Toussaint L'Ouverture
Haitian Revolutionary, Patriot And Martyr, François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, Was Born May 20, 1744, In The Plaine Du Nord Of What Was Then Saint-Domingue.
He Was A Self-Educated Slave, Freed In 1791, After Marrying At Age 33.
As Unrest Shook Saint-Domingue's Iinstitutions, Toussaint Joined The Spanish Army Of Santo Domingo. As A Gifted But Untrianed Military Leader, He Was Able To Organize 4,000 Blacks Into A Band Of Loyal Guerrilla Troops.
When The French Legislative Assembly Decreed Full Equality To All Haitians On April 4, 1792, Toussaint Switched his Loyalty To The French And Fought Against The Spanish.
Late In 1793 The British Occupied All Of Haiti's Coastal Cities And Allied Themselves With The Spanish In The Eastern Part Of The Island.
Toussaint Was The Acknowledged Leader Against Them And, With The Generals Dessalines And Christophe, Recaptured Several Towns From The British And Secured Their Complete Withdrawal (1798).
In 1799 The Mulatto General André Rigaud Enlisted The Aid Of Alexandre Pétion And Jean Pierre Boyer, And Asserted Mulatto Supremacy, They Launched A Revolt Against Toussaint -- The Uprising Was Quelled When Pétion Lost The Southern Port Of Jacmel.
In 1801, Toussaint Conquered Santo Domingo, Which Had Been Ceded By Spain To France in 1795. Subsequently, He Governed The Whole Island. Professing Only Nominal Allegiance To France, He Reorganized The Government And Instituted Public Improvements.
In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte Sent A Large Force Under General Leclerc To Subdue Toussaint, Who Had Become A Major Obstacle To French Colonial Ambitions In The Western Hemisphere. The Haitians Resisted, And A Peace Treaty Was drawn.
Toussaint Was Seized And Sent To France, Where He Died Of Pneumonia In A Dungeon At Fort-De-Joux, In The French Jura. His Valiant Life And tragic Death Made Him A Symbol Of The Fight For Liberty.
Toussaint Louverture Played A Key Role In What Was The First Successful Attempt By A Subject Slave Population to Resist Western Colonialism.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
