What was the difference between the National Assembly and the National Convention in the slavery debate?

Correct answer: The National Assembly delayed action, while the National Convention abolished slavery in 1794

The distinction concerns both timing and policy. During the earlier revolutionary period, the National Assembly did not immediately abolish colonial slavery, partly because powerful merchants and plantation interests opposed such a measure. Later, the National Convention, under the pressure of revolutionary events and resistance by enslaved people, decreed abolition in the French colonies in 1794. This first abolition was not the final settlement, because slavery was restored under Napoleon and was finally abolished in the French colonies in 1848. Option A correctly states the contrast. Option B confuses the National Assembly with the later 1848 decision, while C and D contradict the historical record.