The Haitian Revolution

The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) was the revolution that would make Haiti the second independent country in the Western Hemisphere.  It is also special in that is holds the distinction of being the only successful slave revolution in all of known history.  The revolution started in 1791 shortly after the French Revolution.  After about a year, the slave rebellion had spread and the slaves controlled the entire northern half of the country, with only a few isolated camps of whites who had dug in still in existence.  The French still held out hope that they could put down the revolt. 

Although, the war was going badly for the French, a leader of the rebellious slaves soon emerged.  He was Toussaint Louverture and he managed to defeat a British force sent to defeat the slaves. He eventually decided to fight for the French if they would end slavery, and in 1801 he invaded neighboring Santo Domingo and free all the slaves there.  In 1801, Toussaint Louverture created a constitution for Saint-Domingue and in retaliation, Napoleon Bonaparte dispatched a large military force of French soldiers and warships to the small island, led by Charles Leclerc, to reinstate French rule. 

Louverture was later promised his freedom if he would integrate his remaining troops into the regular French army. When he agreed to this in 1802, he was shipped off to France as a POW and died months later in a French prison. 

In 1804, Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared Haiti an independent republic and that officially made Haiti the only successful slave rebellion in history.  In 1825, the country did however agree to pay large sums of money (60 million franks) to repay the French slaveholders, which would cripple the ability of the country to become prosperous for years to come and partially as a result, Haiti was and still is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.