A historical depiction connected with the Haitian Revolution. Wikimedia Commons.
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The Haitian Revolution was the only large-scale slave revolt in history to create an independent state governed by formerly enslaved people. It began in 1791 in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, one of the world’s richest plantation economies and a society built on brutal racial slavery. Revolutionary conflict involved enslaved rebels, free people of colour, white colonists, French forces and foreign powers. Toussaint Louverture emerged as a major leader, although he died in French captivity before independence. Jean-Jacques Dessalines led forces that defeated Napoleon’s expedition, and Haiti declared independence in 1804. The revolution shattered assumptions about slavery and empire but left the new nation facing diplomatic isolation, warfare and later a crippling indemnity imposed by France.
