Toussaint L'Ouverture

Less than ten years after the American Revolution ended, another revolution took place. It was not the French Revolution, which had ended two years prior. It took place in Haiti. The hero of this revolution was named was François-Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture; a former African slave in the French colony of Saint-Domingue.

Toussaint L’Ouverture led the most successful slave rebellion ever, but he was hesitant, at first, to join the fight. He was a free black man in a colony where he could earn money and become socially influential.6 By involving himself in the revolution, he could - and likely would - lose his station and wealth which he had worked to accrue over almost fifty years of life.4 What finally drew him in, however, was the knowledge that the fight was against injustice. It was not a petty battle for political power or property. The slaves were fighting for their rights, their lives, and their liberty. 

The idea that to fight for liberty is only acceptable when the cause is just is not an uncommon one. As Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “...when a long train of abuses and usurpations...evinces a design to reduce them [the people] under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”3 In scripture, Doctrine and Covenants 134:11 concurs with this: “We believe that men should appeal to the civil law for redress of all wrongs and grievances, where personal abuse is inflicted or the right of property or character infringed, where such laws exist as will protect the same; but we believe that all men are justified in defending themselves, their friends, and property, and the government, from the unlawful assaults and encroachments of all persons in times of exigency, where immediate appeal cannot be made to the laws, and relief afforded.”1 From these defining documents, it can be understood that to move forth the cause of liberty is to fight against tyranny and injustice, but that it is only when there are no other options that a people should take up physical weapons to do so - otherwise, the most civil means should be employed.

L’Ouverture understood this, and he understood that the French would never willingly grant freedom to its slaves with a simple petition. France had put in place “revisions to the French Code Noir (Black Code) [which] legalized the harsh treatment of slaves as property...”4 In the eyes of the new French government, to change that code for no other reason than a few insignificant slaves in a colony in the Americas would be a waste of time and money. Thus, the abuses continued, and they would never end without revolution. It was then that L’Ouverture realized he must join the fight.

18th-century Saint-Domingue was the most prosperous colony in the world. The island’s main exports, sugar and coffee, were in massive demand.2 That wealth, however, came as a result of slave labor. These slaves constituted almost 90% of the population.2 They were treated like animals. The maltreatment and exploitation of the slaves combined with the rumors of revolution in the American colonies and in France, and it was only a matter of time before a revolt broke out. On August 22, 1791, slaves across Saint-Domingue rose up as one against tyranny.4 They set fire to plantations and brutally killed whites in a wave of massive brutality against their opressors.

When Toussaint L’Ouverture heard of the revolts, he knew it was time he became involved.4 He had been born into slavery, but his master was kind, and so he was allowed an education. Later, he was given his freedom. He married Suzanne Simon and had two sons.4 He quickly became one of the 23,800 colored citizens in Saint-Domingue who were both free and wealthy.2 Yet he would risk both wealth and station accrued over his lifetime for the rebellion.

When he finally determined to join the fight, he quickly rose through the ranks to become the leader of the slave revolt.5 Under his guidance, the Haitian rebels fought for liberty, and, combined with some of L’Ouverture’s political maneuvers, finally achieved their freedom through diplomatic means with France.6 Though this was not the end of L’Ouverture’s battles, it was a major victory. Later, he helped the French army fight the Spanish on the island of Saint-Domingue. After that, he became the governor of the colony, controlling its diplomacy and commerce, and even wrote its constitution.4

Soon, however, Napoleon Bonaparte came into power in France. He sent his brother-in-law, Charles Leclerc, to Saint-Domingue to reinstate slavery in the colony. When L’Ouverture tried to fight, he was captured. Leclerc sent him to France, where he was imprisoned.7 There, the conditions were terrible. He was never released; he died there, sick and starving.5 He would never know that only a year later, Saint-Domingue - soon to be renamed Haiti - was to become a free state.

The sad ending to his story undermines the power he held throughout his life. It cripples the facts of his life. It must be understood that without Toussaint L’Ouverture, the slave revolt would have fallen apart early on. It was his genius, his work in moving forth the cause of liberty, that allowed the foundation for Haiti’s freedom.

Endnotes

1Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Doctrine and Covenants Section 134. Kirtland, OH: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1835.

2CrashCourse. “Haitian Revolutions: Crash Course World History #30.” YouTube, 16 Aug. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A_o-nU5s2U. 

3Declaration of Independence, US, 1776

4McNally, Deborah. “L'Ouverture, Toussaint (1742-1803).” The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed, blackpast.org/gah/loverture-toussaint-1742-1803. 

5“The Slave Who Defeated Napoleon.” Toussaint L'Ouverture - HistoryWiz, www.historywiz.com/toussaint.htm. 

6“Toussaint Louverture.” Slavery and Remembrance, slaveryandremembrance.org/people/person/?id=PP052.

7“ Who Was Toussaint-Louverture?” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/slave-route/resistances-and-abolitions/toussaint-louverture/.