Biography
The uprising that began in Saint-Domingue in 1791 destroyed the colony’s slave system. Toussaint Louverture built an army, governed the colony, and was captured in 1802. Haiti declared independence in 1804.
North America · 1770–1800
TL
Primary revolution
Toussaint Louverture
Haitian Revolution
Former enslaved man who became the leading general of the Haitian Revolution.
Life
1743–1803
1743–1803
Place
Cap-Haïtien, Haiti
Cap-Haïtien, Haiti
Years
1791–1804
1791–1804
Map
19.7596, -72.204
19.7596, -72.204
Revolution
Theme. Abolition · Independence · Black self-rule
Key figures. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Henri Christophe
Outcome. Abolition of slavery in the colony and the founding of Haiti.
Casualties. The war and reprisals killed a very large share of the colonial population.
Influence. Shook slave systems across the Americas.
Quoted line
“I was born a slave, but nature gave me the soul of a free man.”