Outline+of+the+Haitian+Revolution

Trev Thompson

The Haitian Revolution

It all started in Saint-Domingue which was one of the richest of all European colonies in the Caribbean. The sugar, coffee, and cotton produced there accounted for almost one-third of France's foreign trade. And so when slaves were treated so poorly and mortality rate was high they decided that enough was enough. Many slaves ran away, but planters just imported new slaves from Africa and other islands. The spark that drove the Haitian Revolution was basically the French and American Revolutions. In such that the gens de couleur fought in the American Revolution, but when they returned they were not given their rights which they earned. This upset them and in turn led to revolt, which they killed white settlers, burning their homes, and destroying their plantations. Eventually slave forces overcame white settlers, gens de couleur, and foreign armies mainly due to Toussaint. Toussaint Louverture, the man that organized and led an army of twenty thousand that controlled St. Domingue. But Toussaint did not want to arouse any anger from Napoleon, unfortunately Napoleon soon sent twenty thousand troops to control Saint Domingue. Through unsuccessful negotiation Toussaint died. However, yellow fever helped annihilate the French army and were driven out by the black generals. And on January 1, 1804 they proclaimed the establishment of Haiti, thus creating a new symbol of freedom not just for the prestiged whites but also for the so called lower class blacks and islanders.