-
The Haitian Revolution
The American Revolution of 1776 proclaimed that all men have “inalienable rights,” but the revolutionaries did not draw what seems to us the logical conclusion from this statement: that slavery and racial discrimination cannot be justified. The creation of the United States led instead to the expansion of African-American slavery in the southern states. It took the Civil War of 1861-65 to bring about emancipation. -
The Free Coloreds
The free coloreds, many of whom had been educated in France, did have some supporters in the French National Assembly and in the Société des Amis des Noirs. They were very frustrated when planter opposition kept the National Assembly from granting them equal rights with the whites. In October 1790, a free colored leader, Vincent Ogé, returned to Saint Domingue from France and led an armed uprising. He did not try to gain support among the slaves, and his movement was quickly crushed by the t -
Period: to
The Haitian Revolution
-
The first mention of Toussaint
“At the Time of so hazardous an Occurrence as this was, Toussaint, of Breda, Biassou’s Aid de Camp [Biassou was one of the rebel leaders], braving all Danger, attempted to save us, though he might have been himself the Victim to this Monster’s Rage. He represented to him, that we could not, and ought not to be thus sacrificed, without being imprisoned, and calling a Court Martial upon us.” -
The French Gains Control
By the fall of 1792, French troops had succeeded in regaining control of most of the island, but the French and the whites in the colony were becoming increasingly divided among themselves about the French Revolution. In France, the king, Louis XVI, was overthrown in August 1792, and a new, more radical assembly, the National Convention, was elected. When this news reached Saint Domingue, it split the white population. The radical revolutionaries in France sent a commissioner, Sonthonax, to -
A war had started
Toussaint made a point of including some people of mixed race and even some whites in his ruling elite, but he did not allow them any independent authority. In 1799-1800, he fought a bloody war against the remaining leaders of the mixed-race group, who had taken control of much of the west and south of Saint Domingue during the earlier fighting. -
A rebellion was crushed
In 1801, he crushed a rebellion by one of his closest followers, Moyse, who had favored dividing land more evenly among the former slaves. By this time, a new ruler had taken over France: Napoleon Bonaparte. Toussaint quickly sensed that this determined and authoritarian leader would not be likely to tolerate a largely autonomous government in what Napoleon still regarded as a French colony. While sending messages designed to win Napoleon’s favor, Toussaint also oversaw the dr -
The French military expedition
The French military expedition to Saint Domingue, commanded by General Leclerc, arrived in early 1802. Surprisingly, Toussaint did not immediately call for all-out resistance. The French were able to occupy the island’s major port cities, and Toussaint’s leading military commanders, particularly his right-hand man General Dessalines, went over to the French side. Toussaint himself withdrew to his plantation; in June 1802, the French arrested him and shipped him to France, where he died. -
The recognition of Hati.
The United States did not even recognize Haiti as a sovereign nation until 1862, and many Haitians still have bad memories of the long period of American military occupation from 1915 to 1934. Popular images of Haiti in the United States have been strongly influenced by sensationalistic books and movies about vodou; only in recent years have anthropologists and scholars in religious studies begun to take a more serious interest in this aspect of Haitian culture. -
American Constitution
The French slave colonies had a very different social structure from the slave states of the American South. The white population in the largest colony, Saint Domingue, numbered only 30,000 in 1789. In the United States, non-whites were almost always put in the same class as black slaves, but in the French colonies, many whites had emancipated their mixed-race children, creating a class of “free coloreds” that numbered 28,000 by 1789. The free coloreds were often well educated and prosperous -
A White Combatant Describes the Behavior of a Captured Black Rebel.
The anonymous French author captured a black rebel who was about to be executed. The man told him, “’It is the Devil who gets inside this body of mine. I am a good nigger, but against my will the Devil is too strong.’ His excuse made me laugh despite my anger, and had I been alone, I would certainly have saved him.” The other white soldiers were less sympathetic, however, and insisted on executing the man. “When he saw that his fate was sealed, he began to laugh, sing, and joke." -
The Convention took a decisive step.
On Feb. 4, 1794, the Convention took a decisive step: France became the first European country to officially outlaw slavery in all its colonies. A black and a mixed-race deputy from Saint Domingue were seated in the Convention, another first in European history. While this measure marked a breakthrough for the abolition movement, it was not passed entirely on idealistic grounds. The British had already captured the French colony of Martinique. They were poised to take over Guadeloupe, and t -
One of the leaders fell off in 1794
By the summer of 1794, the combined forces of Toussaint and the French had regained the upper hand in Saint Domingue, although the British continued to hold part of the island until 1798. Toussaint had received the rank of general in the French forces. During this period, he steadily increased his power at the expense of a series of French generals and political figures sent to govern the island. He also outmaneuvered the leaders of the free coloreds and rival black commanders
