Most histories think Toussaint’s father was from Gaou Guinou West Africa (a younger son of the king of Arrada in modern-day Benin) who had been captured in warfare and sold into slavery. His mother, Pauline, was Gaou Guinou’s second wife. The couple had several children, of whom Toussaint was the eldest son. A few believe that his father was Pierre Baptiste, who is usually supposed to have been his godfather. Traditionally, Toussaint was thought to have been born on the plantation of Bréda at Haut de Cap in Saint-Domingue, owned by the Comte de Noé and later managed by Bayon de Libertat. His date of birth is uncertain, but his name suggests he was born on All Saints Day, and he was about 50 at the start of the revolution.
It is believed that Toussaint was educated by his godfather, Pierre Baptiste. Early historians speculated on what he mostly read, with many particularly citing Raynal who wrote against slavery, and in whom they saw a foreshadowing of Toussaint‘s career:
"All that the negroes lack is a leader courageous enough to carry them to vengeance and carnage. Where is he, this great man, that nature owes to its vexed, oppressed, tormented children? Where is he? He will appear, do not doubt it. He will show himself and will raise the sacred banner of liberty."
It has also been suggested that some of his education came from Jesuit missionaries, and that he had some medical knowledge based on a combination of African techniques of herbal medicine and practices he acquired in the Jesuit-founded hospitals.
In 1782, Toussaint married Suzanne Simon Baptiste. Towards the end of his life, he told General Cafarelli that he had fathered 16 children. Not all his children can be identified, but his three legitimate sons are well known. The eldest, Placide, was probably adopted by Toussaint and is generally thought to be Suzanne’s first child with a mulatto, Seraphim Le Clerc. The two sons born of his marriage with Suzanne were Isaac and Saint Jean.
Until recently, historians believed Toussaint had been a slave until the start of the revolution, an idea that was confirmed by Toussaint himself, who is quoted as saying:
"I was born a slave, but nature gave me the soul of a free man"
The discovery of a marriage certificate dated 1777, shows that he was actually freed in 1776 at the age of 33, and this retrospectively clarified a letter of 1797 in which he said he had been free for twenty years. It seems he still maintained an important role on the Breda plantation until the outbreak of the revolution, presumably as a salaried employee.
As a free man, Toussaint began to accumulate wealth and property of his own. Surviving legal documents show him briefly renting a small coffee plantation, worked by a dozen slaves. He would later say that by the start of the revolution, he had aquired a reasonable fortune, and was the owner of a number of properties at Ennery.
Beginning in 1789, the events of the French Revolution led to political instability on St Domingue, with struggles between both French royalists and revolutionaries, and the political rights being claimed by the biracial Haitians (mulattoes) emerging as major sources of ongoing tension. Initially, the black populations of St Domingue did not become involved in these conflicts. Bust as time transpired, and being inspired by the French Revolution’s principles of the rights of men, free people of color and slaves on Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and throughout the West Indies (Caribbean) pressed for freedom and more civil rights. The most important of these revolts was the revolution of the slaves in Haiti (Saint-Domingue), starting in the heavily African-majority northern plains in 1791.
In August 1791, a Vodou ceremony at Bois Caiman marked the start of a major slave rebellion in the north of St Domingue under the leadership of Dutty Boukman. He was eventually killed in battle, but by that time, Jean-Francois Papillon, Georges Biassou and Jeannot Billet had emerged as leaders of the rebellion. Toussaint appparently did not take part in the earliest stages of the rebellion, but after a few weeks he sent his own family and the overseers of the Breda plantation to safety and joined the forces of Biassou. He had some knowledge of medicinal plants and Biassou appointed him doctor to the troops. From an early stage, he was involved in decision-making and negotiations with the colonial assembly and representatives of the French government. By the end of 1791, he was named brigadier general, and had begun transforming his troops into disciplined and effective soldiers.
By the beginning of 1793, the black rebels were undefeated but making no significant progress and running short of supplies. In 1793, France and Great Britain went to war, and British troops invaded Saint-Domingue. The execution of Louis XVI heightened tensions in the colony. This led them to form an alliance with the Spanish Royalist forces of Santo Domingo against the French. Toussaint’s military and political leadership were becoming increasingly evident. About this time, he adopted the nickname Louverture which means ‘opening’, referring to his ability to exploit openings in the defenses of the opposition. Largely thanks to him, St Domingue looked likely to pass from French to Spanish control.
The rebels, under Toussaint and other leaders, wanted an end to slavery, but initially, neither their allies, nor their enemies were prepared to offer them freedom. Nonetheless, on 29 August 1793 Toussaint made his famous declaration of Camp Turel, rallying the blacks under the banner of freedom:
Brothers and friends, I am Toussaint Louverture; perhaps my name has made itself known to you. I have undertaken vengeance. I want Liberty and Equality to reign in St Domingue. I am working to make that happen. Unite yourselves to us, brothers, and fight with us for the same cause.
Your very humble and obedient servant, Toussaint Louverture,
General of the armies of the king, for the public good.
On the same day, the French commissioner, Léger-Félicité Sonthonax proclaimed emancipation for all slaves in French St Domingue. His hope was to bring the black troops over to their side, but at first Toussaint mistrusted them, and continued his conquests on behalf of the Spanish.
An invasion by British troops in September overshadowed these changes, leading to the British gaining control of most of the coastal settlements of Saint-Domingue, including Port-au-Prince. Along with Toussaint Louverture's victories in the North of Saint-Domingue, together with independent successes by people of color in the South, the French were brought close to disaster.
Sonthonax and his fellow representatives of the French revolutionary government in Paris hoped that the proclamation of the abolition of slavery would encourage blacks to rally to France as they struggled to defeat counter-revolutionaries and fight the foreign invaders. However it was not until 4 February 1794 that the largely Jacobin National Convention in Paris confirmed the orders of emancipation, abolishing slavery in all territories of the French Republic.
By this time, Toussaint Louverture was at the head of 4,000 blacks organized into a band of loyal guerrilla troops. After negotiations with the French governor, General Etienne Laveaux, he decided to ally with the French in May 1794, justifying his decision by the failures of Spain and Britain to free slaves. He also declared that he had converted from royalist to republican political beliefs. Despite these arguments, Toussaint Louverture has been criticized for such treatment of his former allies, as well as for the mass slaughter of Spanish troops in the ensuing contests.
Toussaint’s switch was decisive in helping France regain control over Saint-Domingue. Laveaux made Toussaint brigadier general at the head of a French army of black, mixed-race, and white soldiers. He now turned these troops against the Spanish Empire, recovering all the forts of the Cordon de L'Ouest in less than two weeks and delivering the North to the French Republic. In July 1795 the Spanish officially withdrew. French troops also drove the British back to the coast by June 1795. Although the British continued to fight from coastal towns, Toussaint and his lieutenants, Dessalines and Christophe were effective in maintaining control over the North and West of Saint-Domingue.
Although Toussaint was now effectively the political and military leader of the island, the French
government continued to appoint representatives with whom he had varying relationships. Governor Laveaux left Saint-Domingue in 1796. He was succeeded by Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, an extremist French commissioner who had served on the island before. He allowed Toussaint Louverture to effectively rule and promoted him to General. In May 1797 Sonthonax named Toussaint Louverture commander-in-chief of the French republican army in Saint-Domingue. Toussaint was repelled by this radical's proposals to exterminate all Europeans. He found Sonthonax's atheism, coarseness, and immorality offensive. After some maneuvering, Toussaint Louverture forced Sonthonax out in 1797.
Louverture soon rid himself of another nominal French superior, Gabriel Hédouville, who arrived in 1798 as representative of the Directoire government of France. Aware that France had no chance of restoring colonialism as long as the war with Great Britain continued, Hédouville tried to pit Toussaint Louverture against the leader of colour, André Rigaud. In 1795, inspired by Toussaint’s military successes, Rigaud had renewed his attacks from the stronghold of free people of color in Port au Prince. Controlling a force of officers of colored and black troops, he now ruled a semi-independent state in the South, and wanted to retain portions of the Western Department which he had taken over. Toussaint Louverture, however, figured out Hédouville’s purpose and forced him to flee. Hédouville was succeeded by Philippe Roume, who deferred to the black governor.
From 1795 onwards, Toussaint was widely renowned. He was revered by the blacks and appreciated by most whites and people of color for helping restore the economy of Saint-Domingue. He invited many émigré planters to return, as he knew their management and technical expertise was needed to restore the economy and generate revenues. He used military discipline to force former slaves to work as laborers to get the plantations running again. He believed that people were naturally flawed and that discipline was needed to prevent idleness. He no longer permitted the laborers to be 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 native Africans, there were lessons to be learned from whites and people of color, among whom many men had been educated in France and often trained in the military.
Haitian Plantation
Toussaint was also successful in leading his relatively small band of troops in lightning quick strikes to gain strategic defeats and the withdrawal of an army of 10,000 British soldiers. In 1798, the British made a last-ditch attempt to oust Louverture by attacking from the South, sending General Thomas Maitland. Maitland failed and signed a secret treaty in which Toussaint Louverture agreed to leave the ports open to commercial shipping of all nations. He would also leave the military installations intact and spare the emigres. The British left Saint-Domingue completely in October 1798.
On 22 May 1799, Toussaint Louverture signed a trading treaty with the British and the Americans, probably drafted by merchant Joseph Bunel. In the United States, Alexander Hamilton was a strong supporter. However, after Thomas Jefferson became President in 1801, he reversed the friendly American policy.
In these treaties, Toussaint Louverture promoted lucrative trade with Great Britain and the United States. In return for arms and goods, he sold sugar and promised not to invade Jamaica and the American South. The British offered to recognize him as king of an independent Saint-Domingue. Distrusting the British because they maintained slavery, he refused.
In October 1799, the tensions between Toussaint and André Rigaud, already exploited by Gabriel Hédouville in 1798 came to a head. Rigaud was defeated in a bloody campaign that forced him to flee to France, and his southern state, led by people of color, was conquered by Toussaint. In July 1800, Toussaint appointed his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines to govern the southern province. Dessalines carried out brutal reprisals against the mulatto population, crushing the resistance and killing 40,000 men, women and children. After years of warfare and outrages, Dessalines' brutality caused such bitterness among people of color that reconciliation was impossible. Many refugees fled the country, including thousands who went to New Orleans, Louisiana and added to both the free people of color and African populations there.
Once he had control over all of Saint-Domingue, Toussaint Louverture turned to Spanish Santo Domingo, where slavery persisted. The colony never had the scale of slavery as in St. Domingue and plantation agriculture was not widespread there. Ignoring the commands of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had become first consul of France, Toussaint Louverture overran the Spanish settlement in January 1801, officially took control on the 24th, and proclaimed the abolition of slavery in Santo Domingo.
Bronze statues of Haitian Independence statues
The rise of Napoleon in France placed Toussaint in a new dilemma. His views toward the French mother country had always been somewhat ambivalent. Napoleon had made it clear to the inhabitants of Saint-Domingue that France would draw up a new constitution for its colonies, in which they would be subjected to special laws. Despite his initial protestations to the contrary, it seemed likely all along that he might restore slavery. Napoleon's superior military strength was to be feared, yet Toussaint had sworn to protect the freedom of the inhabitants of Saint-Domingue. Thus he pursued a strategy of appeasement in which he sought to retain connections with France.
In effective command of the entire island, Toussaint promulgated the Constitution of 1801 on 7 July, which officially established his authority over the entire island of Hispaniola. It made him governor general for life with near absolute powers and made no provision for officials from France. Article 3 of the constitution states:
"There cannot exist slaves [in Saint-Domingue], servitude is therein forever abolished. All men are born, live and die free and French."
However, Toussaint was willing to compromise the dominant Vaudou faith for Catholicism. Article 6 clearly states that
"the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman faith shall be the only publicly professed faith."
Toussaint professed himself a Frenchman and strove to convince Bonaparte of his loyalty. He wrote to Napoleon:
"From the First of the Blacks to the First of the Whites."
Bonaparte confirmed Toussaint Louverture’s position but considered him an obstacle to the restoration of Saint-Domingue as a profitable colony, which refugee planters had convinced him needed enslaved labor. He took the opportunity to expel Toussaint's sons, Placide and Isaac Louverture, who had been sent to study in France in 1797. In a sense they had been demanded as hostages by French officials during the long years of battles. They returned to Saint-Domingue in February 1802, with the troops of Charles Leclerc.
French appointed Governor General, laughed Toussiants demands, and vehemently opposed his ideas.
Whilst denying that he was trying to reinstate slavery, Napoleon sent his brother-in-law General Charles Leclerc with thousands of troops and numerous warships to regain French control of the island in 1802. Leclerc landed on the island on 20 January and moved against Toussaint. Over the following months, Toussaint Louverture's troops fought against the French, but some of his officers defected to join Leclerc. Others joined black leaders like Dessalines and Christophe. On 7 May 1802, Toussaint Louverture signed a treaty with the French in Cap-Haïtien, with the condition that there would be no return to slavery, then retired to his farm in Ennery.
After three weeks, Leclerc sent troops to seize Toussaint Louverture and his family. He deported them to France on a warship, claiming that he suspected the former leader of plotting an uprising. It was during this crossing that Toussaint Louverture famously warned his captors that the rebels would not repeat his mistake in the following words: "In overthrowing me you have cut down in Saint Domingue only the trunk of the tree of liberty; it will spring up again from the roots, for they are many and they are deep."
They reached France on 2 July 1802 and on 25 August, Toussaint Louverture was sent to the jail in Fort-de-Joux in the Doubs. While in prison, he died of pneumonia in April 1803. In his absence, Jean-Jacques Dessalines led the Hatitian rebellion until its completion, with the French forces finally defeated in 1803. But Toussaint Louverture is forever honored as the man who first lead and organized the armies of the Haitian revolution.
