Toussaint L'Ouverture PDF

## Toussaint L'Ouverture Toussaint L'Ouverture was the dominant figure in the largest slave revolt in the Western hemisphere and the only one to be fully successful. He rose from enslavement to the military and political leadership of the Haitian struggle for independence within the French Revoluti...

## Toussaint L'Ouverture Toussaint L'Ouverture was the dominant figure in the largest slave revolt in the Western hemisphere and the only one to be fully successful. He rose from enslavement to the military and political leadership of the Haitian struggle for independence within the French Revolution. He abolished slavery and established an autonomous nation based on the concept that all men should be equal. L'Ouverture became a symbol of black power, dignity, and autonomy, inspiring both those who supported and those who opposed those ideals. L'Ouverture was born on May 20, 1743, to slave parents on the Breda sugar estate outside of Cap Français, one of the leading cities of the island colony Saint-Domingue. Tradition holds that his father was once a chief of the West African Arada tribe. Whatever his background, L'Ouverture did not grow into a field hand but became a domestic worker, probably a coachman. As a child, he had learned various folk and herbal remedies from his mother and achieved some fame as a healer. At the same time, he was a devout Catholic and later outlawed voodoo from his armies. By 1779, Toussaint de Breda, as he was known before the revolution, was a free black growing coffee on rented property with a work force of 12 slaves, leased from a wealthy planter. He learned to read and write when he was about 30, taught by an ex-priest. During L'Ouverture's youth, Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) was the most prosperous of France's colonies. Its economy was based on the plantation and slavery system. More than 3,000 plantations produced coffee, sugar, cotton, indigo, tobacco, and cocoa. Under the mercantilist system practiced by France, Saint-Domingue could not develop its own industries but was forced to purchase finished goods from France. All trade was carried by French ships. Although many planters became fabulously wealthy, they harbored some resentment against the royal government. The population on Saint-Domingue comprised three separate groups. Whites held most of the power in the colony; in 1789, they numbered about 45,000 persons. Free blacks or mixed bloods occupied an intermediate position. Many members of this group were wealthy in their own right and owned slaves and plantations. They were, however, systematically discriminated against by the whites and excluded from real power in the colony. Free blacks and mulattos totaled about 30,000 persons. Most of the population of Saint-Domingue were slaves of African descent. Their numbers were approximately 450,000. The French Revolution began in 1789 and quickly spread to the colonies. On Saint-Domingue, the whites were divided between those supporting and those opposing the revolution. Free blacks and mulattos also took sides, and fighting began between the different factions. In Saint-Domingue, the fighting centered around the idea of racial equality, which weakened the control of slave owners. On August 22, 1791, the slaves of the Cap Français hinterland rose up in revolt. L'Ouverture apparently joined the revolt as a doctor. He is said to have saved the lives of the Breda plantation manager and his family early in the revolution. L'Ouverture's first recorded activity with the rebels, however, was on December 4, 1791, when he participated in negotiations between white and black leaders. Negotiations broke down, and the revolution spread to slaves in other parts of the island. L'Ouverture quickly became chief lieutenant to slave general Biassou, and in 1793, the two men allied their forces with the Spanish in Santo Domingo on the eastern side of the island. As war broke out in Europe between revolutionary France on the one hand and England and Spain on the other, the latter countries invaded Saint-Domingue. In those circumstances, many blacks presented themselves as counterrevolutionaries, loyal to the French king and willing to fight with the Spanish. Tens of thousands of slaves were mobilized and armed to fight. In one month, more than 1,000 plantations were burned. To prevent total defeat, the representatives of the revolutionary government in Paris abolished slavery in September 1793. L'Ouverture quickly changed sides, joining with the French against the Spanish and British, who sought to continue the institution of slavery. He soon became the leading black general for the French and defeated those of his former colleagues who were still allied with the Spanish. Fighting continued until the Treaty of Bayle in 1795 ended the war between France and Spain. By 1796, L'Ouverture was the leading figure on Saint-Domingue. He was named deputy governor and proved to be an excellent military leader. The French-educated, mulatto class sought to replace the largely destroyed white class and take control of the colony, but L'Ouverture limited them for the most part to the southern peninsula of the island. Many of his black officers took over the abandoned plantations and revived their production, using compulsory, but paid, labor of former slaves. L'Ouverture used his army and influence with the free blacks to increase the autonomy of Saint-Domingue from France. He engineered the forced return to France of various representatives of the central government. He also negotiated a trade agreement with the United States and an agreement with the British to withdraw their troops and open trade with British colonies. Supported by Great Britain and the United States, L'Ouverture entered into civil war in July 1799 with his mulatto counterpart, André Rigaud. The so-called War of the South ended with a total victory for L'Ouverture's blacks over the mulatto class. Yet the violence of the war made it impossible for blacks and mulattos to reunite. By the end of 1800, L'Ouverture had also conquered Spanish Santo Domingo, against orders from Paris. In that and other situations, L'Ouverture displayed increasing independence from the French government. He promulgated a new colonial constitution that made him governor-general for life. He did not declare complete independence, however, for fear of alienating Britain and the United States and ending their support. L'Ouverture maintained a strong attachment to French culture. He sent his children to school in France. He valued education and ability above race. Unqualified blacks who asked for positions were rejected, while his entourage included three white priests and several white advisers. In early 1802, Napoleon I sent a military expedition to reassert French control over Saint-Domingue. In a brief but costly campaign, L'Ouverture was defeated and exiled to France. Many blacks had turned against L'Ouverture during the fighting. Once the campaign ended, however, they quickly realized that the French planned to reestablish slavery. Under the general and future monarch of Haiti, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, combatants of all colors united to expel the French. The colony was declared free on November 29, 1803, and given the name of Haiti to emphasize the break with European colonialism. The first modern black state was established. Much of the credit for laying the groundwork belongs to L'Ouverture, who demonstrated that blacks were capable of self-rule. He never saw the fruit of his labors, however. He died in prison in France on April 7, 1803.