HIST362: Modern Revolutions

France followed the same policy of mercantilism that Britain had imposed on its 13 colonies in the future United States. The colony of Saint Domingue was only allowed to trade with France. Its aristocracy was not represented in the government. The country served as a natural resource depot for France, which reaped the profits from its cash crops. However, when France published the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789, the residents of Saint Domingue expected the new government would also convey these rights to them. The French revolutionary government granted varying degrees of autonomy, rights, and participation to certain groups in Saint Domingue. The White planters and some wealthy free Blacks were allowed to participate, but they excluded the petit blancs, enslaved people, and maroons. These disparities led to a multi-faceted civil war in Saint Domingue. The conflict eventually developed into the Haitian Revolution, where enslaved people rose to oppose the French government and their enslavers. Toussaint L'Ouverture (1743–1803), a formerly enslaved person, was the son of an African prince who had been captured into slavery. Although L'Ouverture was born into slavery, his enslavers treated him less harshly, and he was highly educated. L'Overture joined the slave rebellion in 1792 following the Night of Fire, when enslaved people rose against their enslavers, set their plantations on fire, and mounted armed resistance against their oppressors. This revolution was more successful than previous slave rebellions – the 500,000 enslaved people vastly outnumbered the 40,000 White people on the island – but it was costly: 100,000 enslaved people and 24,000 White people died. Spain, which controlled the eastern part of the island (today's Dominican Republic), took advantage of the instability by offering to support the revolution. L'Ouverture and other revolutionary leaders allied with Spain against France. In 1793, Britain followed Spain's cue and began pushing into the island. In response, the National Assembly of France (the revolutionary government in Paris) decided to emancipate all the enslaved people in the French empire and make them citizens. This had the intended effect: in 1794, L'Ouverture realigned with France, and they pushed the British out and took the eastern side of the island from Spain. Saint Domingue remained a semi-autonomous French colony from 1794 to 1803. L'Ouverture became general-in-chief of the army, drafted a constitution based on the liberation of enslaved people, and later appointed himself governor-general for life. Watch this video describing the Constitution L'Ouverture drafted. How does it compare to the American and French constitutions we have studied and to the ideals of the Enlightenment philosophers embedded in its framework?