The Emergence of Toussaint Louverture
Galbaud’s attempt in 1793 to seize power on behalf of the white settlers forced governor Sonthonax to rethink his policies. Until then, he had been attempting to forcibly put down the African slave revolt, but after surviving the failed coup, Sonthonax did an about face and sought an alliance with the rebellious slaves. Freedom was their price for fighting on behalf of the governor and the regime of Republican France.
That change in policy convinced Toussaint Louverture (circa 1743 – 1803), fated to become the most prominent figure in the Haitian Revolution, to ally with Sonthonax. Toussaint was born a slave in a sugar plantation where, unlike most slaves, he managed to get an education. He was freed at age 33, but remained on the plantation as a salaried employee.
When the African slave rebellion began in 1791, Toussaint helped his former master escape, then joined the rebels. However, he soon grew disgusted with the rebel leaders’ incompetence and willingness to compromise, so he split and formed his own military unit. He quickly emerged as a gifted guerrilla commander and natural tactician, and his unit became the spearhead for rebel attacks. His ability to break through enemy lines led him to adopt the name “Louverture”, which means “opening” in French.
In 1793, war broke out between France and Spain, which controlled the eastern two thirds of Hispaniola, the island whose western third is comprised of Haiti. Toussaint joined the Spanish, who knighted and commissioned him as a general in their army. The now-general Toussaint Louverture exhibited military brilliance with a whirlwind campaign that secured multiple victories against the French, who suddenly faced the risk of being driving out of Haiti altogether.
It was against that backdrop that the Civil Commissioner Sonthonax freed all of Haiti’s slaves. His decision was confirmed by the French National Convention, which went a step further and freed all slaves in French colonies. Spain and Britain refused to follow suit in their colonies, or confirm the freeing of slaves in Haiti, so in May of 1794, Toussaint abandoned the Spanish and joined the French.
That defection turned the tide in Haiti. The colony had been on the brink of falling to the British and Spanish, but within a short time of Toussaint’s entering the fray on the French side, the British were dealt severe setbacks, and the Spanish were expelled. He was made lieutenant governor of the colony, and by 1795, the situation had been stabilized.
Toussaint became the most powerful and most admired figure in Haiti. The colony’s blacks adored him as their warrior champion, while the mulattos and remaining Europeans appreciated his policies of reconciliation. In order to revive the economy, Toussaint allowed many French emigres to return to the island, in defiance of laws enacted in Paris.
More controversially, he was a firm believer people are naturally corrupt and needed compulsion to do the right thing, and that idle hands are the tools of the devil. So Toussaint used the army to force the former slaves to get back to work. They were no longer whipped, and were paid for their work, but the ham fisted approach rankled, and began to erode Toussaint’s popularity among Haiti’s blacks. It also alienated some of his chief lieutenants, who saw Toussaint’s reconciliatory policies as needless appeasement of whites and former slave owners, and backsliding towards slavery. That would have dire consequences for him down the road.