Toussaint Louverture: The Haitian Revolution

Toussaint Louverture was one of the leaders of the first successful slave revolt on a large scale. He was born into slavery, and he spent over fifteen years fighting for freedom and equality. He helped spur into motion the slave revolt which led Haiti to be the free state it is today. Louverture stepped forward to guide Haiti through a brutal revolution fighting one of the strongest militaries in history. In turn, he became the first black head of state in Haiti. He was a strong leader on the battlefield as well as in governmental issues. His goals were to abolish slavery in what was then known as Hispaniola and to establish equality for the people of his land. Louverture was successful in getting rid of slavery in Haiti, but he was not

However, after a few months, much of Haiti was destroyed. Louverture was forced to sign a peace treaty which caused him to be put under house arrest. Napoleon devised a trap for Toussaint that resulted in his capture. Louverture was taken to prison in France where he was tortured for months while sending multiple letters to Napoleon asking for fair trial. He died in prison after a very long period of being tortured and no trial. Napoleon figured Haiti was a waste of his time at that point, and he allowed it to be its own sovereign state. The new Haitian government started its rule by massacring every white on the island of Hispaniola. The country helped show other Latin American colonies that they could successfully revolt. The state of semi dictatorship and semi slavery, seen during Louverture’s reign, reappeared in Haiti. The government shared similar views as Louverture except for what to do with the white oppressors. Even though Toussaint Louverture fought for over a decade to create a free black country, he was only a piece in the puzzle that made what Haiti is today.

It is clear that Toussaint Louverture, in his military strategy, as well as his skill

But the question still remains: Did he achieve equality for the people of Haiti? He set out to establish equal rights, through force or otherwise, and took control of the country. When Hispaniola was under his control, all people were dubbed “free citizens”, but everyone who worked hard did not have a chance to move up in society. There were technically “equal rights” because everyone who was not a government official or a plantation operator was treated equally poorly. Louverture had luxury found by no others in the country, and his trusted advisors and officials lived lavishly as well. The people of his country lived the same way they always had with little wage to show for it. The government was condoning and enforcing what was almost the same as a type of slavery. Thus, there was not equality on the island at the