The Haitian Revolution continued under his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who declared independence on January 1, The French had lost two-thirds of forces sent to the island in an attempt to suppress the revolution; most died of yellow fever. John Brown and his band captured citizens, and for a small time the federal armory and arsenal.
But things did not go as planned. He was eventually captured and put on trial, and was hung on December 2nd Brown and his band of brothers shows the devotion to the violent tactics of the Haition Revolution. During the 19th century African Americans used Toussaint Louverture as an example of how to reach freedom.
Also during the 19th century Britain used Toussaint domestic Life and ignored his militancy to show Toussaint as a non-threatening rebel slave. It was the greatest slave uprising since Spartacus, who led the revolt against the Roman Republic. The British government was concerned that the slave revolt would spread to their neighboring colony of Jamaica.
Seeking an opportunity to harass the French, the British sent troops to put down the slave revolt. Fearing defeat, the French National Convention acted to preserve its colonial rule and secure the loyalty of the black population.
In France granted freedom and citizenship to all blacks in the Empire. His first mission was to attack Spanish-controlled Santa Domingo on the eastern side of the island. He was now fighting his former black colleagues, who were still loyal to Spain. Toussiant contained the remaining British troops, rendering them ineffective and soon they too withdrew from the island.
By , Toussaint was the leading political and military figure in the colonies. Having temporarily secured peace with the European powers, Toussaint turned to the domestic unrest still festering on the island. Prior to , the mulatto population, who were not enslaved, had owned slaves themselves.
Many wanted them back. In , Toussaint was able to defeat the mulatto army with the help of Dessalines. Toussaint was now the de facto ruler of the entire island of Hispaniola. He introduced a constitution, which reiterated the abolition of slavery and declared himself Governor-General for Life, with nearly absolute powers. Hoping to bring some stability back to Hispaniola, he set out to reestablish agriculture and improve the economic conditions.
Toussaint established trade agreements with the British and the Americans, who supplied his forces with arms and goods in exchange for sugar and the promise not to invade Jamaica or the American South. Defying French Revolutionary laws, he allowed plantation owners, who had fled during the rebellion, to return. In , Napoleon Bonaparte gained control of France, amidst the chaos of the French Revolutionary government.
He issued a new constitution that declared all French colonies would be ruled under special laws. Toussaint and others suspected this would mean the return of slavery. He was careful not to declare full independence and professed himself a Frenchman to convince Napoleon of his loyalty.
Napoleon also forbade Toussaint from invading Santo Domingo, the eastern half of the island, where he had French authorities, trying to restore order after the Spanish departure. The temptation to have complete control over the entire island was too tempting for Toussaint. In January , his armies invaded Santo Domingo and took control with little effort. So that same year, French commissioners arrived in Saint-Domingue in the apparent spirit of compromise.
Rebel leaders, including Toussaint, refused the overture, choosing to do battle instead with the 6,man fleet France had also sent.
Feigning outrage at the execution of King Louis XVI in , he made an alliance with neighboring Santo Domingo, taking command of a Spanish auxiliary force to reclaim a swath of Saint-Domingue territory. He refused to negotiate with French commissioners until , when France formally abolished slavery in its territories. Toussaint then rejoined the French forces, beat back the Spanish and began his sustained campaign against the British, who had their own designs on Saint-Domingue.
His army ousted British forces in , causing them to lose more than 15, men and 10 million pounds in the process. Toussaint entered into a secret agreement with the British army that eased their naval blockade of imported goods. He went a step further in , opening diplomatic talks with the Americans to renew commercial ties that would benefit both economies—a major coup for Toussaint. The alliance with the Americans also afforded naval protection on trading vessels destined for Saint-Domingue, an important buffer against British aggressions.
Judging the resources of the merchant and planter classes as integral to rebuilding Saint-Domingue, Toussaint extended generous restitution policies in the name of republican fraternity, going so far as to punish any acts of retribution against former slaveholders. This ensured him a loyal base of allies who did his bidding at regional and international levels.
Under his stewardship, Saint-Domingue initiated a robust civic overhaul and public-works projects that created roads, widened canals and improved public sanitation. That extensive leniency to white citizens, alongside his increasingly autocratic measures to compel Black citizens to work on plantations, corroded his standing among the Black majority.
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