By the second half of the 18th century, the number of African slaves in Haiti had reached nearly half a million, outnumbering white settlers ten to one. In the years preceding the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution there were numerous slave rebellions. Many of these conflicts were started by the growing number of runaway slaves, also known as Maroons. Fugitives often hid in swamps. The French Revolution was another important factor that shaped the Haitian Revolution. The French Revolution had a profound effect on the philosophical foundations of Haitian society. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, of 1789, led several mixed-race leaders to petition the French National Constituent Assembly for equality