The Haitian Revolution (1791 – 1804)

The western third of the island of Hispaniola became officially the French colony of Saint
Domingue (pronounced San Doma) in 1697, after the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick with
Spain. It rapidly became
France’s most important
colony, with the production
of sugar, coffee, cotton and
indigo. These items were
produced in such great
quantities and provided so
much wealth to France that
St. Domingue was called the
‘Pearl of the Antilles’. Great
numbers of enslaved
African labour were
imported to work on the
various plantations and by
1791, St. Domingue had the largest African population in the Caribbean, numbering about
450,000 persons.
Social structure of St. Domingue

The colony had three major social groups that were based on skin colour, wealth and education.
Whites dominated the society. Within their group they were divided into the Grand Blancs and
Petit Blancs. Grand Blancs were the first class, consisting of royal officials from France, wealthy
planters, merchants and professionals and civil
and military officers. Petit Blancs were the
lower group, consisting of artisans, shopkeepers
and the general poor white population. Together
both groups numbered approximately 35,000
people. The second class was the Free Coloured
group. They were also known as Mulattoes,
Gens de Couleur or Affranchis. They were the
offspring of a white father and an enslaved
African mother. Many of them were educated
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and had some amount of wealth. By 1789 this class owned a third of land and personal property
in the colony. Numbering about 28,000 people, their increasing wealth and education built
resentment among the whites, especially from the Petit Blancs. By 1789 the Mulattoes faced
many social restrictions. They were not allowed to vote or hold official positions in the colony,
they could not serve in the local militia or carry swords, nor were they able to wear even the
same clothing as the wealthier whites in the colony. The Mulattoes resented the social and
political restrictions placed on them and desired to have greater freedoms in the society.
Enslaved Africans comprised the bulk of the population. They numbered approximately 450,000
people and many of them were directly captured from West Africa and shipped to St. Domingue
to work on the sugar, coffee, cotton and indigo plantations, with the vast majority being on the
sugar plantations in the plains of northern St. Domingue. Being an enslaved group, the Africans
had no rights and were severely controlled and mistreated by their owners. The Africans kept
their cultural practises alive, especially through their religion of vodun, which was often held in
secret.
Outbreak of Revolution
The outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 brought the problems of St. Domingue to the
forefront. Support for the revolution was split among the Grand Blancs, Petit Blancs and Free
Coloureds. When the National Assembly in France declared that all men were created equal in
the ‘Declaration of the Rights of
Man’, each social group in St.
Domingue interpreted it differently.
Grand Blancs demanded greater
freedom from France’s control in the
running of the colony. Petit Blancs
wanted greater equality with the
Grand Blancs, while keeping the
Mulattoes in check.
The Mulattoes wanted their social
restrictions to be removed and equal
status with the Whites. When the
National Assembly in France granted
the whites in St. Domingue the right
to have representatives in the
Assembly, but not non-whites, the
Mulattoes feared they would be
further restricted. Two Mulattoes
named Vincent Ogé and Jean Baptiste
Chavannes planned a revolt in 1790,
to gain rights for their social group.
They had only a few hundred
supporters and their revolt was
quickly crushed. Both men were severely tortured and executed, as a signal to other Free
Coloureds not to challenge the whites. This action only served to reduce the support for the St.
Domingue planters in the National Assembly in France. In May 1791, the Assembly passed a
law allowing Mulattoes in the colony to have voting and political rights. The Grand Blancs
stoutly resisted this measure and began to form their own militias to resist the Mulattoes, who
were also forming their own militias. Soon, fighting broke out in the colony between Grand
Blancs, Petit Blancs and Mulattoes, with each group resisting the other. In the general fighting,
the supervision of the enslaved Africans was ignored, giving them the opportunity to plan their
own actions.

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The slaves had a long tradition of resisting slavery in the colony. One of the most famous
incidents occurred in 1757. Francois Mackandal, a slave and houngan (vodun priest) planned to
rid St. Domingue of all the whites, by poisoning their water supply. He was betrayed, captured
and burned at the stake. It was said that he vowed to return with vengeance and his spirit turned
into a mosquito and escaped the flames. This story became very important among the slaves, as
they believed the spirit of Mackandal would return to lead them to freedom. The many vodun
ceremonies held in secret kept this feeling alive and gave the Africans the opportunity to plan
revolts.
In August 1791, revolts
erupted on the plantations
of northern St. Domingue.
Led by Boukman Dutty, a
houngan (vodun priest)
from Jamaica, the
enslaved Africans rose up
on the 22nd of that month,
slaughtering the whites
and burning the
plantations. Boukman
died early in the fighting, but many other African and Mulatto leaders such as Henri Christophe,
Jean Jacques Dessalines and Andre Rigaud arose to continue the fight for their freedom. The
greatest of the leaders however was Toussaint L’Ouverture.
In 1792 the French government led by the Jacobins, despatched Léger Félicité Sonthonax along
with 6,000 troops to restore order to the colony. His presence was resisted by whites who wanted
the restoration of the French monarchy. In order to win control of the colony and gain support
from the Africans, he declared the abolition of slavery in 1793.
Toussaint L’Ouverture
He was born a slave on the Bréda plantation, in northern St. Domingue. It was said that his father
was a chief in West Africa who was captured and sold into slavery. Toussaint was the eldest of 8
children who received formal education from Catholic priests neighbouring the plantation. He
was also taught his African heritage by his father, especially in medicine and vodun. On the
estate, Toussaint was first a cattle herder, then a coachman and finally a steward of the livestock.

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 When the revolution erupted in 1791,
Toussaint was 45 years old. He joined
the rebel African forces first as a doctor,
but quickly rose through the ranks to
become the most significant general in
the revolution. In fact, it was Toussaint
whom Commissioner Sonthonax had
negotiated with, when slavery was
abolished in 1793.
In 1793, British and Spanish troops
invaded St. Domingue and the Blacks
found themselves fighting the invaders
as well as the white planters and
merchants, poor whites and some
Mulatto factions. Toussaint quickly took
charge and set about defeating his
enemies. By 1797 he was commander of
a joint French and Black army. He
ordered Sonthonax out of the colony in
that year and forced the British to
withdraw in 1798. In 1799 he was
declared governor general of the colony
by the French government and was in
total control of the island of Hispaniola,
by 1801.
Toussaint proclaimed a new constitution, made himself governor general for life and set about
rebuilding the colony, by forcing the former enslaved Africans to return to the plantations to
work. In return, they were paid with 25% of all they produced. This period of peace was short
lived however, as Napoleon Bonaparte, who had seized power in France in 1799, was intent on
recapturing St. Domingue and restoring slavery. Napoleon sent his brother in law, General
Charles Leclerc with an army of 23,000 men to accomplish this task.
Fighting resumed in the colony and the French troops suffered heavy losses, due in part to the
outbreak of malaria and yellow fever among them. In a desperate attempt to end the fighting,
Leclerc approached Toussaint about peace terms. It was a trick however and Toussaint was
captured and deported to France, where he died in prison in April 1803. News of Toussaint’s
betrayal and the French restoration of slavery in Martinique, intensified the struggle as
Christophe and Dessalines took over leadership and continued the fight against the French.
Leclerc himself died of yellow fever in November, 1802 and by November 1803, the French
were driven out of St. Domingue. On January 1, 1804, Dessalines declared the colony
independent from France and renamed it Haiti.
Consequences of the Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution had a number of effects in the country and on the wider Caribbean, both
positive and negative.
Effects on Haiti Effects on the Caribbean
1. Haiti became the first independent 1. The revolution became a great symbol
black republic in the American of hope for other enslaved Africans in
hemisphere. the region. They realised that slavery
2. All the forces which tried to end the could be overthrown through their
revolution, both local and foreign, own efforts.
were defeated by the African and 2. There was an increased fear of slave
Mulatto troops in Haiti. revolts among the whites in the
3. The enslaved Africans won their colonies.
freedom and the Mulattoes had their 3. There was an increase in the number
social and political restrictions of slave revolts in various colonies,
removed. such as Martinique and Guadeloupe.

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4. Whites lost their political, economic The Second Maroon War in Jamaica
and social supremacy in the territory. was blamed in part on the influence of
5. New black leaders rose to power. the Haitian Revolution.
6. Africans had greater access to land 4. An influx of refugees from Haiti
after the revolution. poured into the Caribbean territories
7. Haiti was placed on an embargo by the such as Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad
major countries of the world (Britain, and Cuba. Many of the refugees were
France, Spain and the U.S.A.). They whites and Mulattoes. They helped to
refused to trade with her or have any increase the French Creole presence
diplomatic relations. and culture in those territories.
8. The population declined from nearly 5. The loss of the Haitian sugar market
500,000 to just 350,000. Many died in boosted production in colonies such as
the fighting or from the outbreak of Jamaica and Cuba. The coffee
diseases, or migrated to other industry in Jamaica was significantly
Caribbean colonies or to the United boosted by the whites who migrated
States. there and established coffee
9. The infrastructure of the territory was plantations.
destroyed. Towns were burned to the 6. Whites feared that Free Coloured
ground and plantations, roads, bridges refugees from Haiti would influence
and canals were damaged or the Free Coloureds in their own
destroyed. colonies to demand greater social and
10. The economy was ruined by the political rights.
fighting. The production of sugar 7. The whites introduced policies to limit
almost totally disappeared, while contact between the refugees from
coffee and cotton production declined Haiti and their own slave population.
significantly. St. Domingue white refugees and their
11. Peasant farming replaced plantation slaves living in St. Kitts were deported
agriculture and while many people from the colony, while in Antigua,
now had land to farm, their output was they were imprisoned.
low, turning many of them into poor, 8. Throughout the region, whites
peasant farmers. increased their security measures and
12. Political instability and fighting watched their slaves more closely for
occurred, especially after Dessalines any signs of rebellion. Weapons were
was assassinated. Haiti was briefly more closely guarded and the size of
split into a Black kingdom in the north local militias was increased.
and a Mulatto republic in the south.
13. The Blacks and Mulattoes never fully
trusted each other in the new society
and a new social order based on skin
colour, wealth and education between
both groups developed.