How did Haiti Overthrow its French colonizers?

How did Haiti Overthrow its French colonizers?

The Haitian Revolution was a pivotal event in world history that transformed the landscape of the Caribbean and inspired future anti-colonial and anti-slavery movements. In this video, we explore the origins, key figures, and lasting impact of this revolution. From the leadership of Toussaint L'Ouverture to the role of enslaved Africans and their allies, we delve into the complex social, economic, and political forces that shaped this groundbreaking moment in time.

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♦Music by Epidemic Sound

♦Script & Research :
Skylar J. Gordon

#History #Documentary

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Don't forget the Polish! Napoleon sent a Polish Legion to go there to fight the Haitians. The Poles viewed France as an ally that would come to Poland's aid and hoped they'd support Polish independence, so they served in the French army. But when they were told they'd be stopping the Haitians when they got there, they chose to fight with the Haitians AGAINST the French. Haiti still has a Polish community to this day, with the legion's descendants living in the village of Cazale about 45 miles north of Port-au-Prince.

[normanosborn]

This is why Haitians are more based than Native Americans.

[jeanogato]

Haiti had a major role in the freedom of most South American countries

[Daniel_McDonald]

Wow, I had no idea about the complicated social hierarchy and tensions in Saint-Domingue before the Haitian Revolution. It's fascinating to learn about the different groups and their conflicting interests, and how the events of the French Revolution played a role in instigating unrest. This portion of the video really highlights the complexity and nuance of history, and I appreciate the presenter's thorough explanations.

[curtisthomas]

Fun facts: 1. Prior to the Haitian Revolution a future leader Henri Christophe served as a drummer boy in a French unit of several thousand free blacks from French Caribbean colonies including St Domingue/Haiti
- the Chasseurs Volontaires - that took part in the crucial Battle of Savannah (then the capital of Georgia) during the American war of Independence. A monument to the unit exists in Georgia.
2. Toussaint L'Ouverture originally wanted Haiti to remain part of the French Empire but without slavery and with the principles of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man being applicable to all citizens of the colony.
3. Toussaint L'Ouverture was promoted to the rank of General in the French Army during the period after the initial slave rebellion and the abolition of slavery by France until Napoleon decided to reintroduce slavery and the actual revolution began. Whilst serving France he proclaimed himself Governor General and captured the Spanish part of the island, Santo Domingo, against Napoleon's wishes. He also successfully fought off invasions by the Spanish and British who were attempting to seize the lucrative colony for themselves.
3. Toussaint L'Ouverture and two other black officers served as Generals in the Spanish Army fighting against the French in Santo Domingo for a period. Thus Toussaint L'Ouverture was a General in the French, Spanish and Haitian Armies.
4. Wladislaw Jablonowski was a Polish General commanding the Polish Legions, comprised of Polish volunteers who fought under France in the hope that France would help their nation achieve independence from Russia and Prussia. The Polish Legions had become despondent about these hopes because they perceived that they were merely being used by the French without any intention of actually helping Poland. The Legions under Jablonowski, numbering more than 5000 were sent to St Domingue to fight the rebels, where Jablonowski died of yellow fever and around 4000 died from disease and combat. Several hundred deserted to the rebels side, and they and their descendants were made "honorary blacks". Jablonowski was the adopted son of a Polish aristocrat, his mother was the aristocrat's wife, an English noblewoman and his biological father was a black man.
5. Napoleon had planned that after putting down the revolution in Haiti, he would raise an army of battle experienced black soldiers from the colony and with the colony as a naval base and a source of funds use these black soldiers to help seize a couple American Gulf ports and carve out an empire by settling Louisiana and expanding it westwards to the Pacific. He had already obtained the alliance of 20, 000 armed Native American warriors to start his campaign. The defeat the French suffered in Haiti however left him without a naval base, without a source of funds and without a sizable portion of French soldiers (from casualties in the revolution) and without his colonial black army. This convinced him he had no chance of a North American Empire, leading him to sell Louisiana to the United States.
6. Independent Haiti was the first country in the Americas to permanently ban slavery. In spite of agreements with the colonial powers Haiti provided refuge for all escaped slaves who made it to the country. They also intercepted several ships carrying slaves and freed them.
The Haitian Revolution was the inspiration for several slave rebellions in the US.
7. Independent Haiti helped Latin American countries achieve independence. On two occasions after suffering defeat at the hands of the Spanish, the Latin American revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar and his forces were given shelter and refuge in Haiti. Haitian President Petion provided Bolivar with a couple thousand rifles, several hundred experienced Haitian soldiers and sailors, supplies, gold bullion and printing presses to continue his revolution, on the condition he would abolish slavery in all territories he liberated. This assistance helped what are now Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Panama gain independence from Spain. Venezuela erected several monuments to Haiti and Bolivar thanked the nation for it's assistance. In somewhat of a return favor Venezuela leader Hugo Chavez on two occasions provided intelligence to Haiti that Haiti that allowed them to stop two planned coups backed by the US and France.
8. Thomas Alexandre Dumas was born in Saint Domingue (Haiti) to a French planter and his black slave mistress. His father took him to France and raised hi as an aristocrat and enrolled him in the military academy. Thomas joined the military as a private, rose through the ranks to colonel and second in command of Europe's first all black regiment the Legion St George aka Legion of the Americas made up of black volunteers from French colonies in the Americas to General in charge of the Army of the Alps leading 55, 000 French, Swiss and other soldiers. He later led the cavalry during Napoleon's Egyptian Expedition. His son was French author Alexandre Dumas, who wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count Of Monte Cristo.
Dumas chose not to go to Haiti during the Revolution though., one of several possible reasons he had an acrimonious relationship with Napoleon.
Non fun fact: Slavery in Saint Domingue was particularly brutal because the French found it was more profitable to work their slaves to death with minimal care and replace them with fresh slaves from Africa. Slaves were also brutally punished by mutilations, amputations, drownings, hanging, burning, being set upon by dogs etc. The average life expectancy of a slave after arriving on the colony was around 5 years.

[Mrnovanova]

Can you make a video about how France then demanded reparations from Haiti and how Haïti ended up paying said reparations for 150 years? This is also one of the main reasons why Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas today and still suffers for the affront that was fighting for their independence.

[Kamikiyoo]

Never forget the history of Haiti. I remember reading over this a few years back and it’s remarkable. It’s sad to know how the following years the country was shattered due to the treatment they got from france, the us, and others. Of course Haiti did some errors as well that have them in the situation they are in. Though every country makes errors at some point. I just think that if they weren’t so unfair with Haiti in the beginning years as a free country, they would have been a stable country. Nevertheless, Haiti is a country I respect a lot and I really hope things would get better for them

[mixtapemania]

Not just the french, we also kicked out both the british and Spanish, in that order. The biggest british loss in the Americas was in Haiti, not the USA.

Also we helped simon bolivar fight the Spanish by giving him guns and soldiers.

Just had to state it, because the european (white) world tries to purposely ignores our history, but its very intertwined with theirs, you can only ignore ir for so long.

[dessalines]

There are a couple of things that I didn’t fully agree with. 1) Toussaint Louverture wasn’t captured. He was kidnapped. Leclerc invited him to a meeting and they trapped him and send him to die in Fort de Joux.
2) Dessalines had given the white people the opportunity to leave, but they refused. General Rochambeau, after losing the war, was given safe passage along with his men. In fact they were given ships with canons to defend themselves against British ships they might encounter on their way to France. Rochambeau the cruel, once at a safe distance at sea turned the canons towards the people who had allowed him to leave with his life.
You’re probably wondering why I called him the cruel. Well, for entertainment purpose, he would throw slaves to hungry dogs. All to the delight of his guests. Now let me repeat myself again. They allowed such a wicked man to go free. What makes you think that the white civilians weren’t offered the same opportunity?

[zroy]

Thank you for this video of enlightenment!
I'm a proud middle-aged Haitian American man from Flatbush, Brooklyn, and I will ALWAYS be proud of my ancestral homeland and history!
You did an excellent job of simplifying the achievements of Haiti's history, as well as the major accomplishments of the brilliant Generals Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
I think that you should also make a video about the sanctions, embargoes, and the forced reparations that my ancestors have been paying because we conquered white supremacy and the scourge of slavery!
I believe it will give the masses around the world an idea of how hate, racism, and white supremacy still prevail as cancer against humanity!

[Allybaba]

Been watching this channel for years. I was hoping to see my country make it.
This makes me happy. Thank you for showing our history, and hopefully you can show more of it.💪🏾

[KingDanny]

Dessalines is one of the greatest heroes in history, along with Toussaint. Dessalines has a street and avenue named for him in New York, by Brooklyn.

[andreray]

It would be so great to see a high budget movie covering this revolution.

[j.c.]

Hello ! I’m a big fan of your work… just a note: the « s » at the end of the word blancs is silent… as well as the « c » ! I’m a teacher in France, so if you need some advices how to pronounce french words in a future video, feel free to ask, I’ll be happy to help. In the meantime, keep on the good work, I really like your videos.

[laudio]

Just a quote from the Web:

'During Haiti's critical period of development, France intervened even more directly than the U.S. to thwart its success. In July 1825, the French King, Charles X, sent an armed flotilla of warships to Haiti with the message that the young nation would have to pay France 150 million francs to secure its independence, or suffer the consequences. That sum was 10 times the amount the United States had paid France in the Louisiana Purchase, which had doubled the size of the U.S.
Almost literally at gunpoint, Haiti caved to France's demands in order to secure its independence. The amount was too much for the young nation to pay outright, and so it had to take out loans with hefty interest rates from a French bank. Over the next century, Haiti paid French slaveholders and their descendants the equivalent of between $20 and $30 billion in today's dollars. It took Haiti 122 years to pay it off. Professor Marlene Daut writes it "severely damaged the newly independent country's ability to prosper."

[great_deception]

I love how the colonizer excuse comes up. Yet people can’t name a single majority black nation that is first world.

[jonathanvillanueva]

Man, whenever I hear the story of Haiti I tear up a bit. The first black republic. Haiti had so much potential but the vestiges of the social hierarchy and the outside world’s contempt really hurt the country. Much love from a Jamaican 🇯🇲. May peace come to our beautiful islands.

[benjaminrush]

Thank you on the focus of the successful slave revolt in Haiti. A first for the Americas.

I did some reading concerning the Emerging US and their relationship with Independent Haiti. If I can remember, Haiti approached the USA to begin a diplomatic relationship and assistance as a 'Free People'. I believe the US were having their own problems with England, France and Spain.
They also owed a great debt to France for assistance in the American Revolutionary War. Let's not forget that Jefferson just bought the Louisiana Territory from France. The Government of the US - Slave Nation in its own right - Boycotted and refused to have any assistance and trading with Haiti. The ramifications lasted throughout the 19th Century and into the 20th Century. Haiti - A Nation for potential wealth - never recovered from the 'Stigma' placed upon it by the USA. Just look at Haiti today. My Thoughts. Thanks.

[ellidominusser]

2:50 Haiti sounding like a battle-royale Island there

[krkMuse]

Haitians don't realize how powerful they are. They destroyed a French army at its prime. I mean, dude. You beat people with guns who were very strategic, but cannot defeat a bunch of men with suit? If that's not sad, what is? This is like beating the current US army with just guns, but cannot face a bunch of streets gangs because you are afraid.