François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture

François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture, also Toussaint Bréda, Toussaint-Louverture (c. 1743 - April 7, 1803) was one of the leaders of the Haïtian Revolution. Along with Jean-Jacques Dessalines, another leader of the Revolution, L'Ouverture is considered as one of the fathers of the Haitian nation. pronunciation (help· info) Image File history File links Download high resolution version (450x642, 198 KB)From a group of engravings done in post-Revolutionary France. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (450x642, 198 KB)From a group of engravings done in post-Revolutionary France. ... // Events February 14 - Henry Pelham becomes British Prime Minister February 21 - - The premiere in London of George Frideric Handels oratorio, Samson. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Haïtian Revolution (1791-1804) was the most successful of the many African slave rebellions in the Western Hemisphere and established Haïti as a free, black republic, the first of its kind. ... Jean-Jacques Dessalines Jean-Jacques Dessalines (September 20, 1758–October 17, 1806) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and an Emperor of Haiti (1804–1806 under the name of Jacques I). ... Image File history File links Fr-François-Dominique Toussaint LOuverture. ...

Early life

Toussaint was reputedly descended from the Arrada people of the Dahomey Coast. His father, Gaou-Guinou, son of a petty African chieftain, had been captured in war and brought by slave traders to the French colony of Saint-Domingue, and sold as a slave to the Count de Bréda. Toussaint was the eldest son and his date of birth is given as either May 20 or November 1 (All Saints' Day, procuring the name Toussaint). The surname Breda was taken from his owner. Arrada is probably a corruption of Allada an important seaside fort in the former kingdom of Dahomey and its residents. ... Dahomey was a kingdom in Africa, situated in what is now the nation of Benin. ... World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... This article is about the leader. ... The slave trade is almost as old as civilisation itself. ... This article is about a political topic. ... Saint-Domingue was a French colony from 1697 to 1804 that is today the independent nation of Haiti. ... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: slave Slave may refer to: Slavery, where people are owned by others, and live to serve their owners without pay Slave (BDSM), a form of sexual and consenual submission Slave clock, in technology, a clock or timer that synchrnonizes to a master clock... All Saints in Poland The festival of All Saints, also sometimes known as All Hallows, or Hallowmas, is a feast celebrated in honour of all the saints and martyrs, known or unknown. ...

De Breda was a relatively humane and kind master, and encouraged Toussaint to learn to read and write. Touissant was taught the basics of French (though he wrote and spoke it poorly, usually employing the Haitian Creole patois and African tribal language) and Latin by the free black priest Pierre Baptiste. His rudimentary education (which included an extensive knowledge of medicinal plants and herbs imparted to him by his father), his physical skills, and his intelligence earned him the Count’s favour, and he became a livestock handler, healer, coachman, and finally steward to the Breda estate—a post usually reserved for a white man. He was, for a slave, relatively well-off. He was legally freed in 1777, at the age of 33, and colonial records show that he leased a field of about 15 hectares with 13 slaves to grow coffee. Touissant was a fervent Catholic, lived simply, was abstinent, and a vegetarian. He married Suzan Simone, a woman who already had a son (Isaac); together the couple had a son called Placide. Haitian Creole (kreyòl ayisyen) is a creole language based on the French language. ... World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

News of the French Revolution of 1789, and the message of Liberté, égalité, fraternité had reached Saint-Domingue by 1790, and had a powerful impact on the island; French soldiers landing at Port-au-Prince had given all Negroes and Mulattoes the fraternal embrace, and announced that the National Assembly in France had declared all men free and equal. It did not take long for the ideas of Enlightenment philosophy to percolate through the island; and when the promises made by Declaration of the Rights of Man were denied to the coloured population of Saint-Domingue by the white plantation owners, it served to instigate widespread slave uprisings. Toussaint did not participate in the ill-fated campaign organized by Vincent Ogé (a wealthy and free coloured man) in October 1790 to claim voting rights for coloured people—a campaign which was brutally crushed. But once slave revolt broke out in the Northern Province in August 1791, Toussaint found himself wavering. The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a vital period in the history of France and Europe as a whole. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Saint-Domingue was a French colony from 1697 to 1804 that is today the independent nation of Haiti. ... Categories: Caribbean geography stubs | Capitals in North America | Haiti ... The Palais Bourbon, front The French National Assembly (French: ) is one of the two houses of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. ... Look up Enlightenment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, (French: La Déclaration des Droits de lHomme et du citoyen), was one of the fundamental documents of the French Revolution, defining a set of individual rights (and collective rights of the people vis a vis the state). ... Saint-Domingue was a French colony from 1697 to 1804 that is today the independent nation of Haiti. ... // This article is about crop plantations. ... Vincent Ogé the Younger is remembered as the instigator of a revolt against white colonial authority in French Saint-Domingue that lasted from October to December 1790 in the area outside Cap_Français, the colonys main city. ...

Campaign in support of the French Revolution By 1795 Toussaint L’Ouverture was widely renowned. He was revered by the blacks, and appreciated by most whites and mulattoes for helping to restore the economy of Saint-Domingue. Disregarding French revolutionary laws, he allowed many émigré planters to return, and used military discipline to force the former slaves to work. He believed that people were naturally corrupt, and felt that compulsion was needed to prevent idleness. The labourers, however, were no longer whipped; they were legally free and equal, and they shared the profits of the restored plantations. Racial tensions eased because Toussaint preached reconciliation and believed that for the blacks, a majority of whom were African born, there were lessons to be learnt from whites and Europeanized mulattoes.

Laveaux left Saint-Domingue in 1796. He was succeeded by Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, an extremist French commissioner, who also allowed Toussaint to rule and promoted him to Général de Division. But Toussaint was repelled by the proposals of this white radical to exterminate the Europeans, and found Sonthonax's atheism, coarseness, and immorality offensive. After some manoeuvring, Toussaint forced Sonthonax out in 1797.

Next to go were the British, whose losses caused them to negotiate secretly with Toussaint, notwithstanding the war with France. Treaties in 1798 and 1799 secured their complete withdrawal. Lucrative trade was begun with Britain and also with the United States. In return for arms and goods, Toussaint sold sugar and promised not to invade Jamaica and the American South. The British offered to recognize him as king of an independent Haiti, but distrustful of the British because they maintained slavery, he refused. The British withdrew from Haiti in 1798.

Toussaint soon rid himself of another nominal French superior, Gabriel Hédouville, who arrived in 1798 as representative of the Directory. Aware that France had no chance of restoring colonialism as long as the war with England continued, Hédouville tried pitting Toussaint against the mulatto leader André Rigaud, who ruled a semi-independent state in the south. Toussaint, however, figured out his purpose and forced Hédouville to flee. Hédouville was succeeded by Philippe Roume, who deferred to the black governor. A bloody campaign in October 1799 eliminated Rigaud who was driven out and forced to flee to France,and his mulatto state destroyed. A purge that was carried out by Jean-Jacques Dessalines in the south was so brutal that reconciliation with the mulattoes was impossible.

On May 22, 1799 Toussaint signed a trading treaty with the British and the Americans. In the United States, Alexander Hamilton was a strong supporter. However, after Thomas Jefferson became President in 1801, he reversed the friendly American policy.

Once he had control over all of Saint-Domingue, Toussaint turned to Spanish Santo Domingo, where slavery persisted. Ignoring the commands of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had become first consul of France, Toussaint overran it in January 1801, officially taking control on the 24th, and freed the slaves. Toussaint drafted a committee to write a constitution for the colony, which went into effect on July 7, 1801, establishing his own authority across the whole island of Hispaniola.

Rebellions and negotiations

Initially, Toussaint was against the destruction and bloodshed that was being unleashed by the rebels. Though it seems certain that he was in touch with the rebel leaders, Toussaint spent many months keeping his master’s slaves in order and the revolutionary labourers from setting fire to the plantation. However, once it became clear that the lives of all white people were under threat, and the insurrection kept growing, Toussaint helped his master’s family to escape, sent his own family away to a safe spot in Spanish Santo Domingo, and made his way to the camp of the rebel slaves who were burning plantations and killing many whites and mulattoes. Soon, he discerned the ineptitude and inefficiency of the rebel leaders, and their willingness to compromise with white radicals. Scorning these, and using his ample experience in administration and implementation of authority, he soon managed to gather a following of his own, and trained these in the tactics of guerilla warfare. In 1793, he became an aide to Georges Biassou. He rose rapidly in rank and the black army proved to be surprisingly successful against the fever-ravaged and poorly-led European troops. Santo Domingo de Guzmán, population 2,061,200(Metro) (2003), estimated 2,253,437(Metro) in 2006, is the capital and the largest city of the Dominican Republic. ... Biassou was the chief early leader of the 1791 slave rising that began the Haitian Revolution. ... This article is about the continent. ...

After the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, when France and Spain went to war in 1793, the black commanders joined the Spaniards of Santo Domingo, the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola. Knighted and recognized as a general, Toussaint demonstrated extraordinary military ability and attracted such renowned warriors as his nephew Moïse and two future monarchs of Haiti, Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe. It was then that he gained the moniker L'Ouverture ("opening") because he exploited openings in the defenses of the opposition; this he adopted as his surname. Later that year, the British had occupation of most of the coastal settlements of Haiti, including Port-au-Prince. Combatants Great Britain Austria Prussia Spain Russian Empire Sardinia France The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, beginning in 1792 and lasting until the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states. ... Santo Domingo de Guzmán, population 2,061,200(Metro) (2003), estimated 2,253,437(Metro) in 2006, is the capital and the largest city of the Dominican Republic. ... Early map of Hispaniola The island of Hispaniola (from Spanish, La Española) is the second-largest island of the Antilles, lying between the islands of Cuba to the west, and Puerto Rico to the east. ... Jean-Jacques Dessalines Jean-Jacques Dessalines (September 20, 1758–October 17, 1806) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and an Emperor of Haiti (1804–1806 under the name of Jacques I). ... Henri Christophe (October 6, 1767 - October 8, 1820) was a liberated slave, who participated in the Haitian struggle for independence, eventually appointing himself king of the northern half of the country. ... A moniker (or monicker) is a pseudonym, or cognomen, which one gives to oneself. ... Categories: Caribbean geography stubs | Capitals in North America | Haiti ...

Toussaint's victories in the north, together with mulatto successes in the south and British occupation of the coasts, brought the French close to disaster. In 1793 Léger-Félicité Sonthonax and Étienne Polverel, representatives of the French revolutionary government in Paris, offered freedom to slaves who would join them as they struggled to defeat counter-revolutionaries and fight the foreign invaders. On February 4, 1794, the largely Jacobin National Convention in Paris ratified these emancipation orders, that abolished slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic. In May 1794, Toussaint went over to the French, giving as his reasons that Spain and Britain had refused to free the slaves, unlike the French, and that he had become a republican. The duplicity of his dealings with his erstwhile allies has come in for heavy criticism, as has his slaughter of Spaniards at a mass. Toussaint’s switch was decisive; the governor of Saint-Domingue, Étienne Laveaux, made Toussaint Général de Brigade, the British suffered severe reverses, and the Spaniards were expelled. Under Toussaint's increasingly influential leadership, his French army of black, mulatto, and white soldiers defeated the British and Spanish forces. Toussaint's army won seven battles in one week against the British forces in January 1794. He also fought against the uprising of the mulatto leader Pinchinat. Leger-Félicité Sonthonax, son of a prosperous French merchant, was a revolutionary affiliated with the Girondin party. ... Étienne Polverel was one of two French Revolutionary Civil Commissioners who ended slavery in Saint-Domingue in 1793 during the Haitian Revolution. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... It has been suggested that Jacobin/Sandbox be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about a legislative body and constitutional convention during the French Revolution. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Saint-Domingue was a French colony from 1697 to 1804 that is today the independent nation of Haiti. ... A Brigadier General, or one-star general, is the lowest rank of general officer in the United States and some other countries, ranking just above Colonel and just below Major General. ...

Campaign in support of the French Revolution

By 1795 Toussaint L’Ouverture was widely renowned. He was revered by the blacks, and appreciated by most whites and mulattoes for helping to restore the economy of Saint-Domingue. Disregarding French revolutionary laws, he allowed many émigré planters to return, and used military discipline to force the former slaves to work. He believed that people were naturally corrupt, and felt that compulsion was needed to prevent idleness. The labourers, however, were no longer whipped; they were legally free and equal, and they shared the profits of the restored plantations. Racial tensions eased because Toussaint preached reconciliation and believed that for the blacks, a majority of whom were African born, there were lessons to be learnt from whites and Europeanized mulattoes. World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ...

Laveaux left Saint-Domingue in 1796. He was succeeded by Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, an extremist French commissioner, who also allowed Toussaint to rule and promoted him to Général de Division. But Toussaint was repelled by the proposals of this white radical to exterminate the Europeans, and found Sonthonax's atheism, coarseness, and immorality offensive. After some manoeuvring, Toussaint forced Sonthonax out in 1797. Leger-Félicité Sonthonax, son of a prosperous French merchant, was a revolutionary affiliated with the Girondin party. ... Leger-Félicité Sonthonax, son of a prosperous French merchant, was a revolutionary affiliated with the Girondin party. ... 1797 (MDCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Next to go were the British, whose losses caused them to negotiate secretly with Toussaint, notwithstanding the war with France. Treaties in 1798 and 1799 secured their complete withdrawal. Lucrative trade was begun with Britain and also with the United States. In return for arms and goods, Toussaint sold sugar and promised not to invade Jamaica and the American South. The British offered to recognize him as king of an independent Haiti, but distrustful of the British because they maintained slavery, he refused. The British withdrew from Haiti in 1798. Southern United States. ...

Toussaint soon rid himself of another nominal French superior, Gabriel Hédouville, who arrived in 1798 as representative of the Directory. Aware that France had no chance of restoring colonialism as long as the war with England continued, Hédouville tried pitting Toussaint against the mulatto leader André Rigaud, who ruled a semi-independent state in the south. Toussaint, however, figured out his purpose and forced Hédouville to flee. Hédouville was succeeded by Philippe Roume, who deferred to the black governor. A bloody campaign in October 1799 eliminated Rigaud who was driven out and forced to flee to France,and his mulatto state destroyed. A purge that was carried out by Jean-Jacques Dessalines in the south was so brutal that reconciliation with the mulattoes was impossible. Comte dHédouville was sent by France to be governor of Saint-Domingue during Sonthonaxs second commission. ... André Rigaud (1761-1811) was the leading mulatto military leader during the Haitian Revolution. ... Jean-Jacques Dessalines Jean-Jacques Dessalines (September 20, 1758–October 17, 1806) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and an Emperor of Haiti (1804–1806 under the name of Jacques I). ...

On May 22, 1799 Toussaint signed a trading treaty with the British and the Americans. In the United States, Alexander Hamilton was a strong supporter. However, after Thomas Jefferson became President in 1801, he reversed the friendly American policy. May 22 is the 142nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (143rd in leap years). ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 — July 12, 1804) was an American politician, leading statesman, financier, intellectual, military officer, and one of the founders of the Federalist party. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

Once he had control over all of Saint-Domingue, Toussaint turned to Spanish Santo Domingo, where slavery persisted. Ignoring the commands of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had become first consul of France, Toussaint overran it in January 1801, officially taking control on the 24th, and freed the slaves. Toussaint drafted a committee to write a constitution for the colony, which went into effect on July 7, 1801, establishing his own authority across the whole island of Hispaniola. Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des... July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ...

Leclerc's campaign and Toussaint's captivity

In command of the entire island, Toussaint dictated a constitution that made him governor general for life with near absolute powers. Catholicism was the state religion, and many revolutionary principles received ostensible sanction. There was no provision for a French official, however, because Toussaint professed himself a Frenchman and strove to convince Bonaparte of his loyalty. Bonaparte confirmed Toussaint’s position but saw him as an obstacle to the restoration of Saint-Domingue as a profitable colony. Denying that he was trying to reinstate slavery, Napoleon's brother-in-law Charles Leclerc attempted to regain French control of the island in 1802. He landed on the island on January 20 and moved against Toussaint. Over the following months, Toussaint's troops fought against the French but some of his officers defected to join Leclerc, as well as chief black leaders like Dessalines and Christophe. On May 7, 1802, Toussaint signed a treaty with the French in Cap-Haïtien, with the condition that there would be no return to slavery, and retired to his farm in Ennery. However, after three weeks, Leclerc sent troops to seize Toussaint and his family, shipping them to France on board a warship, since he was suspected of plotting an uprising. They reached France on July 2. On August 25, 1802, Toussaint was sent to the castle Fort-de-Joux in Doubs, where he was confined and interrogated repeatedly, and where he died of pneumonia in April 1803. As a Christian ecclesiastical term, Catholic - from the Greek adjective , meaning general or universal[1] - is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as follows: ~Church, (originally) whole body of Christians; ~, belonging to or in accord with (a) this, (b) the church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or... Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc (Pontoise Val-dOise, France 1772 - Saint Domingue, November 1, 1802) was a French general and a companion of Napoleon I of France. ... Christophe is a French singer. ... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... --69. ... Looking into Cap-Haïtien from the northern edge of downtown Cap-Haïtien (or Le Cap) (Okap or Kapayisyen in Kréyòl) is a city of about 111,094 people (2003 census) on the north coast of Haiti. ... August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... --69. ... Fort-de-Joux is located at Jura, France commands the mountain pass cluse de Pontarlier(1,2). ... Doubs is a département in eastern France named after the Doubs River. ... It has been suggested that CURB-65 be merged into this article or section. ...

Popular culture

• The group Santana has a song named in Toussaint's honor on the Santana 3 album, although the Spanish lyrics have nothing to do with Toussaint.
• David Rudder, one of Trinidad and Tobago's leading Calypso musicians, produced a 1988 album, Haiti, whose title track begins with the lyrics, "Toussaint was a mighty man, and to make matters worse he was black."
• After many years of trying to produce a big-screen biopic of Toussaint, Hollywood actor Danny Glover was finally scheduled to begin directing the film in the autumn of 2006, with Don Cheadle as Toussaint (see external links below).
• In Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs, a feature called the "Revolution" has the revolutionary Toussaint L'Ouverture for the French and British nations.

Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born July 20, 1947), known simply as Carlos Santana or Santana, is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-born American Latin rock musician and guitarist. ... Santana III (officially untitled) was the last album done by the Woodstock-era lineup, and it was also considered by many to be the bands peak commercially and musically, as subsequent releases aimed towards more experimental jazz and Latin music. ... David Rudder is a Soca/Calypso singer. ... Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in the British and French colonial islands of the Caribbean at about the start of the 20th century. ... Daniel Lebern Glover (b. ... Don Cheadle (November 29, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor. ...

Literature and art

• English poet William Wordsworth published his sonnet To Toussaint L'Ouverture in January 1803.
• In 1938, American artist Jacob Lawrence created a series of paintings about the life of Toussaint L'Ouverture, which he later adapted into a series of prints.
• Madison Smartt Bell, has written a fictional trilogy centered around the life of L'Ouverture, All Soul's Rising (Pantheon, 1995), Master of the Crossroads (2000), and The Stone that the Builder Refused (2004). A biography by Bell of L'Ouverture is forthcoming from Pantheon under the title Freedom's Gate: A Brief Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture
• In 2004 an exhibition of paintings entitled Caribbean Passion: Haiti 1804, by artist Kimathi Donkor, was held in London to celebrate the bicentenary of Haiti's revolution.

Wordsworth redirects here. ... Jacob Lawrence taken by Kenneth Space. ... Madison Smartt Bell (born August 1, 1957) is a U.S. novelist. ...

Bibliography

• Encyclopaedia Britannica 2001: Deluxe Edition CD (2001)
• Laurent Dubois and John D. Garrigus. Slave Revolution in the Caribbean, 1789-1804: A Brief History with Documents (2006)
• DuPuy, Alex. Haiti in the World Economy: Class, Race, and Underdevelopment since 1700;; Westview Press. (1989)
• Alfred N. Hunt. Haiti's Influence on Antebellum America: Slumbering Volcano in the Caribbean (1988)
• C.L.R. James. The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution 2nd ed. (1989)
• Junius P. Rodriguez, ed. Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2006.
• Arthur L. Stinchcombe. Sugar Island Slavery in the Age of Enlightenment: The Political Economy of the Caribbean World Princeton University Press. (1995)

External links

• Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography and Autobiography by J. R. Beard, 1863
• A section of Bob Corbett's on-line course on the history of Haïti that deals with Toussaint's rise to power.
• The Louverture Project: Toussaint Louverture
• The Louverture Project: Memoir of Toussaint Louverture, Written by Himself
• Toussaint the Hollywood movie is in preproduction and stars Don Cheadle.