Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)

The Haitian Revolution has often been described as the largest and most successful slave
rebellion in the Western Hemisphere. Slaves initiated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1803 they had
succeeded in ending not just slavery but French control over the colony. The Haitian Revolution,
however, was much more complex, consisting of several revolutions going on simultaneously.
These revolutions were influenced by the French Revolution of 1789, which would come to
represent a new concept of human rights, universal citizenship, and participation in government.
In the 18th century, Saint Dominigue, as Haiti was then known, became France's wealthiest
overseas colony, largely because of its production of sugar, coffee, indigo, and cotton generated
by an enslaved labor force. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789 there were five
distinct sets of interest groups in the colony. There were white planterswho owned the
plantations and the slavesand petit blancs, who were artisans, shop keepers and teachers.
Some of them also owned a few slaves. Together they numbered 40,000 of the colonys
residents. Many of the whites on Saint Dominigue began to support an independence movement
that began when France imposed steep tariffs on the items imported into the colony. The planters
were extremely disenchanted with France because they were forbidden to trade with any other
nation. Furthermore, the white population of Saint-Dominique did not have any representation
in France. Despite their calls for independence, both the planters and petit blancs remained
committed to the institution of slavery.
The three remaining groups were of African descent: those who were free, those who were
slaves, and those who had run away. There were about 30,000 free black people in 1789. Half of
them were mulatto and often they were wealthier than the petit blancs. The slave population was
close to 500,000. The runaway slaves were called maroons; they had retreated deep into the
mountains of Saint Dominigue and lived off subsistence farming. Haiti had a history of slave
rebellions; the slaves were never willing to submit to their status and with their strength in
numbers (10 to 1) colonial officials and planters did all that was possible to control them. Despite
the harshness and cruelty of Saint Dominigue slavery, there were slave rebellions before 1791.
One plot involved the poisoning of masters.
Inspired by events in France, a number of Haitian-born revolutionary movements emerged
simultaneously. They used as their inspiration the French Revolutions Declaration of the
Rights of Man. The General Assembly in Paris responded by enacting legislation which gave
the various colonies some autonomy at the local level. The legislation, which called for all
local proprietors...to be active citizens, was both ambiguous and radical. It was interpreted in
Saint Dominigue as applying only to the planter class and thus excluded petit blancs from
government. Yet it allowed free citizens of color who were substantial property owners to
participate. This legislation, promulgated in Paris to keep Saint Dominigue in the colonial
empire, instead generated a three-sided civil war between the planters, free blacks and the petit
blancs. However, all three groups would be challenged by the enslaved black majority which
was also influenced and inspired by events in France.

Led by former slave Toussaint lOverture, the enslaved would act first, rebelling against the
planters on August 21, 1791. By 1792 they controlled a third of the island. Despite
reinforcements from France, the area of the colony held by the rebels grew as did the violence on
both sides. Before the fighting ended 100,000 of the 500,000 blacks and 24,000 of the 40,000
whites were killed. Nonetheless the former slaves managed to stave off both the French forces
and the British who arrived in 1793 to conquer the colony, and who withdrew in 1798 after a
series of defeats by lOvertures forces. By 1801 lOverture expanded the revolution beyond
Haiti, conquering the neighboring Spanish colony of Santo Domingo (present-day Dominican
Republic). He abolished slavery in the Spanish-speaking colony and declared himself GovernorGeneral for life over the entire island of Hispaniola.
At that moment the Haitian Revolution had outlasted the French Revolution which had been its
inspiration. Napoleon Bonaparte, now the ruler of France, dispatched General Charles Leclerc,
his brother-in-law, and 43,000 French troops to capture LOverture and restore both French rule
and slavery. LOverture was taken and sent to France where he died in prison in 1803. JeanJacques Dessalines, one of lOvertures generals and himself a former slave, led the
revolutionaries at the Battle of Vertieres on November 18, 1803 where the French forces were
defeated. On January 1, 1804, Dessalines declared the nation independent and renamed it Haiti.
France became the first nation to recognize its independence. Haiti thus emerged as the first
black republic in the world, and the second nation in the western hemisphere (after the United
States) to win its independence from a European power.

The Haitian Revolution, which took place between 1791-1804, is significant because Haiti is the
only country where slave freedom was taken by force, and marks the only successful slave revolt in
modern times. A ragtag force of slaves managed to unify Haiti, defeat Europes most powerful army
and become the first country in Latin America to gain independence, second only to the United
States in the Americas as a whole.

What is the Significance of the Haitian Revolution?

The Haitian Revolution, which took place between 17911804, is significant because Haiti is the only country where
slave freedom was taken by force. It was the only
successful slave revolt in modern times. In addition, Haiti
was the first country in Latin America to gain
independence, second only to the United States in the
Americas as a whole. Its important to discuss Haiti
because of its significance within the narrative of the
political revolutions of the 18th century.
Where does this story begin?

In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Hispaniola. The island was known at
the time by the Tano Indians as Hay-ti, which meant mountainous place. In the 1500s, the
Spaniards began to settle the eastern part of the island, where they began sugar production in
1516. They introduced slavery at about the same time; the first slave revolt in the New World
happened on the island in 1522, which seems to foreshadow what would happen a few centuries
later.
In the 1660s, the French began to settle in the west part of the island, and they established a
colony. After a few decades of fighting, in 1697 the Spanish ceded the western part of the island
to the French, who named their colony Saint-Domingue. For purposes of simplicity, were going
to refer to the colony as Haiti here.
Once the French got control of Haiti [St-Domingue], what was life like in the colony?
In the early years, the population was primarily comprised of a few white planters, engags
these were indentured servants who would work for seven years and then earn their freedom
and a small community of slaves. All of these groups were near equal in number, working
together. The economy was based on small multi-crop ventures. They grew cotton, tobacco,
indigo, a few subsistence crops, but they were small farms with very few slaves, and everyone
working side by side.
Then sugar was introduced. 100 plantations were established between 1700 and 1704. Sugar is a
labor-intensive crop, which requires more slaves. Its also highly profitable, so more and more
plantations were established, and more and more slaves were imported. Soon, large-scale crop
production would dominate the landscape, and the only people you would see working the farms
were the slaves.
What was life like for the slaves?
Haiti rapidly transformed from a society comprised of small farms with everyone working side
by side to one in which each plantation essentially formed its own industry. There were far more
Africans than Europeans, so they would separate out the slaves. Slave quarters were built on the
lowest part of the property where there was no wind or ventilation, and there was excessive heat
and it was very crowded. All of the slaves worked the land, men and women alike. Only the less
robustthe newly arrived Africans, women in their seventh or eighth month of pregnancy, or
nursing infants, and childrengot the lighter jobs. Everyone else was working the land from
five a.m. until well after dark, with working hours even longer during harvest times.
The French were particularly cruel to their slaves. King Louis issued the Code Noir in 1685 to
regulate slavery and punishment, but it was never really followed in the colony. It had little
influence over life there. They didnt ration food like they were supposed to. The Code Noir
required 2 1/2 pounds of manioc and either two pounds of salt beef or three pounds of fish every
week, but generally most slaves only got a few potatoes and a little bit of water every day. In
addition, the French employed cruel punishment techniques. If someone misbehavedran away
and got caughtthey were usually put to death in a fairly extreme fashion. The average life span

of a slave in Haiti was 7 years. Essentially, the owners were OK with working their slaves to
death, or punishing them with death, and buying more slaves.
Given that, what was the social and economic landscape of Haiti in the years leading up to
the revolution?
In the colony, there were various groups vying for power and influence. The most powerful
group was the grand blancs, or the Big Whites. These were the plantation owners and the elite.
Then there were the petit blancs, or the Little Whites. These were tradespeople: shopkeepers,
merchants, overseers, the former indentured servants who had gotten their freedom and now
worked in smaller aspects of the economy. There was a growing population of affranchis, which
were freed blacks or freed slaves, and then what were called gens de couleur, or people of color.
Depiction of the gens de couleur and the distinctive dress that marked their class in public.
The gens de couleur are interesting: they were the products of white plantation owner fathers and
slave mothers. Whats interesting is that they had their freedom, and they were recognized by
their fathers, which we dont frequently see in other parts of the new world, and sent by their
fathers to be educated in France. Then they would come back to Haiti and own plantations and
slaves of their own. The gens de couleur looked like the grand blancs, they dressed like them,
and for the most part they lived like them, but there were still restrictions on the work they could
do, and even on the way that they could dress.The gens de couleur had a pretty good life, but
they still wanted the rights and privileges of their planter parents.
In addition to all of these groups, there were the slaves, who were by far the majority of the
population. Blacks outnumbered whites fifteen times over. In 1789, there was a population of
40,000 whites and 500,000 slaves. Nearly two thirds of those slaves were African born. They still
practiced traditions and religions that they brought with them from Africa, and that influenced
the revolution as well.
This seems like an incredibly volatile situation to begin with. What was the spark that
finally lit the fire?
It seems to have been a rather slow burning spark between 1789 and 1791. In 1789 the French
Revolution began with a cry for Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Everyone in the colony was
paying attention to what was going on in France. Also, on the French side, none of the colonies
were making as much money as Haiti, so they were trying to maintain control even while there
was a lot of turmoil in France. There was a lot of tension between the grand blancs and the petit
blancs who were vying for power and control in the colony. And then, with the beginning of the
revolution, the grand blancs started seeking local autonomy. They wanted to get out of the
exclusive trade agreement that they had with France and sell their sugar to the highest bidder.
The gens de couleur were seeing their chance for citizenship and equality because they couldnt
practice certain professions and had to be separate in public spaces, and they also couldnt marry
whites. They were hoping to have those freedoms. The petit blancs were eager to protect their
position in the color-based class system. And all of these groups were against the slaves.

Also in 1789, there was a major drought in Haiti and a food shortage. In this kind of situation,
the last priority for food distribution is the slaves, and as a result, there was a large population of
slaves that was not well-fed and mistreated. In addition, in early 1791, some of the gens de
couleur tried to use force to get their citizenship and equality of rights. Two representatives went
to France to try to demand these rights, and when they came back to Haiti, they were beaten to
death in the town square. This was a special, public punishment dealt out because the whites in
Haiti didnt want to extend full rights to the gens de couleur. So this further inflamed things.
Finally, in August 1791, the slaves organized. They held a voodoo ceremony where they called
for their liberty. From that ceremony, they set out and attacked plantations, burn them down, and
kill all of the white planters they came across. For months, they just went across the island
burning the plantations and infrastructure.
Haiti was Frances wealthiest colony, as you mentioned, so, presumably the government in
France did not react well to this uprising.
No, they did not. The unrest in Haiti moved France to send various agents there to try to quell the
uprising. Theres a wonderful quote from a French colonist in 1792 that summarizes the French
attitude:
There can be no agriculture in Saint-Domingue without slavery. We did not go to fetch
half a million savage slaves from off the coast of Africa to bring them to the colony as
French citizens.
France was not going to let this happen. They temporarily abolished slavery in parts of Haiti to
deal with their own problems because they were being attacked by the British and the Spanish,
who wanted into the colony as well. So, they abolished slavery for a little while so that the
former slaves would fight the British and Spanish on their behalf, however they had no intention
of allowing the slaves to be free.
As you mentioned at the beginning of the episode, the Haitian revolution is considered the
only successful slave revolt in modern times, so we know that the slaves were able to gain
the upper hand. How were they able to successfully fight off one of the worlds strongest
military powers?
When the uprising started, it was basically guerilla warfare. They werent very organized, and
they werent very well equipped. Within the first couple of years, Toussaint LOuverture arose as
a leader. He was a former slave; he had been a coachman for the manager of a plantation. By the
time the revolution erupted in 1791 hed been a free man for over a decade, meaning he was able
to circulate around the island and get a sense of what was going on more broadly. In 1793, he
arrived on the scene, taking a leadership position. He sent a letter to slaves all over the island
introducing himself. In the letter, he emphasized that he was fighting for liberty, equality, and
fraternitypicking up these concepts directly from the French revolution.
He was able to start organizing armies of former slaves and defeat the Spanish and British forces
that had invaded Haiti. By 1801, hed actually conquered Santo Domingo, which was the

Spanish part of the island and had made serious inroads into the French part of the island. By this
point, his armies had made great strides.
Finally, in 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte decided that the rebellion in Haitinow having dragged on
for a decadeneeded to be put down once and for all. His theory was that if French forces were
able to capture Toussaint LOuverture everything else would fall apart afterward. I find this to be
a really interesting perspective given the number of slaves that were rebelling at this point, that
Napoleon thought that taking out one man would end the revolution. And it did not. He sent a
general, who tricked Toussaint LOuverture, arrested him, and shipped him off to France where
he eventually died in prison, but the revolution did not end. It struggled a little bit, but
Napoleons plan ultimately failed.
In 1803, Napoleon stated:
In November 1803 slaves managed to defeat the greatest European military power. On January 1,
1804, Haiti declared its independence, and in the proclamation, they used the expression Live
free or die, which they had taken from the American revolution.
In terms of looking at the revolution as a whole, we should consider the case of Haiti because it
is important in the broader context of the American and French revolutions. They were very
important predecessors to the Haitian revolution, and they were heavy influences on Haitis
freedom fighters.