Dan Snow's History Hit - Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution

Episode Date: October 26, 2020

Sudhir Hazareesingh joined me to discuss the life of Toussaint Louverture, a revolutionary leader who confronted the forces of slavery, settler colonialism, imperialism and racial hierarchy. The Haitian Revolution began in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue with a slave revolt in August 1791, and culminated a dozen years later in the proclamation of the world's first independent black state.

Hi everybody, welcome to Dan Snow's History. I'm in a very exciting place at the moment. You can study, you can read, you can watch, you can listen to history for years and years and years and sometimes a little juicy story or detail comes through and hits you right square in the chop so you had no idea that this story existed and it's just a huge privilege when it does happen. I had that experience. I'm on the windswept little island of Lundy off the North Devon coast and I was looking around the castle and I learned to my amazement it was built by Henry III to bring the island under control. It'd been a nest of pirates. Morisco was a bit of a wrong and he became a pirate. He tried to assassinate the king with a secret assassination squad. The king then seized Lundy,

sent his men up the cliffs in the depths of winter, captured Morisco, had him killed, quartered, naturally, for treason, and then built his own castle on this rock. So isn't that cool? I couldn't believe my eyes when I was reading this. Anyway, this podcast's got nothing whatsoever to do with that. This podcast, though, is about another fantastically fascinating moment in our history, the Haitian Revolution. You've heard about it on the podcast before, but this time we've got Sudhir Hazari Singh on the podcast, an absolute legend. He's at Baylor College, Oxford, and he has written a new book called Black Spartacus, the Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture. If you haven't heard of Toussaint Louverture, you are in for a massive

treat. Once he was born into slavery on the isle of, oh well of what is now in Haiti, but he rose to lead a successful revolt of the formerly enslaved people in that colony. An absolutely extraordinary story with enormous repercussions right around the world. If you enjoy stories like this, please go and check out History Hit TV. It's a digital history channel. It is like Netflix for history. You can go there and if you use the code POD1, P-O-D-1, you get a month for free and your second month for just one pound, euro or dollar. So sweet. Head over there and do it. But in the meantime, everybody, here is Sudhir Hazari Singh.

Enjoy. Sudhir, thank you very much for coming on the podcast. Really nice to see you, Dan. This is one of the great and yet too widely ignored stories of the 18th, 19th century. It's an extraordinary tale. Tell me about the state that Saint-Domingue, what we now know as Haiti, what state was it in just before the uprising? So just before the uprising, Saint-Domingue is the wealthiest French colony.

It's known as the Pearl of the Antilles. It's a producer of sugar, cotton, indigo, coffee. It's a place where tremendous fortunes are made, both for local French settlers, of whom there are about 35,000, and for investors in France. However, all of this wealth, all of these luxury goods that are produced, rest on slavery and slave labour. And by the late 18th century, there are 500,000 slaves in Saint-Domingue, the majority of whom were born in Africa. And that's the kind of basic backdrop to the revolutionary events which are launched in 1791. Presumably, the revolution in France, the Metropolitan Centre, sends shockwaves through the French empire, the French colonies.

Yes, but the way the French revolution plays out initially in Saint-Domingue is very paradoxical. Because when the planters hear that these principles of liberty, equality and fraternity have been promulgated in the metropole, their first instinct, of course, is to say to themselves and to the French authorities, oh, this is all well and good, but these principles do not apply to us and they will not apply to our slaves. So there's a kind of rearguard action which the planters begin to fight to prevent these egalitarian principles from being implemented in the colonies. And in Saint-Domingue, the first two years of the revolution, actually better described as years of counter-revolution, because the planters are very successful in blocking any attempt to enfranchise and empower

either the majority of the enslaved population, or even the planters refuse to give any political rights to the people of colour, as they are called, the mixed race population, of whom there are about 35,000. So the French Revolution has all these wonderful principles in metropolitan France, but none of them are deemed to apply in the colonies. And that's why you get the slave revolt two years later. Tell me about Toussaint Louverture. What do we know about his early life? So unfortunately, we have very little hard evidence about the first, really the first 50 years of his life. We know that he was born sometime around 1740,

and that his father and mother were captured and forcibly transported to Saint-Domingue sometime in the first half of the 18th century from the kingdom of the then kingdom of Alada, as it was called, which is in today's terms the Republic of Benin. Toussaint's father was a senior official in the kingdom and he actually taught Toussaint quite a lot about Alada military, political and scientific culture. But Toussaint, when he's a young kid, is very thin, very scruffy. His nickname is Skinny Stick, Fatra Baton, as he was called. But he grows up to be this wonderfully talented person who becomes one of the best horsemen in the northern plain of Saint-Domingue. And he's immediately noticed, because of his remarkable intelligence, by the plantation hierarchy. And he eventually becomes, in effect, the assistant to the plantation manager,

who emancipates him sometime in the 1770s. So he is a member of the so-called free black population. Yes, who are a tiny minority. is a member of the so-called the free black population. Yes, who are a tiny minority. In fact, from the 1770s onwards, partly because the settlers and the plantation hierarchy are so afraid of any revolutionary activity by the slaves, by the enslaved people, very few form acts of manumission, as it's referred to, are actually granted. So Toussaint belongs to the tiny minority of people who are emancipated. The traditional route for emancipation for a black person is military service. And there are some

former enslaved people who achieve emancipation through that route. Although it's very interesting that Toussaint himself never served in the colonial army. And I think that's an interesting fact also, because he becomes this extraordinary military leader in the 1790s, even though he has never actually been trained formally as a soldier. How did that revolution, that rebellion break out in summer of 1791? So what we know is that from the late 1780s, probably, the elite of the enslaved who worked in the plantations, the slave drivers, the coachmen, the people who were part of, as it were, the senior levels. Because slavery has quite a clear and rigid sort of structure, hierarchical structure. And Toussaint was part of it, because he was formerly the coachman on the plantation on which he lived. All of these senior figures

used to meet regularly on Sundays somewhere in the northern plain of Saint-Domingue. And we know that they started planning the insurrection in the early years of the French Revolution. And they meet in August 1791, decide to launch this insurrection. And a week later, the revolution is sealed, as it were, And a week later, the revolution is sealed, as it were, in a religious ceremony. And so it starts in August of 1791. And very soon, very quickly, much of the northern territory of the colony is under the control of it became the only successful rebellion of enslaved Africans in the western hemisphere didn't it so what was it about this movement these people that set them apart from other people fighting for liberation across this hemisphere that's a really interesting question Dan and of course I, looking at contemporary episodes, you see attempts that are being made in Jamaica in the second half of the 18th century.

Even in the 1790s, while Toussaint is establishing control over the colony of Saint-Domingue, you see other attempts in Dutch colonies, in other British strongholds, but all of them fail. And as you say, the one in Saint-Domingue is the only successful one. I'd put it down to two things. One is sheer numbers. Saint-Domingue was, because of the population balance, the place which had probably the largest number of enslaved people, 500,000. And in the early years of the revolutionary uprising, the vast majority of able-bodied men, particularly in the north of the colony, are actually bearing arms. So you have a huge number of people who are actually fighting. But I'd say the second factor, and I would say it's just as important, is the quality of the leadership. And this is where Toussaint Louverture comes in. Because what Toussaint does, and this is really a miracle, and it's described as such even by

his French opponents, is that he takes these bedraggled African-born combatants, many of whom have no military training like himself, and turns them into this extraordinarily disciplined and effective fighting force. And he does it very quickly, because you see that already from 1794-1795, he's winning these impressive victories, first against the French, because Toussaint fights with the Spaniards initially against the French, and he defeats the French in a series of military encounters. Then, when he switches over to the French cause, as from 1794, he fights the Spaniards and the British.

And it's just this extraordinary military skill that he's able to bring in terms of training and discipline to his combatants that I think makes all the difference. You mentioned he switched sides there. We should clarify, it's not that he betrayed his movement. The extraordinarily complex diplomacy and conflict of the late French Revolutionary Wars meant that the British and Dutch were arriving as would-be colonial oppressors and with a belief in re-enslavement, presumably.

Yes, absolutely. So what happens is that when the enslaved people take up arms, the settlers basically turn to the British who are in neighboring Jamaica, 1792, 1793, and ask them for help. They say, come to our help. We are being killed off here. If you believe in the system of slavery, then come and fight with us on our side. fight with us on our side. And that's what they do. The British then invade Saint-Domingue and Pitt the Younger, who sometimes I still see it in textbooks that are still taught in British schools, who sometimes thought of as this great abolitionist friend of Wilberforce, etc. Pitt the Younger is the prime minister who then sends in 15,000 men to try and not only recapture Saint-Domingue,

but also to re-enslave the majority black population. So the British are actually there for five years, and Toussaint has to fight them off, which he does successfully. And in 1798, he signs an agreement which leads to their withdrawal. Land a Viking longship on island shores, scramble over the dunes of ancient Egypt and avoid the Poisoner's Cup in Renaissance Florence. Each week on Echoes of History,

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There are new episodes every week. Napoleon comes along and decides to reimpose slavery, in part because of Josephine's wife, girlfriend, who was from the planting class. Is that correct? Well, with typical lack of gallantry, Napoleon later blamed Josephine for his decision to invade. But I think that's just a flimsy excuse. I mean, the real politics of it is that really from the mid-1790s onwards, the French Revolution starts to take an increasingly conservative turn. You see it already in the elections of 1797, which in France produce a royalist majority. So the writing is on the wall for people like Toussaint, because they can see that increasingly powerful voices around the French government are pushing for the return to order, as the euphemistic term,

which is constantly used by these planters, is we need to bring back order to the colonies. And everybody knows what that means. It means bringing back slavery. And the point about Napoleon is, of course, he took the decision to reinvade Saint-Domingue himself. But all his key advisors in 1800 and 1801 are people who are pro-slavery. 101, are people who are pro-slavery. So it's really the colonial lobby more generally, which is actually a very powerful force in French politics during that period, and a lobby that is very supportive of Napoleon more generally. It's that group that I think bears a heavy responsibility in shaping Napoleon's decision to invade. And Toussaint then ends up fighting a big French expeditionary force. The fighting is always said to be particularly savage and barbarous. Is the historiography

tinged by the racist, subsequent racist views about barbaric, formerly enslaved Africans rising up and murdering white people? I think there is an element of that, certainly. But I think the savagery really comes initially from the invaders. I mean, we have documented evidence that when the French troops land, in one of the early landings, they fight the Saint-Domingue army, which has been ordered to resist by Toussaint. So they fight them in one or two places and are defeated and then surrender. And the French then massacre all the soldiers who have surrendered. So all the early examples of violations of the then laws of war are on the French side. And that's what actually then, in a sense, encourages the resistance by Toussaint and his army. And Toussaint, you've mentioned a little bit about his leadership. He just is one of the most remarkable men of this period.

What are the best sources for how he led and what his character was? Well, that's where I was very fortunate, because unlike a lot of major figures of African origin of this time, Toussaint has left behind a huge paper trail. Because by the mid 1790s, he becomes a general in the French Republican Army. So we have his, on some military campaigns that he's fighting, he's writing weekly reports. So you can see from these reports what his military philosophy is, which is kind of extremely interesting to analyze. And in fact, I devote a whole chapter in the book to that. But the other very important thing about Toussaint is that he's an administrator as well. And during the second half of the 1790s, he becomes, first of all, the de facto, and then, as from 1801, the de jure governor, colonial governor of the island. And in the

course of administering the colony, he leaves behind this huge paper trail, which allows you to see what kind of leadership style he has. And he's very different, both in style and in substance, from the sorts of figures that we're used to when we think of French revolutionaries in metropolitan France. And this is where I have a slight difference in emphasis with, of course, the wonderful book, classic book on the Haitian Revolution by C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins. book, classic book on the Haitian Revolution by C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, because C.L.R. James, which I still think is an absolutely fabulous book, and I would recommend it to anyone who's interested in reading about the Haitian Revolution. But the one difference I have with C.L.R. James in this respect is that he sees Toussaint and the Haitian revolutionaries as,

if you like, Caribbean Frenchmen. He sees all their ideas and all their practices and all their ways of thinking as coming exclusively from France. Whereas when you look at Toussaint, you see that it's a much richer set of ideas and practices, some of which come from France, others of which come from his African heritage, and others still come from the Caribbean, come from his African heritage and others still come from the Caribbean because there's a very rich political and cultural and religious set of practices that Toussaint is also embedded in and which come from his native Saint-Domingue. They succeed in driving out this French expatriate force, the disease-ridden nightmare of a campaign. What settlement does he try and build at the end of the war? Dussart's strategy in 1802 is to reach an agreement, sign a truce with the French, which is what he does.

And his objective is simply to allow nature to take its course. Exactly what happened to the British, right? He didn't fight them all the time during those five years. It was a war of attrition which eventually led to the British being decimated by yellow fever. And the same thing he thought would happen to the French. And indeed, that proved to be the case. Although they were also defeated decisively in one battle, the Battle of Vertier in 1803. But that's Toussaint's long-term objective. Unfortunately for him, he trusts the French a little too much. And so he goes to this meeting in 1802, in the middle of 1802, where they trick him and capture him and immediately put him and his family on a ship, which sails off to France. And he is then imprisoned

in a jail in the Fort de Joux, in the Jura Mountains, and he dies there in April 1803. But his lieutenants basically carry out his strategy. And it's really on the basis of the plan that Toussaint had worked out that the Haitians are able to win their independence in 1804. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who has been on the podcast, well, he hasn't been on the podcast, brilliant historian talking about him before, finishes the work that Toussaint began. Exactly, exactly. So a tragic, tragic end of a man that's now regarded as the father of Haiti and its people. But without him, do you think it's possible that that Haitian rebellion revolution would have ended up crushed like the ones on all those other Caribbean islands, and you wouldn't have had this first black republic in the western hemisphere. I agree with that. I think that what Toussaint does,

and you see it already from the late 1790s onwards, he's preparing his people to face any invasion. I mean, he hoped that the French would not invade, but he wanted to prepare his people and his army for that possibility. But of course, he was living in an age of empire, in an age where empires were vying with each other for control over territories like Saint-Domingue. So he thought it was entirely conceivable that the British might invade, or even that the Americans, who were already starting to flex their muscle, might try and take advantage of the situation.

already starting to flex their muscle, might try and take advantage of the situation. So I think the reason why the Haitian revolution eventually succeeds in the early 19th century is, of course, not directly attributable to Toussaint because he's no longer there. But if you look at the figures who are leading this revolution by 1803 and 1804, they are all people who have been trained by Toussaint Louverture, including, of course, Dessalines. But I think more fundamentally, Toussaint needs to be given credit for creating this fighting spirit among the population of Saint-Domingue, inculcating in them this fundamental belief that they are entitled to be free, that they have political and civil rights that no other person can take away from them. These are all principles that are embodied in his 1801 constitution,

which he promulgates and which, if you like, establishes these principles concretely in law. And the most important of these principles, which is one of the early articles of his 1801 constitution, is that slavery is abolished forever in Saint-Domingue. It is the most extraordinary story. Your book is called? Black Spartacus, The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture. It's a great name. Well done. I should ask though, with Black Spartacus, is that a contemporary expression used about him? Yes. I mean, I was a bit hesitant to use that as the title because, of course, you don't want to compare someone like Toussaint to a sort of leading European figure.

But Toussaint himself was called that by one of his strongest allies among the French Republican administrators in the mid-1790s. And the key thing to my mind was that Toussaint himself was very happy to have that title used, and he used it himself sometimes to refer to his leadership. So yes, from the second half of the 1790s, this is one of the many ways in which Toussaint is referred to. He's sometimes called the Black George Washington. Others refer to him as the Bonaparte of the Caribbean. He has a lot of heroic names and nicknames. Well, thank you very much indeed for coming on the podcast. Thank you very much for having me, Dan.

I hope you enjoyed the podcast. Just before you go, a bit of a favour to ask. I totally understand if you don't want to become a subscriber or pay me any cash money. Makes sense. But if you could just do me a favour, it's for free. Go to iTunes or wherever you get your podcast. If you give it a five-star rating and give it an absolutely glowing review, purge yourself, give it a glowing review, I'd really appreciate that. It's tough weather, the law of the jungle out there, and I need all the fire support I can get. So that will boost it up the charts. It's so tiresome, but if you could do it, I'd be very,

very grateful. Thank you.