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early backround
sugar was a very sought-after good in Europe, and Saint Domingue was one of the world's largest producers. however, sugar required a large amount of manual labor to be produced, which was done by slaves. slaves vastly outnumbered the white people on the island, and the whites lived in fear of rebellion. some escaped slaves lived in the woods and would frequently raid plantations. the white colonists passed legislation to restrict the rights of other races, forming a caste system. -
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middle backround
the caste system had white people at the top, then free people of color, who were usually educated and worked in the army or as administrators on the plantations, and at the bottom were slaves, who outnumbered the other groups ten to one. slaves had to be imported continuously because of high mortality rates, and they usually spoke a mix of French and west african languages. By 1789, Saint Domingue was the most flourishing colony of France. -
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late backround
The Declaration of Rights of Man was published by the National Assembly in August 1789, declaring all men free and equal. many of the white people in Saint Domingue disliked French policies on trade, and wanted to become independent. africans disliked the French Revolution, and wanted to gain independence and ally with Britain. The Africans knew that if the whites gained independence from France, it would mean harsher treatment and worse conditions for the slaves. -
revolt begins
the revolt began on August 22, 1791. by the next week, the slaves had taken over the northern province, only leaving a few fortified camps that were hard to access. slave masters had been fearing a revolt for a long time, so they were prepared. over the next few months, the slaves had killed 4000 white people and had burned almost hundreds of sugar, indigo, and coffee plantations. they had also burned the colony's largest city to the ground. -
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other countries involvement
in 1792, France sent 6,000 troops to the colony to protect their economic interests. Spain and Great Britain were worried that the rebellion would spread to their nearby colonies, and they didn't want to spark a war with France, but in 1793, France declared war on great Britain, forcing them to fight. many slave owners made deals with Great Britain, giving them control over the island. spain owned the neighboring colony, and they also helped great britain fight French forces in Saint Domingue. -
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active rebellion
when the revolt started, most slaves only wanted better conditions, such as days off and the end of whippings as punishment. but as the war went on, they began wanting emancipation, and for the whites to be removed from the colony. at one point their leaders tried to negotiate for better conditions, but the soldiers forced them to keep fighting, only accepting the end of slavery to end the war. -
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toussaint rises
Toussaint l'ouveture was a freed slave, who was self educated. he origionally faught for the spanish, but began fighting for the french if they promised to free all slaves. many slaves agreed with his forces. he fought for the freedom of slaves, and basically restored frances control of the island. however, since he had been leading for so long, he decided to start ruling the colony himself, as its own country. he invaded the neighboring colony of saint domingo, and freed their slaves in 1801. -
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toussaint falls
toussaint wrote a constitution for the island, which gave him control over it. this angered Napoleon, who was now the leader of France. Napoleon sent troops and ships to restore frances control, and slavery. toussaint was told that if he gave his troops to France, he could be free, but months after he did he was thrown on a ship to a French prison, where he later died. -
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napoleans rule
Napoleon, now having control over the island, decided to reinstate slavery. some of Toussaint's former allies such as Jean Jean-Jaque Dessalines turned and fought against the French. this, paired with a British naval blockade and napoleons refusal to send more troops, given that he had begun to turn his sights away form the americas, meant that dessalines was able to defeat the french in 1803. the final battle was fought in november 1802, against the french army under colonel rochambeau. -
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aftermath
Saint Domingue was renamed Haiti, which came from the island's indigenous name. this loss was devastating to France. haiti was now the first independent country formed by slave rebellion, but it was devastated by years of war, and most of its people had no education. haiti agreed to repay France in exchange for recognition, which permanently ruined their economy.