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The Haitian Revolution
Part III: Toussaint and independence
QUICK REVIEW OF REVOLUTION PART II
The middle period of the Haitian Revolution is the story of Leger Felicite Sonthonax,
French Commissioner to San Domingue, and the rise of Toussaint Louverture.
Sonthonax worked tirelessly to save the colony for France. Toussaint worked
tirelessly to free the slaves. Each was jealous of his power. It was inevitable that
they
would be in conflict, and Toussaint ultimately won this confrontation, shipping
Sonthonax back to France. However, before he left Sonthonax assured his position
in Haitian history by abolishing slavery from San Domingue. Toussaint, after initially
fighting against the French and for the Spanish, came back over to the French
defeating not on the Spanish, but also driving the British out of San Domingue.
The French, fearing Toussaint's growing power and suspecting that he had
sentiments toward independence, sent special agent Thomas Hedouville to save the
colony for France. douville managed to hammer home the fatal wedge between
Toussaint and mulatto general, Andre Rigaud. Hedouville, safely back in France,
could watch the unfolding civil war between Toussaint and Rigaud.
TOUSSAINT AND INDEPENDENCE
Thomas Hedouville fled Haiti on Oct. 22, 1798. Toussaint was the leading figure in
the colony and playing both ends of his spectrum -- apparent loyalty to France;
apparent sympathy to the United States' pushing San Domingue toward
independence. Not only was the U.S., herself a newly free nation, a model that
Toussaint might follow, but Secretary of State Timothy Pickering was presenting a
very friendly and supportive position. Finally, Toussaint felt much more comfortable
with the small, fledgling United States than with either Britain or France. The primary
interest which Toussaint felt toward the United States was the better deal San
Domingue could get in trade. France imposed the "exclusif" on San Domingue.
Under this law of colony to metropole, San Domingue could only trade with France,
who then had the power to set the prices. Further, manufacturing of finished goods
from the raw farm products was forbidden by France. All manufacturing of San
Domingan goods was reserved for France. The United States, on the other hand,
paid a more competitive price for San Domingan goods and placed no restrictions on
their form. Even the landowners supported trade with the United States. At first it
would seem that this was not in their economic interests. Sonthonax had freed the
slaves and Toussaint would certainly uphold this emancipation. This meant that the
former slaves became paid field hands, and the landowners would lose
approximately 50% of their income to the government and to farm labor.
Nonetheless, the 50% that they could earn on the free market was more than 100%
of what France was willing to pay under the exclusif.
Nonetheless, Toussaint kept up the appearance of loyalty to France and appointed
Philippe Roume, French agent in Santo Domingo, to replace Hedouville as France's
representative in San Domingue. Toussaint's loyalty to France was not all posturing.
There was a very strong call of culture from France. This was especially true among
the affranchais, the blacks and mulattos freed before the general emancipation. They
wanted to separate themselves from the slaves. They had adopted French culture
and customs as their identity, scorning anything African. They spoke French, dressed
in European fashion, practiced the Catholic religion and, in general, idealized France
and French culture. Even Toussaint was pulled in this direction and had a strong
bond to France.
ROUME, TOUSSAINT AND RIGAUD
Roume continued the work of Hedouville, fostering the growing conflict between
Toussaint and Rigaud. Rigaud, an extreme mulatto chauvinist, worried France
because of his readiness to kill the whites and blacks. Toussaint's independence
tendencies frightened the French too, so they sought the safety of keeping either
Rigaud or Toussaint from having complete power. However, by pushing Rigaud and
Toussaint into civil war, France assured itself that one or the other was likely to
emerge a stronger person from his victory.
In January, 1799 the formal break came in a dispute over who ruled Petit and Grand
Goave. Roume had included the towns in Toussaint's authority, but Rigaud walked
out of the meeting and civil war was inevitable. By June, Toussaint pressured Roume
into declaring Rigaud in rebellion.
THE WAR OF KNIVES
On June 16, 1799 Rigaud attacked Petit Goave, putting many people to death with
the sword. It was from Rigaud's violence with the sword that this civil war got it's
name -- The War of Knives.
The first five months of war were characterized by gruesome excesses on both
sides. Finally, by mid-November, the war centered on Rigaud's stronghold at Jacmel,
defended by Alexander Petion. Jean-Jacques Dessalines was the besieging general
for Toussaint. Dessalines was to become the first president, then emperor of free
Haiti in 1804, and Petion was to become the president of The Republic of Haiti in
1807. On March 11, 1800 Jacmel fell, virtually ending Rigaud's resistance.
Nonetheless, he hung on until July, finally fleeing to France until he returned as part
of Napoleon's invasion force in 1802.
Toussaint had a reputation for clemency and avoiding unnecessary bloodshed. But,
he appointed the blood thirsty and violent Dessalines as pacifier of the south.
Dessalines butchered many mulattos (the estimates range from 200 to 10,000!).
When Toussaint finally halted the massacre he reportedly said: "I did not want this! I
told him to prune the tree, not to uproot it."
THE CONQUEST OF SANTO DOMINGO
By August, 1800 Toussaint was ruler of all San Domingue and no foreign power was
on San Domingan soil. He was governor general of the whole colony. However,
Santo Domingo, present day Dominican Republic, was an intolerable situation to
him. The Spanish had ceded Santo Domingo to the French in the Treaty of Bale on
July 22, 1795. Nonetheless, the Spanish never turned the colony over to the French,
and the French, unsure of Toussaint's loyalties, never pressed the issue. Spain's
presence in Santo Domingo was in France's interest. They could keep an eye on
Toussaint. But he now set out to claim France's (and his own) authority over the
entire island of Hispaniola.
After initial resistance on the part of Roume, who, recall, had been the French agent
in Santo Domingo before Toussaint appointed him to the San Domingue post,
Roume was pressured into approving the unification movement. However, Spanish
Captain-General Don Joaquin Garcia y Moreno was unwilling to turn over command
to black Haitians. He prepared to resist, and his resistance gave Roume the courage
to rescind his order. This gave Toussaint a pretext to charge Roume with disloyalty to
France -- after all, France owned Santo Domingo by treaty -- and Roume was held
prisoner for nearly a year. Meanwhile Toussaint massed his troops for the invasion of
Santo Domingo. He encountered only tentative resistance and entered the capital,
Santo Domingo City on Jan. 26, 1801. He quickly consolidated his power and
emerged as the governor-general of Hispaniola.
TOUSSAINT'S CONSTITUTION: THE DOCUMENT THAT TWEAKED NAPOLEON
On July 26, 1801 Toussaint published and promulgated a new constitution for San
Domingue which abolished slavery, but did allow the importation of free blacks to
work the plantations. The constitution recognized the centrality of sugar plantations
to the San Domingue economy, and accepted Roman Catholicism as the state
religion. Perhaps two of the most significant items were that Toussaint was governor-
general for life and that all men from 14 to 55 years of age were in the state militia.
Nonetheless, the constitution professed loyalty and subservience to France. The
most galling thing for Napoleon was that Toussaint published and proclaimed the
constitution without prior approval from France and the First Consul.
Thus by July of 1801 Toussaint had emerged as the leading figure in San Domingue,
and seemed headed toward declaring an independent republic. He had defeated the
Spanish and British, maneuvered the French Commissioners out of the colony,
defeated Andre Rigaud in a Civil War, taken possession of the eastern portion of the
island, eradicated slavery on the entire island and promulgated a constitution in
which he was declared governor general for life.
Both Britain and the United States treated with Toussaint as though he were the
head of an independent state, though Toussaint's constitution and public demeanor
claimed that he was a loyal French citizen who had saved the colony for France.
Virtually no one believed Toussaint's claims of loyalty to France. Britain and the
United States wanted to deal with Toussaint to ensure an end of French privateering
from San Dominguan waters. Both nations hoped to contain the slave rebellion to
San Domingue alone. Both nations strove to out do one another in establishing trade
relations with Toussaint's government, in defiance of France's regulations for the
colony. Thus Napoleon might well be excused if he took with a healthy dose of salt
Toussaint's claims of being a loyal son and protector of French rights in San
Domingue.
For Napoleon, the die was cast. "This gilded African," as he called Toussaint, would
have to go. Bonaparte chafed at the power of the black first consul, but there was
little he could do while France was at war with Britain. However, on Oct. 1, 1801
France and Britain signed a peace treaty and Napoleon's hands were free to deal
with Toussaint.
It is important to note that Bonaparte's personal detestation of Toussaint was only
one factor in his decision to retake San Domingue to more trustworthy French rule.
The French Directory, before Napoleon's coup d'etat of Nov. 9, 1799, had already set
a West Indian policy in which San Domingue was the center piece. Napoleon
inherited this foreign policy and inherited the constant political pressure of the
French
planters who had been disenfranchised by the liberation of the slaves. Bonaparte
needed the wealth of San Domingue and there seemed a grave danger that
Toussaint would lead the colony toward independence. All of these issues, and
others, weighed in Bonaparte's decision to launch an invasion against his own
governor- general of San Domingue.
THE LACLERC INVASION
Once committed, Napoleon sent a well-outfitted troop of 12,000 soldiers under the
leadership of his brother-in-law, General Charles Laclerc. In Laclerc's invasion force
Toussaint was going to have to deal with many old enemies including Alexander
Petion and Andre Rigaud.
Napoleon gave Laclerc a set of secret instructions which demanded Laclerc give his
word of honor about many things and then violate it. The general plan was to first
promise the black leadership places of authority in a French-dominated government.
Then, once having established control, to move to the second stage of arresting and
deporting any black leaders who seemed troublesome, especially Toussaint
Louverture. The third and final stage was not only to disarm all the blacks, but to
return the colony to slavery and the pre-revolutionary colonial state. Virtually no one
in San Domingue was fooled by Laclerc's protestations of benevolent purpose.
On Feb. 2, 1802 Laclerc arrived in the bay of Cap Francois, the city governed and
defended by Henri Christophe, one of Toussaint's most important generals, and later
on Haiti's second president and first and only king. Christophe would not allow the
French to disembark, and prepared to burn the city to the ground if they tried. Laclerc
pressed the issue and, true to his word, Christophe torched this Paris of the
Americas. The black armies retreated to the interior to fight a guerilla war and
Laclerc took over a huge pile of ashes. The final stage of the Haitian Revolution had
begun.
THE LACLERC CAMPAIGN
Phase 1: Crete-a-Pierrot
Laclerc's forces quickly took most of the costal towns, though Haitians burned many
of them before they retreated. Eventually a decisive moment came as Dessalines
and his second in command, Lamartiniere, were asked to hold the small former
British fort, Crete-a-Pierrot, an arsenal of the Haitians.
Both sides claimed victory. It sort of depends on what measure one uses. The
French ended up with the fort, but they lost twice as many men as the Haitians, and
were shocked to discover how well the blacks could fight in a pitched battle. The
Haitians took great solace in their ability to hold off the French for so long. For the
rest of the war they used Crete-a- Pierrot as a rallying cry. After abandoning the
fort,
the Haitians retreated into the Cahos mountains and fought a guerrilla war from then
on.
Phase 2: Surrender
By April 26 Christophe and his troops surrendered to Laclerc. Toussaint followed on
May 1st. Even though things had not gone as Napoleon planned, within two months
Laclerc had achieved Napoleon's first goal--pacification of the leaders. Now Laclerc
was free to implement phase 2 -- the arrest and deportation of "trouble makers."
THE ARREST AND DEPORTATION OF TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE
After Toussaint's surrendered, he ostensibly retired to his plantation at Ennery to
live
out his days. However, there is a good deal of historical controversy about this. Some
argue that Toussaint immediately began to plot anew against the French. I really
don't know which way the factual evidence leans, but the logic of the situation leads
me to suspect that these charges against Toussaint were true. First of all it is not
like
Toussaint to simply walk away and abandon the struggle of the past 10 years.
Further, he had to have suspected that the French would reinstate slavery and the
old colonial system. Again, it's not like Toussaint to quietly acquiesce in such a
turnabout. Finally, he must have known how weakened the French were becoming
from the ravages of yellow fever. How long and how seriously could the French fight
with only a fraction of their men?
But all of this is mere logical speculation, not factual knowledge. What we do know
are the details of Laclerc's dishonorable subterfuge to arrest and deport Toussaint.
On June 7 Toussaint received a message from French General Brunet to meet with
him at a plantation near Gonaives. Brunet assured Toussaint that he'd be perfectly
safe with the French, who were, after all, gentlemen!
Shortly after arriving at the plantation he was arrested and shipped off to prison in
France. Toussaint was taken to Fort de Joux, a cold, damp prison near the Swiss
border. Toussaint soon withered away and died on April, 7, 1803. So much for
French honor!
THE FINAL UP-RISING AND FRENCH DEFEAT
The dishonorable treatment of the aging Toussaint was not only a moral outrage, but
a practical error of irreversible scope. The Haitians were so incensed, and
recognized that if Toussaint could be so treated, so could anyone else. The masses
realized the French must be defeated once and for all.
Laclerc made a second tactical blunder upon the heels of Toussaint's arrest. He
immediately began a disarmament campaign, planning to disarm all the blacks. The
net effect was to open the eyes of many and drive thousands back under the banner
of the revolution. From June to October, 1802 Laclerc's soldiers carried on this
mainly unsuccessful campaign.
During this period both Dessalines and Christophe were working with the French.
Dessalines was a particularly vicious warrior against the rebels. However, there is a
strong case to be made that he was more interested in his own position of power
than anything else.
Working with the French he could have it both ways. On the one hand, if the French
prevailed he was becoming increasingly indispensable to whatever order prevailed,
thus assuring his position there. On the other hand, he was capturing and killing
rebel leaders. Thus if the revolution were to once again catch fire, he was in a
position to bolt the French and take up leadership of the rebels, which is exactly what
he did. Haitian independence and black rule seem to have been honestly desired by
Dessalines. But, first and foremost he wanted Jean- Jacques Dessalines to be an
important power in whatever government prevailed in San Domingue.
As the situation deteriorated for the French, Dessalines, Christophe, Petion and
Clairveaux all conspired with rebel leaders. On Oct. 13, 1802, Petion and Clairveaux
deserted to the rebels. Christophe and Dessalines followed and within days only Cap
Francois, Port-au-Prince and Le Cayes were fully in French hands. The final battle
had begun.
THE ARCAHAYE CONFERENCE AND THE DEATH OF LACLERC
Nov. 2, 1802 the rebel leaders met at Arcahaye, a small village south of St. Marc.
The leaders elected Dessalines as rebel commander-in-chief and chose the red and
blue flag as their banner. The story is that Dessalines took the tricolored French flag
-- a band each of red, blue and white, and tore out the white, announcing to the
cheering assembled mass that Haiti, too, would drive out the whites. Certainly such a
dramatic symbol, if it actually occurred, would have been an inspiring and motivating
gesture.
On the same day as the Arcahaye conference, Laclerc died of yellow fever. General
Rochambeau took command. He was an able and fearless commander, and
reinforced by another 10,000 troops in mid-November, carried on the French defense
for another year.
By the time of the Arcahaye conference most of the maroons had also come to see
that the French were the true enemy. Prior to this the maroons had been separated
and vacillating, not really joining the revolution, but fighting an independent war of
self-interest wherever and whenever it served their purposes. But now they joined in
unified fashion with the rest of the Haitians to drive the French from the island for
once and for all, and to preserve the nation as a free, non-slave entity.
DESSALINES AND ROCHAMBEAU
Each side was under the leadership of a capable and ruthless leader. Each side
traded atrocity with atrocity, the particular description of which are sickening and
defy
credulity of even those used to human inhumanity to humans. Torture, rape, brutal
murders, mass murders of non- combatants, mutilation, forcing families to watch the
torture, rape and death of loved onces and on and on. The last year of the Haitian
Revolution was as savage as any conflict one can read of in human history. Thomas
Ott says this had become a war of racial extermination on both sides.
Despite the ravages of yellow fever and the increasing numbers of Haitians joining
the revolution, Rochambeau's forces made considerable gains in early 1803.
Napoleon, heartened by the return of slavery to Guadeloupe, sent a further
reinforcement of 15,000 troops. Rochambeau seized the moment to launch a
vigorous attack on the rebels.
A NEW EUROPEAN WAR HELPS SHIFT THE BALANCE
On May 18, 1803 Europe was again plunged into war, and Britain declared war on
France. Dessalines was now a welcomed ally of Britain who provided arms and naval
support. At the same time this European war announced the end of reinforcements
and supplies for the French. The conditions were set for a reversal of the fortunes of
the revolutionaries.
By the end of October the French were reduced to holding only Le Cap and were
besieged and in danger of starvation. Finally on November 19, 1803 Rochambeau
begged for a 10 day truce to allow the evacuation of Le Cap, thus giving Haiti to the
Haitians.
INDEPENDENCE DAY, JANUARY 1, 1804
After 13 years of revolutionary activity France was formally removed from the island
and Haitian independence declared, only the second republic in the Americas. The
country was in ruins, the masses mainly uneducated and struggling for survival. The
western world's large and interested nations, the United States, Britain, Spain and, of
course, France, were all skeptical and nervous about an all-black republic. After all,
the large nations were all slave-owning states.
Born in dire straights and struggling, nonetheless the nation came to be through the
efforts of the revolutionaries.
Coming soon!
THE REVOLUTION, PART IV.
What's left to do? I've taken us up to independence. The revolution is over. There
are many issues of controversy surrounding the story of the Haitian Revolution. I've
tried to present a brief relatively non-controversial account of the central struggles
toward Haitian independence.
The last essay is this series will address the question: What were Napoleon's
ultimate plans? It is often said that Napoleon was on his way to invade the United
States, or at least to consolidate France's position in Louisiana. I will try to shed
light
on the larger plans of Napoleon's West Indian policy.
There are two other issue which interest me a great deal, and perhaps I'll tackle
them in the near future. They are:
A. Who really won the revolution: yellow fever or Toussaint, Dessalines, Christophe
and their gallant troops? This is another age-old debate in Haitian history. I'd like
to
sort out some of the issues and arguments and come down squarely in the middle by
arguing that both yellow fever and revolutionary leadership and struggle share
importantly in the final outcome.
B. Will the real Toussaint Louverture please stand up. Historians of Haiti usually
choose sides. Some say Toussaint was humane, a brilliant strategist, a mover of
people, creator of the nation -- the first Haitian saint, a hero. Others see a
Machiavellian schemer out to aggrandize his own position no matter what happened
to his brother and sister Haitians. Again, I'd like to sort out the arguments and shed
some light on the WHO of Toussaint Louverture.
But, will I get to these soon? Unlikely. Any of you have any thoughts?
End<{{{
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