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When we last left off Toussaint and the fighters of Haiti had secured liberation
for themselves and for all slaves in the French empire. However while the people
had earned their freedom, time and time again they would be made to defend it.
By 1798 the armies of both Spain and Britain had been forced from the colony.
Toussaint held control north of Massif de la Selle, while his counterpart Andre Rigaud,
claimed the south. Between 1799 and 1800 the two fought each other in a civil war, ultimately
forcing Rigaud into exile and allowing Toussaint to consolidate his control over St Domingue.
Rigaud had not been the only rival Toussaint ousted. He had forced Sonthonax to return to
France earlier in 1797, fearing his popularity. However his greatest threat had yet to come.
In 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory and became Consul of France.
Napoleon aspired to restore France’s American colonies; to do this would require wealth,
wealth that could be extracted from St Domingue. It was not so secret that Napoleon conspired to
restore the pre-revolution status quo of white rule - to reinstate slavery.
Napoleon’s power grab provoked Toussaint to cement his own position. Toussaint had led
an invasion into neighbouring Santo Domingo in 1801, freeing the slaves there. He then
reopened the plantations to secure the colony’s economy. Plantation work was obviously unpopular,
but Toussaint would just institute a forced labour program. Slavery? No, no - it’s forced labour.
Under military supervision workers did receive meager wages and were
not subject to lashings - but conditions were still poor, and work wasn’t a choice.
Toussaint followed this in July of 1801 with a constitution for St Domingue;
it called for black autonomy and decreed Toussaint governor-for-life. The dictator
had fallen into disfavour with his people, and had fallen into disdain with Napoleon.
Napoleon would dispatch a large expeditionary fleet
under the command of his brother-in-law Charles Leclerc, he would also coordinate
with US President Thomas Jefferson to have St. Domingue and its export-based economy blockaded.
Toussaint’s principal lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines,
a former-slave liberated by the revolution, met Leclerc and his massively outnumbering force
in the Battle of Crete-a-Pierrot in March of 1802. A costly battle for both sides,
Dessalines faced defeat and chose to betray Toussaint and join his forces with Leclerc.
Faced with insurmountable odds Toussaint would agree to surrender in June. Under the
terms Leclerc gave his word that slavery would not be restored, that Toussaint’s forces would
be integrated in the French army, and that the governor-general may retire to his plantation.
Though Toussaint at some point during his arrest and deportation to France
must’ve realised Leclerc lied. He would die months later jailed in Fort de Joux.
The guns would fall silent for some months, however the expedition would still take over
10,000 casualties due to yellow fever. When it became apparent that Napoleon
was fully set on reinstiuting slavery on the island rebellion would break out once again.
Dessalines would desert Leclerc and take on the leadership mantle of the renewed
revolt in October of 1802. Leclerc would also be abandoned by his Polish legion
numbering over 5,000 men - The Poles had seen similarities between their
own independence struggle and the Haitian’s and would throw their lot in with Dessalines.
Leclerc would receive the news of all this as he laid dying of yellow fever,
and he would order the massacre of blacks on the island as retaliation,
before succumbing to the disease the following month.
The expedition’s killings provoked Dessalines' own massacres of French whites.
The toll yellow fever had taken on the French army left them struggling to enforce order
or even defend their own positions. The outbreak of war between Britain and France in May of 1803
made sure that no reinforcements would ever arrive to St Domingue.
Dessalines would lead his people to victory at the Battle of Vertieres in November. The
vastly outnumbered expedition was forced from the island in the last major battle of the revolution.
With the French Army gone, Dessaline and his men
were free to complete a genocide against the remaining French colonists,
only further cementing the hostility of Haiti’s neighbours and polarising Haiti’s independence.
With the loss of St Domingue and the sale of Louisiana earlier in May, Napoleon’s ambitions
for a French America were lost. In January of 1804 the entire island was declared independent under
its native-inspired name of Haiti. Dessaline would assume the title of Emperor Jacques I;
his rule would be a continuation of the military dictatorship Toussaint forged,
and authoritarian rule would haunt the people of Haiti for centuries.
Dessalines would only rule for two years before his assassination at the hands of
mulatto rebels. Haiti had been the first country in the world to permanently abolish slavery,
the second independent colony in the Americas, and the first black-led republic - however it came at
a staggering price as the country struggled to find recognition, burdened with crippling
indemnity payments to France until 1947, and has been subject to endemic political strife.
The violence and poverty inflicted on the Haitian people continues to oppress them to this day, but
in its history and its continued existence Haiti can stand as a revolutionary country
built on revolutionary ideals in a very revolutionary revolution.
So making our contractually obligated segue, let me talk to you about where
you can find more content from me, and get this, also the channels you like!
Over on Nebula you can watch my exclusive 16 minute video going into the history of
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I plan on doing a whole lot more videos going over history in video games for the platform,
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There are thousands of documentaries on Curiositystream covering history, science,
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And for last, and definitely least, it’s question time. Ooooooh~
Mr Mitchell History asks “What did your school
teacher make of you being such a successful global history teacher at high school age?”
I’m afraid I’m going to need you to elaborate on what a school
or a success is, cus I’ve had very little of either.
Skye asks “How do you cure loneliness?”
I found touching some grass works pretty good.
And Nathaniel Ayele asks “Is Melbourne the best city on earth?”
best sounds slash drugs and we’re livin it first. Turn it down no cu-
And with that we hold hands and say thanks to the patrons for their bountiful offerings.
I’m thinking of doing something a bit different for the next video, something that may take less
than a month and a half to make, but then again, let’s not get greedy. Good bye bye.