Toussaint Louverture possessed a multitude of important qualities in being a liberator of slaves, a military commander, and a ruler of Saint Domingue, leading to his success in making Saint Domingue an independent country not under French rule, and in ending slavery in Saint Domingue. However, the most important role that he played in his life was a liberator of slaves- his actions in abolishing slavery in Saint Domingue, and in leading the slaves in an uprising to their freedom was the origin of all of the other important steps he took in other areas, both governmental and military.
Louverture’s inspiration for his role as a liberator of slaves may have began when Louverture was a young slave,"...he served as a herder, then a coachman, and later, an overseer of fellow slaves in the field," (Background Essay). Louverture's past as a slave may have helped him to be able to understand the slaves' situations, feelings, and desires for freedom, leading him to rise up as a leader against the system of slavery. The slaves began to rise up against slavery because of the Declaration of the Rights of Man when, "1789: The French Revolution begins," (Document A). However, having said that, a few years later the French Directory became the government that ruled France between 1795 and 1799, and Louverture was worried that they would reinstate slavery. Louverture wrote them a letter advising them not to, saying, “Could men who have once enjoyed the benefits of liberty look on calmly while it is taken from them! They bore their chains when they knew no condition of life better than that of slavery,” (Document B). Thankfully, the French Directory did not reinstate slavery, and Louverture continued in building a new society which did not involve slavery of any kind. He signed the Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801, in which it says in Article 3, “There cannot exist slaves in this territory, servitude is therein forever abolished. All men are born, live and die free and French,” (Document C).
Louverture was also a crucial military leader at the time of the Haitian Revolution. Louverture took the reins as leader and steered the 4,000 man rebel army into battle, fighting against French troops on the island in 1793. He not only possessed military intelligence but also inspiration for his troops, some of his famous words before battle being, “Here come the enslavers of our race. All France is coming to St. Domingo, to try again to put the fetters upon our limbs; but not France, with all her troops of the Rhine, the Alps, the Nile, the Tiber, nor all Europe to help her, can extinguish the soul of Africa,” (Document F). By successfully fighting the French forces there on the island of Saint Domingue, the French government abolished all slavery in the colonies in 1794, accomplishing his goal of freeing the slaves of the island. However, Louverture also had to make some very tough decisions regarding his military leadership as well. After slavery was abolished in Saint Domingue, there was a group of rebels who did not agree with having to do the same work under the same master that they did when they were enslaved, although they were being paid. This reminded them too much of their past work as slaves, and they wanted to experience their freedom more fully. This group of rebels was led by Hyacinthe Moyse, Louverture’s nephew, and he led a rebellion on October 29, 1801, “...whites were massacred from Fort Liberté to the gates of Cap Français. The new insurrection swept all over the Northern Department within two days… The war cry of the rebels was ‘General Moyse is with us- death to all the whites,” (Document E). This enraged Louverture, causing him to order some of the rebels to step out of the ranks and kill themselves, as well as set his own nephew up for execution by a firing squad. This shows just how strong-willed Louverture was, that he had to put what he thought was the actions that were for the good of the country ahead of family.
Finally, Louverture’s role as a ruler of Saint Domingue was also an important part of his legacy. Louverture began to take the form of the leader of the newly free Saint Domingue, and wrote many legal documents in making an effort to reform the society after such a drastic change in it occurred, the abolition of slavery. Louverture outlined many ideas about new forms of work, adn rules regarding it, in the Proclamation on November 25, 1801, such as, ”As soon as a child can walk, he should be employed on the plantation according to his strength in some useful work…” (Document D). By Louverture’s involvement and power in the government of Saint Domingue, he was able to reshape the social structure and society as a whole, because of how dependent Saint Domingue’s whole societal structure originally was on slavery.
Although all of the roles that Louverture played in the Haitian Revolution, liberator of slaves, military leader, and ruler of Saint Domingue alike, liberator of slaves is the most important, and is the way he should be remembered. Not only was this role the most important and the most formative for the island of Saint Domingue and for the fight towards the abolition of slavery as a whole, but it was also what created his other roles in the Haitian Revolution as well. If he had not been a liberator of slaves, he would have never been a military leader in the fight against slavery, and he never would have been a ruler of Saint Domingue because he never would have had a chance to reshape and form the government without the abolition of slavery.
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