1. Haitian Revolution

2. Haiti
The Haitian Revolution - a political conflict on the island of Hispaniola (today known as Haiti / Dominican Republic)
A French colony of Saint-Domingue from

3. Atlas Cover, 1794

4. French St. Domingue The richest of all the New World colonies
Controlled by France
$$$ = sugar cane
40% of Europe’s sugar
French brought in African slaves to work the cane fields
,000 slaves to 60,000 white colonists

5. People of St. Domingue 4 Social Groups:
Grands blancs (Rich, white plantation owners)
gens de couleur (Free people of color – denied equal rights)
Petit blancs (white workers)
African Slaves
Mulattos: people of mixed race/bi-racial (usually French fathers & black slave mothers)
Lots of racial / social tension in the colony

6. Rebellion! Slaves were overworked & underfed
Long hours
Bad conditions
Disease / malnutrition
Savage punishment
Many slaves fled their masters & hid in the mountains
Influence of the French Revolution
Declaration of the Rights of Man
The “Gens de couleur” demanded equal rights
Slaves demanded freedom
Tired of suffering & inspired by talk of liberty and equality, slaves revolt in 1791.

7. Boukman’s Rebellion, a massive slave revolt, 1791
A voodoo priest leader named Boukman Dutty led a slave uprising of 50,000 people
Killed white owners
Burned plantations
Freed slaves
Saint-Domingue’s white colonists made a deal with the British for help
Believed the French government didn’t care
Desired independence

8. Toussaint L’Ouverture
Most famous of the revolutionaries
Businessman /general / doctor
Well-educated in Enlightenment philosophy
Believed a black “messiah” would rise to lead the slaves to victory
Trained followers like a professional army
Toussaint L’Ouverture's army wins initial victory, 10,000 whites flee
Result: National Assembly in France proclaims equality for all men (gens de couleur)
But, maintain slavery in their colonies

9. Results & Issues By 1794, rebels had achieved their goal!
Slavery abolished
Toussaint’s forces controlled most of the island
Constitution written
Toussaint became a French Official
L’Ouverture faces economic issues
Cane fields / plantations are destroyed
No economy – Need sugar
L’Ouverture forces his African followers back to work Continues the plantation system (forced paid labor)
Dictator?

10. Napoleon’s Intervention
Many white & “gens de colour” are unhappy with L’Ouverture’s rule
Petition Napoleon for help
Napoleon needs sugar $$
1802- Napoleon dispatched an army to Saint-Domingue to retake the island
Napoleon attempts to reinstitute slavery
French commander captures & imprisons L’Ouverture

11. Toussaint Dies in Prison
Toussaint L’Ouverture dies in a French Prison in 1803
Fort de Joux

12. Haitian Independence Continued
The cause for independence continued after Toussaint’s death, led by Jacques Dessalines.
Late 1803, yellow fever had destroyed the French army
Massive French casualties
50,000 of 58,000 die
France surrenders
By 1804, Napoleon recalls his army
The country declares independence on January 1, 1804.
New name: Haiti!
But not all is fair: the only people in the new government who could read were mulattos.
1805 – Constitution rewritten to keep power in hands of mulattos.
Haiti eventually becomes a republic in 1820

13. Haitian Revolution in World History
Napoleon abandons idea of empire in the Americas after losing Haiti
sells Louisiana to the USA
News spreads to the US
Toussaint L’Ouverture becomes a hero
to American slaves
The Haitian Revolution is important because:
Stopped Napoleon’s attempt to gain a world-wide empire
Haiti had the only successful slave revolt in modern times.
Haiti is the only country where slave freedom was taken by force.
Haiti was the 1st country in Latin America to gain independence, 2nd only to the USA in the Americas as a whole.
NOTE: USA fears a slave revolt in the South & refused to recognize Haitian independence till 1862

14. Questions
How does Haiti being an island make it a perfect place for slavery to flourish?
What are some of the reasons that blacks and mulattos had so much trouble getting along? Especially since they were both oppressed by the French and had hoped for independence?
How was the fight against slavery in Haiti like the fight against slavery in the USA?