Saint-Domingue
In 1625, French buccaneers established a settlement on the island of Tortuga. They survived by pirating ships and eating wild cattle and hogs. These early settlers sold hides to traders from all nations. The Spanish destroyed their settlements several times, yet they always returned. They were drawn by the abundance of natural resources like hardwood trees and fresh water. King Louis XIV officially recognized the settlement in 1659. Bertrand d'Ogeron played a big part in this development. He encouraged tobacco planting to turn freebooters into a sedentary population. Jean Roy and Guillaume Barre arrived as colonists driven out by land pressure elsewhere. Cap-Français was established shortly after 1670. A crisis of tobacco intervened soon after that date. Plundering raids became increasingly numerous. Vera Cruz saw a raid in 1683 while Campêche followed in 1686. Jean-Baptiste Colbert's son brought order through new measures. The first sugar windmill appeared in 1685.
Saint-Domingue became known as the Pearl of the Antilles. It was the richest colony in the West Indies during the eighteenth century. By 1789, the colony produced half of all sugar consumed in Europe and the Americas. This single territory generated enormous revenue for the French government. In 1767, exports reached 72 million pounds of raw sugar alone. Another 51 million pounds of refined sugar left the ports. Coffee production also grew significantly. By the 1780s, Saint-Domingue supplied 40 percent of European sugar consumption. The colony provided 60 percent of all coffee consumed in Europe. Eight thousand plantations covered the land by 1789. These estates were roughly the size of Hawaii or Belgium combined. They produced more sugar than all British West Indies colonies together. The average sugar plantation employed three hundred slaves. The largest recorded estate held fourteen hundred enslaved people. Only 14 percent of cultivated land went to sugar crops. Coffee occupied 50 percent of the total farmland. Indigo took up another 22 percent while cotton claimed just 5 percent. A big economic gap existed between normal planters and sugar lords.
The slave population around 1789 totaled 406,000 according to Jacques Pierre Brissot. Some estimates place that number at 465,000. Between 1681 and 1791, labor came from an estimated 790,000 to 860,000 slaves. This accounted for a third of the entire Atlantic slave trade during those years. Twenty-eight thousand to thirty-two thousand affranchis lived on the island. Creoles of color numbered about 28,000 to 32,000 as well. Whites totaled around 40,000 to 45,000 individuals. The largest white group was the Petits blancs or little whites. A small exclusive group called Grands blancs owned most power. These nobles mostly lived in France. Jean-Baptiste Belley became an affranchi who turned into a rich planter. He later served as Deputy of the French National Convention. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas rose to become a Creole general in the French Army. The Gens de couleur libres class controlled much wealth and land. They held full citizenship and civil equality with other French subjects. By 1789, they owned one-third of plantation property. They also possessed one-quarter of all slaves in Saint-Domingue. Central to their rise was coffee which thrived on marginal hillside plots. The southern peninsula held the largest concentration of this group. In the parish of Jérémie, gens de couleur libres formed the majority. Many lived in Port-au-Prince which became an economic center.
In 1791, slaves and some Creoles took part in a Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman. This event catalyzed the Haitian Revolution. African folklore such as Compère Lapin tales spread throughout Haiti. The folk religion commingled Catholic liturgy with beliefs from Guinea, Congo, and Dahomey. Vodou is a Dahomean word meaning god or spirit. Creoles viewed it as superstition rather than authentic religion. Laws effectively forced these practices underground. Their connection with Vodou aided healing trauma from plantation life. Slaves created rituals to escape society that saw them as property. Thousands escaped into mountains forming maroon communities. Mackandal was a one-armed slave originally from Guinea who escaped in 1751. He united many different maroon bands over six years. His followers reputedly killed more than 6,000 people. He preached killing the white population of Saint-Domingue. After a failed plot to poison drinking water in 1758, he was captured. Authorities burned him alive at the public square in Cap-Français. Maroons formed close-knit communities practicing small-scale agriculture. They raided isolated plantations for food and weapons. In 1702, French forces killed three maroons but over 30 evaded capture. Michel became one leader captured in 1719. Expeditions in 1740, 1742, 1746, 1757, and 1761 had minor successes.
Napoleon dispatched troops in 1802 under General Charles Emmanuel Leclerc. The goal was restoring French rule to the island. Henri Christophe prevented Leclerc from landing at Cap-Français initially. The Vicomte de Rochambeau attacked Fort-Liberté suddenly. This started a new war in Saint-Domingue. Both Louverture and Dessalines fought against these expeditionary forces. After the Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot, Dessalines defected to join Leclerc. A ceasefire allowed Louverture's arrest by Jean Baptiste Brunet. He deported Louverture to France claiming suspicion of plotting an uprising. Louverture warned that cutting him down only removed the trunk of liberty. For months, the island remained quiet under Napoleonic rule. When it became clear France intended re-establishing slavery, Dessalines switched sides again. In October 1802, they fought against the French. Leclerc died of yellow fever in November. Much of his army perished from disease as well. The Vicomte de Rochambeau then commanded remaining forces. His brutal campaign rallied former loyalists to the rebel cause. Eventually, British allies enacted a naval blockade on French forces. The last battle occurred on the 18th of November 1803 near Cap-Haïtien. It was called the Battle of Vertières. When French withdrew, only 7,000 troops remained to ship home.
Between February and April 1804, Governor-General Jean-Jacques Dessalines ordered deaths of all remaining French whites. He decreed those suspected collaborating with the French army should die. This included free people of color deemed traitors. Weapons used were silent knives and bayonets rather than gunfire. Squads moved house to house throughout Haiti from early January until the 22nd of April 1804. Eyewitness accounts describe imprisonment and killings even of friendly whites. Before his arrival, few killings happened despite orders. When Dessalines arrived, he demanded mass killings take effect immediately. Reportedly, he forced unwilling men of mixed race to participate. Mass killings took place on streets outside cities. Plundering and rape also occurred during this period. Women and children generally died last. White women were often raped or pushed into forced marriages under threat of death. Before leaving each city, Dessalines proclaimed amnesty for surviving whites in hiding. Those who emerged were murdered anyway. Some whites hid and smuggled out by foreigners. A contingent of Polish defectors received amnesty instead. They gained Haitian citizenship for renouncing French allegiance. Dessalines called them the White Negroes of Europe. On the 6th of October 1804, Dessalines was crowned Emperor Jacques I in Cap-Haïtien. His government released the Imperial Constitution on the 20th of May 1805. He declared Haiti an all-black nation forbidding white property ownership.
Between 1791 and 1810, more than 25,000 Creoles fled primarily to the United States. Others went to Jamaica in 1798 and Cuba in 1803. Many found their way to Louisiana with over 10,000 arriving between May 1809 and January 1810. This wave nearly doubled New Orleans population. These refugees significantly impacted local culture including developing sugar industry. On the 17th of April 1825, King Charles X issued a decree recognizing independence. The price was 150 million francs ten times what the U.S. paid for Louisiana. The sum compensated French colonists for lost revenues from slavery. Newspaper articles revealed the king knew the Haitian government could hardly pay. Total exceeded ten times Haiti's annual budget. Baron de Mackau arrived in July accompanied by fourteen brigs of war. They carried more than 500 cannons. With violence looming, Jean-Pierre Boyer signed the document on the 11th of July 1825. It stated inhabitants must pay fifteen hundred million francs in five installments. Researchers found this debt directly responsible for underfunding education in twentieth-century Haiti. It also caused lack of health care and inability to develop public infrastructure.
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Common questions
When did King Louis XIV officially recognize the settlement of Saint-Domingue?
King Louis XIV officially recognized the settlement in 1659. This recognition followed years of French buccaneers establishing a presence on Tortuga and surviving through piracy and hunting wild cattle.
How much sugar did Saint-Domingue produce by 1789 compared to other colonies?
By 1789, Saint-Domingue produced half of all sugar consumed in Europe and the Americas. The colony generated more sugar than all British West Indies colonies combined while eight thousand plantations covered its land.
Who was Jean-Baptiste Belley and what role did he play in Saint-Domingue society?
Jean-Baptiste Belley became an affranchi who turned into a rich planter before serving as Deputy of the French National Convention. He represented the Gens de couleur libres class which controlled much wealth and land by 1789.
What happened during the Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman in 1791?
In 1791, slaves and some Creoles took part in a Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman that catalyzed the Haitian Revolution. African folklore such as Compère Lapin tales spread throughout Haiti after this event commingled Catholic liturgy with beliefs from Guinea, Congo, and Dahomey.
When did the last battle of Saint-Domingue occur and how many French troops remained?
The last battle occurred on the 18th of November 1803 near Cap-Haïtien and it was called the Battle of Vertières. When French forces withdrew only 7,000 troops remained to ship home after Leclerc died of yellow fever in November 1802.
Why did King Charles X issue a decree recognizing independence on the 17th of April 1825?
King Charles X issued a decree recognizing independence on the 17th of April 1825 for a price of 150 million francs ten times what the U.S. paid for Louisiana. The sum compensated French colonists for lost revenues from slavery while Jean-Pierre Boyer signed the document on the 11th of July 1825 under threat of violence.