Toussaint Loveture

On this page you will learn about Toussaint Louverture. He was a big part in the Independence of Haiti. He was in a slave revolt. Captured by the French and died before he could see his country free. He was a big leader in the movement to free haiti. He was born in 1743 in the French colony of Saint-Dominique. His dad was an educated slave and his grandfather was the Chief of an African tribe. He could read and write in french but he could only speak french creole. He was freed in 1777. He ended up marrying Suzanne Simon-Baptise after he was freed. On August 22 1791 he was in a big slave revolt. He ended up protecting his old master Bayou de Libertad and helped him get away from the slaves that were attacking. He would become 3rd in command in the Spanish army and help drive out the French. In 1794 he would fight against slavery and he would later abolish it. From 1794 to 1802 he would rise in power. From 1793-1798 he would help Haiti defend against the British that were attacking. When he made himself governor general for life in 1801 he made new laws. Even though he was against slavery he made it that all of his generals had a massive amount of land. He also made it so that workers could not leave the plantations without permission and could be beaten for laziness. He would make the main religion chaolis and would outlaw any use of the religion voodoo. Napoleon sent his men to make sure Haiti was not self governed. Toussaint Louverture was captured June 7th 1802. He would spend 10 months in a jail cell in France where he would later die of pneumonia. He would die before haiti would be independent of France