime (European domination) by sending General Charles Leclerc from Saint-Domingue. Toussaint struggled for months against Leclerc and his forces until he finally agreed to an armistice in May 1802; however, the French got involved and failed