Haiti Prologue

Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)



The Haitian Revolution was the world's only successful slave revolt. The successful revolution of said slaves led to the creation of the worlds first free black republic. Haiti was known as Saint-Domingue and was controlled by the French. The people of Haiti freed themselves from French colonization and from slavery. They succeeded in permanently liberating an entire island. In 1789 Saint-Domingue, producer of 40% of the world's sugar, was the most valuable colony on earth and there were over 50,000 slaves on the island. The slaves outnumbered all other people eight to one. On August 22, 1791, a great slave uprising plunged the country into civil war. Within the next ten days, slaves had taken control of the entire northern province in an unprecedented slave revolt that left the whites controlling only a few isolated fortified camps. The rebellious slaves killed 2,000 whites and burned or destroyed 280 sugar plantations. On April 4, 1792, the French legislature proclaimed the equality of all free people in the French colonies regardless of color; this provided equal civil rights to the Gens de Couleur, but did not end slavery On January 1, 1804, Dessalines, the new leader under the dictatorial 1801 constitution, declared Haiti a free republic. Haiti became the second independent nation in the Western Hemisphere, after the United States, following the only successful slave rebellion in world history.

Causes: -As the demand for sugar increased, so did the demand for slaves, making the amount of slaves and work done by them increase exponentially throughout the years

-Sugar production relied on harsh manual labor, done by slaves

-The plantation owners knew they were greatly outnumbered and feared a large scale slave revolt

-Gangs of runaway slaves would raid sugar plantations, increasing tension between slaves and plantation owners  The Revolution Begins: -Slaves join the revolution and send the country into a civil war

-slaves outnumber whites 8 to 1

-Slaves gain fortifications and are able to defeat the French forces

-in 1801 the country is declared a free republic  Results of the Revolution: -These slave rebellions influenced those in both American and Britain

-Many plantation owners move to New Orleans

-Haiti had to componsate for not having slaves to work on the sugar plantations to keep up the supply of sugar to the world

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