Saint Domingue And The Haitian Revolution

The Haitian Revolution is recognized as one of the most successful slave rebellion in history. Haiti became the first black republic in the world and set an example as the ultimate goal of any slave rebellion that followed. There are many reasons and events that led to the Haitian Revolution. It was the result due to a root of rancor that was planted inside the slaves since their arrival into slavery.
Before the revolution, Haiti was known as Saint Domingue--a French colony, located in the Caribbean, that was primarily used to produce sugars, coffees, and cottons for the Europeans. The colony was very successful in fulfilling France’s expectation as it became France’s wealthiest oversea colony. At some point, Saint-Domingue supplied almost
The citizens believed that the Bastille Fortress had became a symbol for absolute monarchy which they find unpleasing. They seized gunpowder, free prisoners from the fortress and began the French Revolution to rebuild France. This revolution was mainly caused by social hostility, economic hardship among the lower classes, conflicts between nobility and monarchy, and the inefficient king : Louis XVI. In Saint Domingue, the social instability were also driven into chaos. Upon receiving words about the French Revolution, the grand blancs criticize the French government, the petit blancs complained about the free blacks, the free blacks complained about legal discriminations, and the enslaved grew more impatient for their freedom. Finally, this social instability unleashed when the National Constituent Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in France on August 26, 1789. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen states, "In the eyes of the law all citizens are equal." This article gave birth to an uproar as the slaves believed that Louis XVI had abolished slavery. The whites in Saint Domingue had refused to adopt the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and wanted to establish independence from France. During this period while the French were in an identity crisis, they were also participating in the Seven Years War against the
The petit blancs opposed against this newly law as they felt that they are the ones being oppressed. Ultimately, the dispute between the free blacks and the petit blancs led to the Haitian Revolution on August 22, 1791. Within the must of the battle between the free blacks and the petit blancs, an enormous slave rebellion formed. One of the most famous leader of the slave revolt was François-Dominique Toussaint L’ouverture. Toussaint was able to train the slaves into an army that could confront the French’s superior military. Then on February 4 1794, the Paris National Convention ratified the abolition of