Once upon a time back in 1791, there arose a revolution heard around the world. Several revolutions had been occurring around this time, American and French, so one would think that another one would not be anything new. However, this revolution was something new. The slaves of Haiti were not revolting to become a country of their own, but instead they were revolting for their freedom.
A voodoo priest by the name of Dutty Boukman was the man who started it all. He decided that the enlightenment theory of equality for all included slaves too and that slaves should fight for their freedom. One late August night, Boukman called slaves from across the island to a bonfire ceremony were they all swore a pact, sealed in blood, to revolt.
On August 21, 1791, small revolts sprang up all over the island at different plantations. The slaves made sure to only kill white French citizens. While many slaves revolted, it was not in one unified unit. In light of the disorganization, the whites of the island were able to put the slaves back on the plantations for a very short period of time in 1792.
Then in 1793, the British and Spanish invaded the island colony in hopes of taking the Caribbean pearl away from France. In order to repeal the attackers, the French leader of the colony, Sonthonax, freed the slaves anticipating that they would join the French in fighting the British and the Spanish. This decision was later confirmed by the National Assembly in Paris and expanded to include all French holdings. Therefore, France was the first to completely abolish slavery.
The slave leader that stood out among all the rest was Toussaint Louverture. He began life as a slave but spent most of his life as a freedman. Since he lived most of his life as a freedman, some slaves did not believe that Toussaint knew enough about life as a slave to be fully committed to the cause of freedom. He did prove to be one of the most effective and unifying leaders of the slave revolt. The French even put him in charge of the whole colony. This power eventually went to his head and he tried to reign with absolute control like a dictator. He got rid of anyone who tried to oppose him.
It was an extremely violent and bloody revolution.
As this picture shows, this war was every man for himself. It was not civilized war with two sides marching at each other and firing shots, but instead it was guerilla warfare.
It is estimated that as many as 100,000 blacks and 25,000 whites were killed in the revolution. Many were captured and hung as this picture portrays. If you notice, the number of gallows extends far up the hillside. Also shown in this picture is the enjoyment the slaves received from hanging their former masters.
After Toussaint wrote a declaration for Haiti, Napoleon Bonaparte thought that Toussaint was becoming too power mad and had him captured and exiled to France. The French then thought about reinstating slavery in the colony. Slaves received wind of this and revolted again ending the tenuous peace that had existed for a short while. This time the revolution stuck and with the help of a yellow fever outbreak slaves completely controlled the colony and ended slavery in 1804.
Sources
Girard, Philippe R,. Paradise Lost Haiti's Tumultuous Journey from Pearl of the Caribbean to Third World Hot Spot. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
Dubois, Laurent. Avengers of the New World: the story of the Haitian Revolution. First Harvard University Press, 2005.
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