Cultures: Slavery and Toussaint Louverture Essay

African American History I
July 17, 2013
Toussaint Louverture The person I did research on is Toussaint Louverture. He was a leader of the Haitian slave independence revolt. He made a way for the emancipation of slaves in Saint-Domingue, Haiti. Picture a man a strong man who has to choose between fighting with the slaves and the revolt or, to protect the white people since they gave him his freedom. Toussaint Louverture is known as the black George Washington who fought off three empires. The country where Toussaint is from is known as the poorest country in the northern hemisphere. At a point of time they were also the richest country and their wealth was based on slaves. In Haiti they had the worst punishment for their slaves and treated them horribly. Slave masters would cut off legs for runaways and put pepper and things in open wounds. Slaves were hung and left to die, despite the slavery some blacks were able to be free and be born free. Toussaint Louverture was born a slave but earned his freedom. He was an ambitious man and he was a genius. Toussaint Louverture was born on a Saint-Dominque slave plantation. His father was a well-educated man named Gaou Guinou. Toussaint’s mothers name was Pauline. Toussaint was owned by a man who was tolerate to let him read and write as a child. He received most of his knowledge from his godfather Pierre Baptiste. Toussaint saw possibilities that no one didn’t and made ways for his self that anyone else couldn’t. Toussaint was a driver for his plantation and was in charge of the livestock; he was a paid slave. Toussaint became free in the 1770s; he earned his freedom by his master giving it to him. “I was born a slave, but nature gave me the soul of a free man."(Toussaint Louverture). This quote explains how Toussaint felt about him being free; He thinks that nature made him free meaning god and it was not any factor but god and he was destined to be free. Once Toussaint acclaimed his freedom from the slave master; he went on to own several of business even a slave plantation of his own. The plantation was a plantation that sold coffee and staples. Toussaint owned 13 slaves when he had his plantation; he also had a couple of contacts in America. He showed you could be a slave and work hard and get what you want through dedication and hard work. During the time when he was free the slavery was still going on. A new race came along in Haiti it was the mixed race grouped; mixed with black and white. These people were allowed to be free and not be in slavery. Although they weren’t slaves they received no respect from the whites. The mixed race had to do things physically to earn their respect. In 1771 the mixed race people in Saint Dominque requested for citizenship. Shortly after this the slaves began to get fed up with the punishment and cruelty that the whites were giving the slaves. There was a night when everything changed in Saint Dominque; there was a ceremony of Wakaemia. On this night the slaves decided to start a revolt; a timed uprising on two plantations a week. On August, 22, 1791 1000 slaves attacked their masters; and tried to put an end to their own slavery. There were plantations and plantations burned and masters killed during the uprising over the revolt. When the revolt started and the blacks actions started to get out of hand; the French formed their own army to fight the blacks. By this big massive uprising forming it made Saint Dominque a war zone all over. During this time Toussaint did not know what side to be on. Even dough he was a free man and he still had to fight with his people and fight for what is right too, because he was a slave once and he knows what it feels to go through the pain and suffering that majority of the slaves do. What made Toussaint so different than others was that he was an honest man; when the slave revolt was going on and plantations were getting burned down he made sure to visit his old plantation to protect the

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Cultures: Slavery and Toussaint Louverture Essay

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