Toussaint Louverture accepts terms after months of resistance

On 26 January 1801, Toussaint Louverture’s forces entered Santo Domingo, the Spanish-speaking eastern part of Hispaniola, claiming authority under France’s 1795 cession. The action extended...

A ten-member assembly convened at Port-au-Prince on 22 March 1801 to draft a constitution for Saint-Domingue. The initiative used the French Constitution of Year VIII, which allowed colonies to...

Toussaint Louverture promulgated the Constitution of Saint-Domingue on 8 July 1801. It declared that slavery was forever abolished, barred racial distinctions in principle, and made Toussaint...

In early February, a large French expedition under Charles Leclerc arrived to reassert French authority. Henri Christophe refused to surrender Cap-Français; revolutionary forces set much of the city...

French forces began a sustained assault on the fortified position at Crête-à-Pierrot, where Dessalines and revolutionary soldiers resisted for weeks. The defenders eventually broke out on 24 March...

Leclerc had Toussaint Louverture arrested after inviting him to a meeting, despite the recent settlement and assurances of safety. Toussaint and members of his family were sent to France and...

As French repression intensified and fears of restored slavery spread, General Charles Bélair raised the standard of revolt. This renewed uprising drew on rural networks and the laboring population...

After crossing the Atlantic in French custody, Toussaint Louverture arrived at Fort de Joux in the Jura. He was isolated from his family and political community and held without trial. His...

French authorities tried Charles and Sanité Bélair by military commission and executed them at Cap-Français. Sanité, a Black woman revolutionary and officer, demanded to be shot as a soldier rather...

Alexandre Pétion and Clervaux deserted the French side and joined the insurgency, followed by troops under their command. Their choice reflected mounting fear that French rule would strip Black and...