HISTORICAL
CONTEXT
ESSAY
What had been happening around the time of toussaint l'ouverture's life?
In the year 1803, Toussaint L’Ouverture took his last breath in the bottom of a cargo ship, where he had been taken captive to be tortured to his death. L’Ouverture had been tricked by Napoleon into attending a meeting that had been promised to be peaceful, yet ultimately led to his demise. Instead of guiding his troops to intense battles back in Saint Domingue, he had been held as a prisoner (“Toussaint L’Ouverture”). Nine months later, on January 1, 1804, the cause he had given his entire life to was completed, and the island of Haiti was freed from the chains of slavery that had consumed it for centuries (“The Haitian Revolution”, BBC).
Throughout the 18th century, the Caribbean had plantation economies owned by European countries, the most successful being Saint Domingue. These plantations were extremely profitable because of the vast amount of sugar, but it took a lot of intensive labor to actually acquire the crops in abundance. Thus, around 5 million West Africans were brought to the French colony through slave trade, and forced to give their sweat and blood in order for their masters to make money. As horrendous living conditions worsened throughout the years, more and more Africans were imported to Saint Domingue and the tension between the slaves and the white plantation owners grew along with other factors until a revolt erupted in 1791. This revolt, which later intensified into the Haitian Revolution, lasted for a staggering twelve years, and without Toussaint’s leadership, Haiti may still be known as Saint Domingue, a colony of France, and the Revolution may only be a mere stain on French history. From fighting against the French imperial authority to racial inequality, to slavery, the focus of the Haitian Revolution had shifted multiple times. However, Toussaint L’Ouverture adapted and made decisions based on the changing situations. Thus, against all odds, this brilliant military leader was able to win numerous battles and defeat England, France, and Spain with an army of mostly uneducated and adequately-trained slaves (“The Haitian Revolution”, BBC).
Born as a slave of the Bréda plantation of Saint Domingue in 1743, Toussaint was small, weak, and unfortunate in appearance. In other words, he seemed to be the antithesis of the perfect candidate to lead the only successful slave revolution in the world. However, he was rather fortunate as far as slaves went, and was self-educated in French and served his master as the coach driver, waiter, steward, and veterinarian, as opposed to most slaves who worked in the plantation fields for 12-15 hours a day (“Toussaint L’Ouverture”). Moreover, his master granted Toussaint’s freedom around 1776 and provided him with property, so he had been a free man for a long time even before the start of the series of political revolts throughout the world known as the Age of Revolution (Dubois, “Avengers of the New World” 171). Because of this, he was able to make more rational decisions than others throughout his life because he was not completely blinded with rage and revenge.
When Toussaint L’Ouverture was about 50 years old in 1791, he became involved in the Haitian Revolution as a Royalist military leader fighting against the French Republic because he was opposed to how the Republic was enslaving his own people. However, after King Louis XVI’s execution in January 1793, trust in French royalty diminished and L’Ouverture made an alliance with Spain, who was already at war with France. Nevertheless, Toussaint came to fight for the French Republic as an exchange for the emancipation of the slaves, which was granted by Sonthonax, a French general on the Republic’s side (“The Haitian Revolution”, BBC). Thus, he later fought against the Spanish even though he had been their ally earlier in the year. Despite having switched sides multiple times, he managed to unify and maintain his group of soldiers and/or followers by taking definite control, especially once he had effective authority over Saint Domingue in 1798. Moreover, he remained loyal to his army despite the confusion that may have been created, and never abandoned his beliefs and motivation for winning complete freedom (Dubois 3).
From 1775 to 1783, the American colonies formerly owned by England revolted and successfully split from the european power-house, creating the United States of America. This audacious feat sparked hope in the hearts of many other oppressed people, including the French and the Haitians. During this time, individuals in France were slowly building tension with the French royal family, and with their new knowledge of Enlightenment ideas, and hope from the American Revolution, it finally erupted into the French Revolution. This period of political and social revolts, specifically the Haitian, French and American Revolution was known as the Age of Revolution. The Enlightenment, a period during which the whole idea of government and how people should be treated was transformed, and philosophers during that time gave the idea to the common people that they could influence their country, and offered them the idea of a fair government where they could have a say in their fate (“The Haitian Revolution”, BBC).
In the 18th century, Saint Domingue consisted of three main social classes- white plantation owners and merchants, free blacks, and enslaved blacks. When the French Revolution ignited in 1789, information spread relatively quickly from Paris to Saint Domingue through ships and ports. With this newly obtained information, the different classes of Saint Domingue had different ideas on what they were fighting for. People in the white population wished to follow what the American colonists did by separating themselves from France and becoming a separate country. By doing this, they would have an opportunity to make even more money for their own benefit. However, the half-whites wished to have more equality and the slaves wanted freedom. Thus, the dominant issues were economical independence and basic human rights (“The Haitian Revolution”, BBC). During this time, the slaves were furious about the way that they had been treated so far and started to revolt against the people in power, with ideas of emancipation and equality fueling their actions.
Throughout this period of revolts and battles, Toussaint constantly had enemies who became allies, and allies who become enemies. However, he never flipped his opinion on what cause he was fighting for. During L’Ouverture’s life, Léger-Félicité Sonthonax was an important figure because without his decision of emancipating the slaves in 1793, Toussaint would have never switched to fight for the French Republic and fight against the British (Dubois 207). Furthermore, if Napoleon had never decided to attempt to take back and re-enslave Saint Domingue while the French were at temporary peace with the British, then L’Ouverture would have never been imprisoned, and it would have been L’Ouverture, not Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who would lead the people of Saint Domingue to their official independence on the first day of the year 1804 (“The Haitian Revolution”, BBC).
Even when historians attempt to create a brief summary of Toussaint L’Ouverture’s life, neglecting the importance of his involvement in the Haitian Revolution would be a fallacious action to take. Toussaint’s role as a military general not only affected a couple battles, but shaped the overall direction of the revolution because if not for the decisions that he made, emancipation may still not be present in Saint Domingue. Moreover, it was important that he had strong supporters to continue on his work because if not, then all of his efforts would have gone to waste when Napoleon had held Toussaint captive in 1802. However, due to his great leadership, Dessalines, who had worked with L’Ouverture, was able to complete the task of acquiring the official independence of Haiti (“Toussaint L’Ouverture”).
Although Toussaint was a renowned leader and popular opinion praises him for his notable achievements, some may argue that despite all these successes, Toussaint’s constant switching of sides and changes in opinion caused his followers to get whiplash, and obscured his true intentions. Focusing further on if and how Toussaint’s controversial actions changed his role in the Haitian Revolution can help reveal whether his disputed decisions impacted his legacy and his legitimacy as a leader. But despite Toussaint’s questionable choices, one fact remains clear: no matter what happened in between, with the former slave’s guidance, Haiti ultimately abolished slavery in 1804. But the question still remains, how critical was Toussaint individually to the success of the Haitian Revolution, and if a different person had been in charge would it have had the same result? A closer look at Toussaint’s tactics and intentions might help clear up the effectiveness of Toussaint’s role in the revolution, and in the present day.
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