Pierre François Dominique Toussaint was born in 1743 as a slave on the Breda plantation near Cap Français, now Cap Haïtien. He was largely self-educated, serving as a coachman when the bloodbath engulfed Haiti. Over the years, he had observed the tangled conflict between blacks, whites and mulattos; he had been deeply concerned over the injustices suffered by his fellow slaves. Not an immediate participant in the slave uprisings of 1791, he is said to have assisted the white owners of his plantation to escape to Baltimore before he became personally involved in the conflict. By now he was firmly dedicated to the Republican cause, believing that the future for his black people lay with self-rule but within the French colonial system. Fighting vigorously with the blacks, he soon began to emerge as a national leader and military and political strategist. His opposition earned him the sobriquet of L'Ouverture, the opener. Henceforth, he was called Toussaint Louverture.
In 1792, the French assembly repealed the decree of 1791 which had given the rights of French citizenship to all free persons of color in the French dominions. When Toussaint learned of this and also that Spain was at war with France, he took service with the Spanish of the eastern part of the island assisting them in overrunning a part of the French territory. On Feb. 4, 1793 the National Convention in France abolished slavery in all its colonies. Believing that this signalized a victory for all that he espoused, Toussaint returned to the French cause, bringing with him an army of 4,000 black troops. The French Civil Commission named him a General of Brigade in recognition of his outstanding military leadership. As military leader, Toussaint forced the evacuation of both British and Spanish from Saint-Domingue, even signing the convention with the British General Maitland for their evacuation in 1796. Named Lieutenant Governor of Saint-Domingue by the French on April 1, 1797, Toussaint's prestige with his own race was immense. Although still lacking control in the southern part of the country which was dominated by the mulattos, he administered his affairs so adroitly that he was able to undertake a campaign to free the whole island. By 1801, he had consolidated his position to the point where the French officials were virtually without authority. Santo Domingo, capital of the old Spanish colony, had been captured; all slaves had been freed. A government of local autonomy had been established under a constitution that named him Governor General for life.
Although Toussaint did not proclaim the independence of the island, his actions alarmed the French government, now dominated by Napoleon as emperor. Napoleon in 1802 sent his brother-in-law, General Leclerc, at the head of a fleet of 70 warships and 25,000 men to Saint-Domingue to subdue Toussaint. Against this tremendous opposition, Toussaint, after considerable warfare, was obliged on May 1, 1802, to approve the capitulation of his military chiefs. At the conclusion of a truce he retired to civilian life on his plantation near Gonaives. Shortly thereafter on June 10, 1802, he was taken captive through a ruse by Leclerc and sent to France. Here he was treated as a common criminal and consigned in a dungeon in the Fort of Joux in the Jura Mountains of the Swiss Alps. On April 7, 1803, after 10 months of captivity, this great black general was found dead in his cell of neglect and starvation. Toussaint is not only a national hero of Haiti, but has been recognized by other countries as a great black leader.
