Toussaint Louverture

Toussaint Louverture
Posthumous 1813 painting of Louverture
Governor-General of Saint-Domingue
In office 1797–1801
Appointed by	Étienne Maynaud
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	Toussaint de Bréda (Tusan) 1743 (1743) Saint-Domingue (now Haiti)
Died	7 April 1803(1803-04-07) (aged 59–60) Fort-de-Joux, France
Nationality	Haitian / French
Spouse(s)	Suzanne Simone Baptiste Louverture
Signature
Nickname(s)	Napoléon Noir[1] Black Spartacus[2][3]
Military career
Allegiance	France  Haiti
Service/branch	French Army French Revolutionary Army Armée Indigène[4]
Years of service	1791–1803
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Haitian Revolution

François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (French: [fʁɑ̃swa dɔminik tusɛ̃ luvɛʁtyʁ]; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture first fought against the French, then for them, and then finally against France again for the cause of Haitian independence. As a revolutionary leader, Louverture displayed military and political acumen that helped transform the fledgling slave rebellion into a revolutionary movement. Louverture is now known as the "Father of Haiti."

Louverture was born a slave on the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now known as Haiti. He became a free man and a Jacobin, and began his military career as a leader of the 1791 slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue.^[5] Initially allied with the Spaniards of neighboring Santo Domingo, Louverture switched his allegiance to the French when the new Republican government abolished slavery. Louverture gradually established control over the whole island and used his political and military influence to gain dominance over his rivals.

Throughout his years in power, he worked to improve the economy and security of Saint-Domingue. Worried about the economy, which had stalled, he restored the plantation system using paid labour; negotiated trade agreements with the United Kingdom and the United States; and maintained a large and well-trained army.^[6] Although Louverture did not sever ties with France in 1800 after defeating leaders among the Haitian mulatto population, he promulgated an autonomous constitution for the colony in 1801, which named him as Governor-General for Life, even against Napoleon Bonaparte's wishes.^[7]

In 1802, he was invited to a parley by French Divisional General Jean-Baptiste Brunet, but was arrested upon his arrival. He was deported to France and jailed at the Fort de Joux. He died in 1803. Although Louverture died before the final and most violent stage of the Haitian Revolution, his achievements set the grounds for the Haitian army's final victory. Suffering massive losses in multiple historic battles at the hands of the Haitian army and losing thousands of men to yellow fever, the French capitulated and withdrew permanently from Saint-Domingue the very same year. The Haitian Revolution continued under Louverture's lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who declared independence on 1 January 1804, thereby establishing the sovereign state of Haiti.

Early life[]

Birth and childhood[]

Louverture is thought to have been born into slavery on the plantation of Bréda at Haut de Cap in Saint-Domingue in the early 1740s.^[8][9] As records were not kept for slaves, little is known about his early life.^[10] An alternative explanation of Louverture's origins is that he was brought to Bréda by the new overseer Bayon de Libertate, who took up his duties in 1772.^[11] Though his birth date is uncertain – with various sources placing the date between 1739 and 1746 – his name suggests that he was born on All Saints' Day: 1 November. Accordingly, he was probably about 50 at the start of the revolution in 1791. Still, because of the lack of written records, Louverture may not have known his exact birth date.^[12]

Although he would later become known for his stamina and riding prowess, in childhood, Louverture earned the nickname Fatras-Bâton ('clumsy stick'), suggesting he was small and weak.^{[13][14]:26–27} Louverture's family traditions name his grandfather as Gaou Guinou, a son of the King of Allada. While Louverture's parents are not known, he was the eldest of their several children,^[14]:23–24 while Pierre Baptiste Simon is usually considered to have been his godfather.^[15]

Education[]

Louverture was educated by his godfather Pierre Baptiste, a free man who lived and worked on the Bréda plantation.^[16] Historians have speculated about Louverture's intellectual background. His extant letters demonstrate a command of French and Creole, and he reveals familiarity with Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher who had lived as a slave. His public speeches and life's work show a familiarity with Machiavelli.^[17] Some cite Enlightenment thinker Abbé Raynal, a critic of slavery, as a possible influence.^{[17][14]:30–36[note 1]}

Louverture may have received education from Jesuit missionaries. His medical knowledge is attributed to familiarity with African or Creole herbal-medical techniques, as well as techniques commonly found in Jesuit-administered hospitals.^[20] Legal documents signed on Louverture's behalf between 1778 and 1781 suggest that he could not write at that time.^{[21][22]:61–67} Throughout his military and political career, he used secretaries to prepare most of his correspondence. A few surviving documents in his own hand confirm that he could write, although his spelling in the French language was "strictly phonetic."^[17][23]

Marriage and work[]

In 1782, Louverture married Suzanne Simone Baptiste, who is thought to have been his cousin or the daughter of his godfather.^[22]:263 Toward the end of his life, he told General Caffarelli that he had fathered sixteen children with multiple women, of whom eleven had predeceased him.^{[22]:264–67} Not all of his children can be identified for certain, but his three legitimate sons are well known. The eldest, Placide, was probably adopted by Louverture and is generally thought to have been Suzanne's first child, fathered by Seraphim Le Clerc, a mulatto. The two sons born of his marriage with Suzanne were Isaac and Saint-Jean.^{[22]:264–67}

Until 1938, historians believed that Louverture had been a slave until the start of the revolution.^{[note 2]} In the later twentieth century, discovery of a marriage certificate dated 1777 documents that he was freed in 1776 at the age of 33. This find retrospectively clarified a letter of 1797, in which he said he had been free for twenty years.^[22]:62 He appeared to have an important role on the Bréda plantation until the outbreak of the revolution, presumably as a salaried employee who contributed to the daily functions of the plantation.^[24] He had initially been responsible for the livestock.^[25] By 1791, his responsibilities most likely included acting as coachman to the overseer, de Libertat, and as a slave-driver, charged with organising the workforce.^[26]

As a free man, Louverture began to accumulate wealth and property. Surviving legal documents show him renting a small coffee plantation that was worked by a dozen of his own slaves.^[27] He later said that by the start of the revolution, he had acquired a reasonable fortune and was the owner of a number of properties and slaves at Ennery.^[28] Louverture's actions evoked a collective sense of worry among other European powers and the United States, who feared that the growing slave revolt would cause unrest among their own slaves in the Caribbean and America.^[29]

Haitian Revolution[]

The Rebellion: 1791–1794[]

Louverture, as depicted in an 1802 French engraving

Beginning in 1789, freed slaves of Saint-Domingue were inspired by the French Revolution to seek an expansion of their rights, while perpetuating the denial of freedom and rights to the slaves, who made up the majority of population on the island. Initially, the slave population did not become involved in the conflict.^[30][31] In August 1791, a Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman marked the start of a major slave rebellion in the north, which had the largest plantations and enslaved population. Louverture did not take part in the earliest stages of the rebellion, but after a few weeks he sent his family to safety in Santo Domingo and helped the overseers of the Breda plantation to leave the island. He joined Georges Biassou's forces as doctor to the troops, commanding a small detachment.^[32][33] Surviving documents show him participating in the leadership of the rebellion, discussing strategy, and negotiating with the Spanish supporters of the rebellion for supplies.^[24]

In 1791, Louverture was involved in negotiations between rebel leaders and the French Governor, Blanchelande, for the release of their white prisoners and a return to work, in exchange for a ban on the use of whips, an extra non-working day per week, and the freedom of imprisoned leaders.^[34] When the offer was rejected, he was instrumental in preventing the massacre of Biassou's white prisoners.^[35] The prisoners were released after further negotiations and escorted to Le Cap by Louverture. He hoped to use the occasion to present the rebellion's demands to the colonial assembly, but they refused to meet.^[36]

Throughout 1792, as a leader in an increasingly formal alliance between the black rebellion and the Spanish, Louverture ran the fortified post of La Tannerie and maintained the Cordon de l'Ouest, a line of posts between rebel and colonial territory.^[37] He gained a reputation for his discipline, training his men in guerrilla tactics and "the European style of war".^[38] After hard fighting, he lost La Tannerie in January 1793 to the French General Étienne Maynaud de Bizefranc de Laveaux, but it was in these battles that the French first recognised him as a significant military leader.^[39]

Some time in 1792–93, he adopted the surname Louverture, from the French word for "opening" or "the one who opened the way".^[40] Although some modern writers spell his adopted surname with an apostrophe, as in "L'Ouverture", he did not. The most common explanation is that it refers to his ability to create openings in battle. The name is sometimes attributed to French commissioner Polverel's exclamation: "That man makes an opening everywhere". Some writers think the name referred to a gap between his front teeth.^[41]

Despite adhering to royalist views, Louverture began to use the language of freedom and equality associated with the French Revolution.^[42] From being willing to bargain for better conditions of slavery late in 1791, he had become committed to its complete abolition.^[43][44] After an offer of land, privileges, and recognising the freedom of slave soldiers and their families, Jean-Francois and Biassou formally allied with the Spanish in May 1793; Louverture likely did so in early June. He had made covert overtures to General Laveaux prior but was rebuffed as Louverture's conditions for alliance were deemed unacceptable. At this time the republicans were yet to make any formal offer to the slaves in arms and conditions for the blacks under the Spanish looked better than that of the French.^[45] In response to the civil commissioners' radical 20 June proclamation (not a general emancipation, but an offer of freedom to male slaves who agreed to fight for them) Louverture stated that "the blacks wanted to serve under a king and the Spanish king offered his protection."^[46]

On 29 August 1793 he made his famous declaration of Camp Turel to the blacks of St. Domingue:

Brothers and friends, I am Toussaint Louverture; perhaps my name has made itself known to you. I have undertaken vengeance. I want Liberty and Equality to reign in St. Domingue. I am working to make that happen. Unite yourselves to us, brothers and fight with us for the same cause.^[18]

On the same day, the beleaguered French commissioner, Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, proclaimed emancipation for all slaves in French Saint-Domingue,^[47] hoping to bring the black troops over to his side.^[48] Initially, this failed, perhaps because Louverture and the other leaders knew that Sonthonax was exceeding his authority.^[49]

However, on 4 February 1794, the French revolutionary government in France proclaimed the abolition of slavery.^[50] For months, Louverture had been in diplomatic contact with the French general Étienne Maynaud de Bizefranc de Laveaux. During this time, his competition with the other rebel leaders was growing, and the Spanish had started to look with disfavour on his near-autonomous control of a large and strategically important region.^[51]

Louverture's auxiliary force was employed to great success, with his army responsible for half of all Spanish gains north of the Artibonite in the West in addition to capturing the port town of Gonaïves in December 1793.^[52] However, tensions had emerged between Louverture and the Spanish higher-ups. His superior with whom he enjoyed good relations, Matías de Armona, was replaced with Juan de Lleonart – who was disliked by the black auxiliaries. Lleonart failed to support Louverture in March 1794 during his feud with Biassou, who had been stealing supplies for Louverture's men and selling their families as slaves. Unlike Jean-Francois and Bissaou, Louverture refused to round up enslaved women and children to sell to the Spanish. This feud also emphasised Louverture's inferior position in the trio of black generals in the minds of the Spanish – a check upon any ambitions for further promotion.^[53]

On 29 April 1794 the Spanish garrison at Gonaïves was suddenly attacked by black troops fighting in the name of "the King of the French", who demanded that the garrison surrender. Approximately 150 men were killed and much of the populace forced to flee. White guardsmen in the surrounding area had been murdered, and Spanish patrols sent into the area never returned.^[54] Louverture is suspected to have been behind this attack, although was not present. He wrote to the Spanish 5 May protesting his innocence – supported by the Spanish commander of the Gonaïves garrison, who noted that his signature was absent from the rebels' ultimatum. It was not until 18 May that Louverture would claim responsibility for the attack, when he was fighting under the banner of the French.^[55]

The events at Gonaïves made Lleonart increasingly suspicious of Louverture. When they had met at his camp 23 April, the black general had shown up with 150 armed and mounted men, as opposed to the usual 25, choosing not to announce his arrival or waiting for permission to enter. Lleonart found him lacking his usual modesty or submission, and after accepting an invitation to dinner 29 April, Louverture afterward failed to show. The limp that had confined him to his bed during the Gonaïves attack was thought to be feigned and Lleonart suspected him of treachery.^[56] Remaining distrustful of the black commander, Lleonart housed his wife and children whilst Louverture led an attack on Dondon in early May, an act which Lleonart later believed confirmed Louverture's decision to turn against the Spanish.^[57]

Alliance with the French: 1794–1796[]

Louverture surveying his troops

The timing of and motivation behind Louverture’s volte-face against Spain remains debated amongst historians. James claimed that upon learning of the emancipation decree in May 1794, Louverture decided to join the French in June.^[58] It is argued by Ardouin that Toussaint was indifferent toward black freedom, concerned primarily for his own safety and resentful over his treatment by the Spanish – leading him to officially join the French 4 May 1794 when he raised the republican flag over Gonaïves.^[59] Ott sees Louverture as "both a power-seeker and sincere abolitionist" who was working with Laveaux since January 1794 and switched sides 6 May.^[60]

Afterward, Louverture claimed to have switched sides after emancipation was proclaimed and the commissioners Sonthonax and Polverel had returned to France in June 1794. However, a letter from Toussaint to General Laveaux confirms that he was already fighting officially on the behalf of the French by 18 May 1794.^[61]

In the first weeks, Louverture eradicated all Spanish supporters from the Cordon de l'Ouest, which he had held on their behalf.^[62] He faced attack from multiple sides. His former colleagues in the slave rebellion were now fighting against him for the Spanish. As a French commander, he was faced with British troops who had landed on Saint-Domingue in September, as the British hoped to take advantage of the ongoing instability to capture the prosperous island.^[63] On the other hand, he was able to pool his 4,000 men with Laveaux's troops in joint actions.^[64] By now his officers included men who were to remain important throughout the revolution: his brother Paul, his nephew , Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Henri Christophe.^[65]

Before long, Louverture had put an end to the Spanish threat to French Saint-Domingue. In any case, the Treaty of Basel of July 1795 marked a formal end to hostilities between the two countries. Black leaders Jean-François and Biassou continued to fight against Louverture until November, when they left for Spain and Florida, respectively. At that point, most of their men joined Louverture's forces.^[66] Louverture also made inroads against the British presence, but was unable to oust them from Saint-Marc. He contained them by resorting to guerilla tactics.^[67]

Throughout 1795 and 1796, Louverture was also concerned with re-establishing agriculture and exports, and keeping the peace in areas under his control. In speeches and policy he revealed his belief that the long-term freedom of the people of Saint-Domingue depended on the economic viability of the colony.^[68] He was held in general respect, and resorted to a mixture of diplomacy and force to return the field hands to the plantations as emancipated and paid workers.^[69] Workers regularly staged small rebellions, protesting poor working conditions, their lack of real freedom, or their fear of a return to slavery. They wanted to establish their own small holdings and work for themselves, rather than on plantations.^[70]

Another of Louverture's concerns was to manage potential rivals for power within the French part of the colony. The most serious of these was the mulatto commander , based in Cap-Français. Louverture and Villate had competed over the command of some sections of troops and territory since 1794. Villatte was thought to be somewhat racist toward black soldiers such as Louverture and planned to ally with André Rigaud, a free man of colour, after overthrowing French General Étienne Laveaux.^[71] In 1796 Villate drummed up popular support by accusing the French authorities of plotting a return to slavery.

On 20 March, he succeeded in capturing the French Governor Laveaux, and appointed himself Governor. Louverture's troops soon arrived at Cap-Français to rescue the captured governor and to drive Villatte out of town. Louverture was noted for opening the warehouses to the public, proving that they were empty of the chains that residents feared had been imported to prepare for a return to slavery. He was promoted to commander of the West Province two months later, and in 1797 was appointed as Saint-Domingue's top-ranking officer.^[72] Laveaux proclaimed Louverture as Lieutenant Governor, announcing at the same time that he would do nothing without his approval, to which Louverture replied, "After God, Laveaux".^[73]

Third Commission: 1796–97[]

A few weeks after Louverture's triumph over the Villate insurrection, France's representatives of the third commission arrived in Saint-Domingue. Among them was Sonthonax, the commissioner who had previously declared abolition of slavery on the same day as Louverture's proclamation of Camp Turel.^[74] At first the relationship between the two men was positive. Sonthonax promoted Louverture to general and arranged for his sons, Placide and Isaac, to attend the school that had been established in France for the children of colonials.^[75]

In September 1796, elections were held to choose colonial representatives for the French national assembly. Louverture's letters show that he encouraged Laveaux to stand, and historians have speculated as to whether he was seeking to place a firm supporter in France or to remove a rival in power.^[76] Sonthonax was also elected, either at Louverture's instigation or on his own initiative. While Laveaux left Saint-Domingue in October, Sonthonax remained.^[77][78]

Sonthonax, a fervent revolutionary and fierce supporter of racial equality, soon rivalled Louverture in popularity. Although their goals were similar, they had several points of conflict.^[79][80] They strongly disagreed about accepting the return of the white planters who had fled Saint-Domingue at the start of the revolution. To Sonthonax, they were potential counter-revolutionaries, to be assimilated, officially or not, with the ‘émigrés’ who had fled the French Revolution and they were forbidden to return under pain of death. To Louverture, they were bearers of useful skills and knowledge, and he wanted them back.^[81]

In summer 1797, Louverture authorised the return of Bayon de Libertat, the ex-overseer of Bréda, with whom he had a lifelong relationship. Sonthonax wrote to Louverture threatening him with prosecution and ordering him to get Bayon off the island. Louverture went over his head and wrote to the French Directoire directly for permission for Bayon to stay.^[82] Only a few weeks later, he began arranging for Sonthonax's return to France that summer.^[72] Louverture had several reasons to want to get rid of Sonthonax; officially he said that Sonthonax had tried to involve him in a plot to make Saint-Domingue independent, starting with a massacre of the whites of the island.^[83] The accusation played on Sonthonax's political radicalism and known hatred of the aristocratic white planters, but historians have varied as to how credible they consider it.^[84][85]

On reaching France, Sonthonax countered by accusing Louverture of royalist, counter-revolutionary, and pro-independence tendencies.^[86] Louverture knew that he had asserted his authority to such an extent that the French government might well suspect him of seeking independence.^[87] At the same time, the French Directoire government was considerably less revolutionary than it had been. Suspicions began to brew that it might reconsider the abolition of slavery.^[88] In November 1797, Louverture wrote again to the Directoire, assuring them of his loyalty, but reminding them firmly that abolition must be maintained.^[89]

Treaties with Britain and the United States: 1798[]

British officer Thomas Maitland meeting with Louverture to negotiate

For months, Louverture was in sole command of French Saint-Domingue, except for a semi-autonomous state in the south, where general André Rigaud had rejected the authority of the third commission.^[90] Both generals continued harassing the British, whose position on Saint-Domingue was increasingly weak.^[91] Louverture was negotiating their withdrawal when France's latest commissioner, Gabriel Hédouville, arrived in March 1798, with orders to undermine his authority.^[92]

On 30 April 1798, Louverture signed a treaty with the British general Thomas Maitland, exchanging the withdrawal of British troops from western Saint-Domingue in return for a general amnesty for the French counter-revolutionaries in those areas. In May, Port-au-Prince was returned to French rule in an atmosphere of order and celebration.^[93]

In July, Louverture and Rigaud met commissioner Hédouville together. Hoping to create a rivalry that would diminish Louverture's power, Hédouville displayed a strong preference for Rigaud, and an aversion to Louverture.^[94] However, General Maitland was also playing on French rivalries and evaded Hédouville's authority to deal with Louverture directly.^[95] In August, Louverture and Maitland signed treaties for the evacuation of the remaining British troops. On 31 August, they signed a secret treaty that lifted the British blockade on Saint-Domingue in exchange for a promise that Louverture would not attempt to cause unrest in British colonies in the West Indies.^[96]

As Louverture's relationship with Hédouville reached the breaking point, an uprising began among the troops of his adopted nephew, Hyacinthe Moïse. Attempts by Hédouville to manage the situation made matters worse and Louverture declined to help him. As the rebellion grew to a full-scale insurrection, Hédouville prepared to leave the island, while Louverture and Dessalines threatened to arrest him as a troublemaker.^[97] Hédouville sailed for France in October 1798, nominally transferring his authority to Rigaud. Louverture decided instead to work with , a member of the third commission who had been posted to the Spanish parts of the colony.^[98] Although Louverture continued to protest his loyalty to the French government, he had expelled a second government representative from the territory and was about to negotiate another autonomous agreement with one of France's enemies.^[99]

The United States had suspended trade with France in 1798 because of increasing tensions between the American and French governments over the issue of privateering. The two countries entered into the so-called "Quasi"-War, but trade between Saint-Domingue and the United States was desirable to both Louverture and the United States. With Hédouville gone, Louverture sent Joseph Bunel to negotiate with the administration of John Adams. The terms of the treaty were similar to those already established with the British, but Louverture continually rebuffed suggestions from either power that he should declare independence.^[100] As long as France maintained the abolition of slavery, he appeared to be content to have the colony remain French, at least in name.^[101]

Expansion of territory: 1799–1801[]

Louverture accused André Rigaud (pictured) of trying to assassinate him.

In 1799, the tensions between Louverture and Rigaud came to a head. Louverture accused Rigaud of trying to assassinate him to gain power over Saint-Domingue. Rigaud claimed Louverture was conspiring with the British to restore slavery.^[102] The conflict was complicated by racial overtones that escalated tensions between full blacks and mulattoes.^[103][104] Louverture had other political reasons for eliminating Rigaud; only by controlling every port could he hope to prevent a landing of French troops if necessary.^[105]

After Rigaud sent troops to seize the border towns of Petit-Goave and Grand-Goave in June 1799, Louverture persuaded Roume to declare Rigaud a traitor and attacked the southern state.^[106] The resulting civil war, known as the War of Knives, lasted more than a year, with the defeated Rigaud fleeing to Guadeloupe, then France, in August 1800.^[107] Louverture delegated most of the campaign to his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who became infamous, during and after the war, for massacring mulatto captives and civilians.^[108] The number of deaths is contested: the contemporary French general suggested 10,000 deaths, while the twentieth-century Trinidadian historian C.L.R. James claimed there were only a few hundred deaths.^[17][109]

In November 1799, during the civil war, Napoleon Bonaparte gained power in France and passed a new constitution declaring that the colonies would be subject to special laws.^[110] Although the colonies suspected this meant the re-introduction of slavery, Napoleon began by confirming Louverture's position and promising to maintain abolition.^[111] But he also forbade Louverture to invade Spanish Santo Domingo, an action that would put Louverture in a powerful defensive position.^[112] Louverture was determined to proceed anyway and coerced Roume into supplying the necessary permission.^[113]

In January 1801, Louverture and Hyacinthe Moïse invaded the Spanish territory, taking possession of it from the governor, Don Garcia, with few difficulties. The area had been less developed and populated than the French section. Louverture brought it under French law, abolishing slavery and embarking on a program of modernization. He now controlled the entire island.^[114]

Constitution of 1801[]

An engraving of Louverture

Napoleon had informed the inhabitants of Saint-Domingue that France would draw up a new constitution for its colonies, in which they would be subjected to special laws.^[115] Despite his protestations to the contrary, the former slaves feared that he might restore slavery. In March 1801, Louverture appointed a constitutional assembly, composed chiefly of white planters, to draft a constitution for Saint-Domingue. He promulgated the Constitution on 7 July 1801, officially establishing his authority over the entire island of Hispaniola. It made him governor-general for life with near absolute powers and the possibility of choosing his successor. However, Louverture was not to explicitly declare Saint-Domingue's independence, acknowledging in Article 1 that it was a single colony of the French Empire.^[116] Article 3 of the constitution states: "There cannot exist slaves [in Saint-Domingue], servitude is therein forever abolished. All men are born, live and die free and French."^[117] The constitution guaranteed equal opportunity and equal treatment under the law for all races, but confirmed Louverture's policies of forced labour and the importation of workers through the slave trade.^[118] Louverture was not willing to compromise Catholicism for Vodou, the dominant faith among former slaves. Article 6 states that "the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman faith shall be the only publicly professed faith."^[119]

Louverture charged Colonel Charles Humbert Marie Vincent, who personally opposed the drafted constitution, with the task of delivering it to Napoleon. Several aspects of the constitution were damaging to France: the absence of provision for French government officials, the lack of trade advantages, and Louverture's breach of protocol in publishing the constitution before submitting it to the French government. Despite his disapproval, Vincent attempted to submit the constitution to Napoleon but was briefly exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba for his pains.^{[120][note 3]}

Louverture identified as a Frenchman and strove to convince Bonaparte of his loyalty. He wrote to Napoleon, but received no reply.^[122] Napoleon eventually decided to send an expedition of 20,000 men to Saint-Domingue to restore French authority, and possibly, to restore slavery as well.^[123] Given the fact that France had signed a temporary truce with Great Britain in the Treaty of Amiens, Napoleon was able to plan this operation without the risk of his ships being intercepted by the Royal Navy.

Leclerc's campaign[]

Napoleon dispatched General Charles Emmanuel Leclerc (pictured) to seize control of the island.

Napoleon's troops, under the command of his brother-in-law, General Charles Emmanuel Leclerc, were directed to seize control of the island by diplomatic means, proclaiming peaceful intentions, and keep secret his orders to deport all black officers.^[124] Meanwhile, Louverture was preparing for defense and ensuring discipline. This may have contributed to a rebellion against forced labor led by his nephew and top general, Moïse, in October 1801. Because the activism was violently repressed, when the French ships arrived, not all of Saint-Domingue supported Louverture.^[125] In late January 1802, while Leclerc sought permission to land at Cap-Français and Christophe held him off, the Vicomte de Rochambeau suddenly attacked Fort-Liberté, effectively quashing the diplomatic option.^[126] Christophe had written to Leclerc: "you will only enter the city of Cap, after having watched it reduced to ashes. And even upon these ashes, I will fight you."

Louverture's plan in case of war was to burn the coastal cities and as much of the plains as possible, retreat with his troops into the inaccessible mountains, and wait for yellow fever to decimate the French.^[127] The biggest impediment to this plan proved to be difficulty in internal communications. Christophe burned Cap-Français and retreated, but Paul Louverture was tricked by a false letter into allowing the French to occupy Santo Domingo. Other officers believed Napoleon's diplomatic proclamation, while some attempted resistance instead of burning and retreating.^[128]

With both sides shocked by the violence of the initial fighting, Leclerc tried belatedly to revert to the diplomatic solution. Louverture's sons and their tutor had been sent from France to accompany the expedition with this end in mind and were now sent to present Napoleon's proclamation to Louverture.^[129] When these talks broke down, months of inconclusive fighting followed.

This ended when Christophe, ostensibly convinced that Leclerc would not reinstitute slavery, switched sides in return for retaining his generalship in the French military. General Jean-Jacques Dessalines did the same shortly later. On 6 May 1802, Louverture rode into Cap-Français and negotiated an acknowledgement of Leclerc's authority in return for amnesty for him and his remaining generals. He thus ended hostilities and retired to his plantation in Ennery.^[130]

Arrest, imprisonment, and death[]

After his 1802 arrest, Louverture was imprisoned at Fort-de-Joux in France, where he died in 1803.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines was at least partially responsible for Louverture's arrest, as asserted by several authors, including Louverture's son, Isaac. On 22 May 1802, after Dessalines learned that Louverture had failed to instruct a local rebel leader to lay down his arms per the recent ceasefire agreement, he immediately wrote to Leclerc to denounce Louverture's conduct as "extraordinary". For this action, Dessalines and his spouse received gifts from Jean Baptiste Brunet.^[131]

Leclerc originally asked Dessalines to arrest Louverture, but he declined. Jean Baptiste Brunet was ordered to do so, but accounts differ as to how he accomplished this. One version said that Brunet pretended that he planned to settle in Saint-Domingue and was asking Louverture's advice about plantation management. Louverture's memoirs, however, suggest that Brunet's troops had been provocative, leading Louverture to seek a discussion with him. Either way, Louverture had a letter, in which Brunet described himself as a "sincere friend", to take with him to France. Embarrassed about his trickery, Brunet absented himself during the arrest.^[132]

Brunet deported Louverture and his aides to France on the frigate Créole and the 74-gun Héros, claiming that he suspected the former leader of plotting an uprising. Boarding Créole, Toussaint Louverture warned his captors that the rebels would not repeat his mistake,^{[citation needed]}, "In overthrowing me you have cut down in Saint Domingue only the trunk of the tree of liberty; it will spring up again from the roots, for they are numerous and they are deep."^[133]

The ships reached France on 2 July 1802 and, on 25 August, Louverture was imprisoned at Fort-de-Joux in Doubs.^{[citation needed]} During this time, Louverture wrote a memoir.^[10] He died in prison on 7 April 1803. Suggested causes of death include exhaustion, malnutrition, apoplexy, pneumonia, and possibly tuberculosis.^[134][135]

Views and stances[]

Religion and spirituality[]

Throughout his life, Louverture was known as a devout Roman Catholic.^[136] After defeating forces led by Andre Rigaud in the War of the Knives, Louverture consolidated his power by decreeing a new constitution for the colony in 1801. It established Catholicism as the official religion.^{[citation needed]} Although Vodou was generally practiced on Saint-Domingue in combination with Catholicism, little is known for certain if Louverture had any connection with it. Officially as ruler of Saint-Domingue, he discouraged it.^[137]

Historians have suggested that he was a member of high degree of the Masonic Lodge of Saint-Domingue, mostly based on a Masonic symbol he used in his signature. The membership of several free blacks and white men close to him has been confirmed.^[138] His membership is, considering his status as a devout Catholic, nonetheless unlikely due to the papal ban on Catholics holding membership in Masonic organizations introduced by Pope Clement XII having gone into effect in 1738.^[139]

Legacy[]

Influence[]

In Louverture's absence, Jean-Jacques Dessalines led Haiti to victory over the French in 1803.

In his absence, Jean-Jacques Dessalines led the Haitian rebellion until its completion, finally defeating the French forces in 1803, after they were seriously weakened by yellow fever; two-thirds of the men had died when Napoleon withdrew his forces.^{[citation needed]}

John Brown claimed influence by Louverture in his plans to invade Harpers Ferry. Brown and his band captured citizens, and for a small time the federal armory and arsenal there. Brown's goal was that the local slave population would join the raid, but they did not. Brown was eventually captured and put on trial, and he was hanged on 2 December 1859. Brown and his band showed devotion to the violent tactics of the Haitian Revolution. During the nineteenth century African Americans referred to Louverture as an example of how to reach freedom.^[140]

Memorials[]

An 1870 statue by Anne Whitney

On 29 August 1954, the Haitian ambassador to France, Léon Thébaud, inaugurated a stone cross memorial for Toussaint Louverture at the foot of Fort-de-Joux.^[141] Years afterward, the French government ceremoniously presented a shovelful of soil from the grounds of Fort-de-Joux to the Haitian government as a symbolic transfer of Louverture's remains.

An inscription in his memory, was installed in 1998 on the wall of the Panthéon in Paris. It reads:^[142]

Combattant de la liberté, artisan de l'abolition de l'esclavage, héros haïtien mort déporté au Fort-de-Joux en 1803.
(Combatant for liberty, craftsman of the abolition of slavery, Haitian hero died in deportation at Fort-de-Joux in 1803.)

The inscription is opposite a wall inscription, also installed in 1998, honoring Louis Delgrès, a mulatto military leader in Guadeloupe who died leading the resistance against Napoleonic reoccupation and re-institution of slavery on that island. The location of Delgrès' body is also a mystery. Both inscriptions are located near the tombs of Jean Jaurès, Félix Éboué, , and Victor Schœlcher.^[143]

Cultural references[]

Poster for Federal Theater Project presentation in Boston Haiti. A Drama of the Black Napoleon (1938) by William DuBois

• English poet William Wordsworth published his sonnet "To Toussaint L'Ouverture" in January 1803.^[144]
• African-American novelist Frank J. Webb refers to Louverture in his 1857 novel The Garies and Their Friends, about free African Americans. Louverture's portrait is said to inspire real estate tycoon Mr. Walters.^[145]
• In 1934, Trinidadian historian C. L. R. James wrote a play, Toussaint Louverture - The story of the only successful slave revolt in history. It was performed at the Westminster Theatre in London in 1936 and starred actors Paul Robeson (in the title role), Robert Adams, and Orlando Martins.^[146] The play was revised and produced in 1967 as The Black Jacobins (after James's classic 1938 history of that name) and this was performed by the Talawa Theatre Company in 1986 in a play directed by Yvonne Brewster and starring Norman Beaton in the title role.^[147]
• In 1938, American artist Jacob Lawrence created a series of paintings about the life of Louverture, which he later adapted into a series of prints.^[148] His painting, titled Toussaint L'Ouverture, hangs in the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio.
• In 1944, African-American writer Ralph Ellison wrote the story "Mister Toussan", in which two African-American youths exaggerate the story of Louverture. He is seen as a symbol of Blacks asserting their identities and liberty over White dominance.^[149]
• Kenneth Roberts's best-selling novel, Lydia Bailey (1947), is set during the Haitian Revolution and features Louverture, Dessalines, and Cristophe as the principal historical characters. The 1952 American film based on the novel was directed by Jean Negulesco; Louverture is portrayed by actor .^[150]
• In 1971 the band Santana released on their Album Santana III a song called Toussaint L'Overture. It was also released on their Album Moonflower in 1977. The song's title is not in the lyrics, which are all in Spanish.
• In 1977 the opera Toussaint by David Blake was produced by English National Opera at the Coliseum Theatre in London, starring Neil Howlett in the title role.^[151]
• In 1983, Jean-Michel Basquiat, the Brooklyn-born New York painter of the 1980s, whose father was from Haiti, painted the monumental work, Toussaint L'Ouverture vs Savonarola, with a portrait of Louverture.^[152]
• The calypso "Haiti I Am Sorry", by David Rudder, first recorded in 1988 for the album Haiti by David Rudder and Charlie's Roots,^[153] begins with the words: "Toussaint was a mighty man/ and to make matters worse he was black...".^[154]
• Haitian actor Jimmy Jean-Louis starred as the title role in the 2012 French miniseries Toussaint Louverture.^[155]
• The song "Bring the Sun / Toussaint L’Ouverture" by the band Swans appears on their 2014 album To Be Kind.

Notes and references[]

Notes[]

References and citations[]

Works cited[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Toussaint Louverture.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Toussaint Louverture

• Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography and Autobiography by J. R. Beard, 1863
• A section of Bob Corbett's on-line course on the history of Haïti that deals with Toussaint's rise to power.
• The Louverture Project
• Toussaint at IMDb
• "Égalité for All: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution". Noland Walker. PBS documentary. 2009.
• Spencer Napoleonica Collection at Newberry Library
• Black Spartacus by Anthony Maddalena (Thee Black Swan Theatre Company); a radio play in four parts which tells the story of Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian Slave Uprising of 1791–1803
• Paul Foot on Toussaint Louverture (lecture from 1991)
• "Toussaint, Dominique François" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1889.
• Elliott, Charles Wyllys. St. Domingo, its revolution and its hero, Toussaint Louverture, New York, J. A. Dix, 1855. Manioc
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Toussaint l'Ouverture, Pierre-Dominique" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Toussaint L'Ouverture by Wendell Phillips (hardcover edition, published in English, French and Kreyòl Ayisyen).