The Haitian Revolution The French colony of Saint Domingue, Haiti's name at the time, had become France's most successful colony overseas in the 18th century. Saint Domingue had thriving plantations and was running them with the help of many slaves. The ideas of freedom and equality that came from the enlightenment was exactly how they were thinking. The slaves' revolt was inspired by the French Revolution.
Saint Domingue's sugar plantations were extremely difficult to work on, but they were producing mass amounts of sugar. 40% of Europe's sugar was produced from the colony. The sugar plantations were large and required the slaves to work excessively. 90% of Saint Domingue's population were slaves, and a lot of the slaves were African. Some slave owners would have children …show more content…
The slaves were still not getting enough attention. A huge slave revolt happened in August of 1791, which was being lead by Toussaint l'Overture, and they had ended up receiving control of one third of the island a year later. In 1801, after a lot of fighting, l'Overture made the revolution go further than only Haiti. Napoleon Bonaparte became the new ruler of France, and sent out an army to capture Toussaint, and then left him to die in prison. After his death, Jean-Jacques Dessalines lead another revolution and defeated France, became independent, and shortly after changed the island's name to Haiti.
The French Revolution was a huge inspiration for the Haitian Revolution. The way that everybody had come together so quickly. Nobody was waiting for a certain event to start it off, all of the anger had just built up over time. The slave revolt was also a product of the enlightenment. The way that they had all wanted freedom and equality, and how they were willing to band together and fight to be granted
Saint Domingue's sugar plantations were extremely difficult to work on, but they were producing mass amounts of sugar. 40% of Europe's sugar was produced from the colony. The sugar plantations were large and required the slaves to work excessively. 90% of Saint Domingue's population were slaves, and a lot of the slaves were African. Some slave owners would have children …show more content…
The slaves were still not getting enough attention. A huge slave revolt happened in August of 1791, which was being lead by Toussaint l'Overture, and they had ended up receiving control of one third of the island a year later. In 1801, after a lot of fighting, l'Overture made the revolution go further than only Haiti. Napoleon Bonaparte became the new ruler of France, and sent out an army to capture Toussaint, and then left him to die in prison. After his death, Jean-Jacques Dessalines lead another revolution and defeated France, became independent, and shortly after changed the island's name to Haiti.
The French Revolution was a huge inspiration for the Haitian Revolution. The way that everybody had come together so quickly. Nobody was waiting for a certain event to start it off, all of the anger had just built up over time. The slave revolt was also a product of the enlightenment. The way that they had all wanted freedom and equality, and how they were willing to band together and fight to be granted