It seems that he was hardly an innocent bystander.<p>&gt; <i>Lavoisier was a powerful member of a number of aristocratic councils, and an administrator of the Ferme Générale. The Ferme générale was one of the most hated components of the Ancien Régime because of the profits it took at the expense of the state, the secrecy of the terms of its contracts, and the violence of its armed agents. All of these political and economic activities enabled him to fund his scientific research.</i><p>He had a direct hand in oppressing an enslaved population, extracting their wealth, and using it for his own means.