Foot presents a history of Hispaniola from the Spanish conquest, the extermination of the original inhabitants, the importation of slaves, the division of the island’s spoils between France and Spain, the French half’s elevation by 1789 to the richest place on earth – two-thirds of all France’s trade was provided by the production of sugar, coffee, cotton, indigo from San Domingue (as the French part of Hispaniola was called). This vast wealth was dependent on slavery – the population of the island was 30,000 whites, 40,000 mulattos and 500,000 African slaves.
Apart from resentment at the sadistic treatment meted out to the slave class, two other things challenged this state of affairs, Foot says. The Enlightenment and the French revolution. Inspired by new thinking and new political possibilities, the slaves of San Domingue turned on their masters in 1791. With help from British arms from Jamaica, the whites were able to put down the disorganised rebels; but not before a brilliant leader of the slave army had emerged: Toussaint Louverture.
Louverture’s initial strategy in confronting French colonial rule was to ally with Spain, which controlled the other half of Hispaniola. (The Spanish, of course, thought they could use the slaves to oust the French from San Domingue before taking over the whole island themselves).
By 1794, Foot says, as the French revolution morphed so did Louverture’s strategy, deciding that Jacobin France and not imperial Spain was the best way to secure an end to slavery on San Domingue. At the National Convention, a motion was passed that abolished slavery in all French territories. Thus, an alliance was formed between revolutionary France and the San Domingue slave army.
Apart from political and ideological alignment, another reason Louverture pivoted towards France, Foot argues, was fear of British ambitions on the island. Not only was prime minister William Pitt concerned that the San Domingue slave revolt would spread to Britain’s own West Indian slave colonies, but he also sensed an opportunity to seize French colonies in the region and transfer their wealth to Britain.
Foot then goes on to detail the British expedition (1794-98) – the biggest ever to leave British shores – to San Domingue, to crush the slave rebels and snatch the colony from France. During this war, Foot says, the campaign to abolish slavery in Britain dried up as the prospect of gaining the riches of San Domingue trumped moral indignation at the root of that wealth, slave labour.
The defeat of the British – with 80,000 casualties – brought no respite to San Domingue’s slave rebels. In France, the revolution was transforming again, this time shedding its radical, Jacobin form and turning into a more conservative regime that sought to end the influence of Toussaint’s slave rebels in San Domingue.
A new bloody conflict erupted on San Domingue, lasting until 1801, as mulattos – backed by France’s governor on the island, Thomas Hedouville – fought the black rebels for control of the island. Once again, Louverture’s army was victorious. The peace was short-lived, however. With the emergence of Napoleon, France fully resumed its imperialist ambitions, one of the first of which was to crush the San Domingue slave rebels, restore metropolitan control over the island and reintroduce a slave regime.
In 1802 as the French expeditionary force got ready to sail for San Domingue, Bonaparte declared: ‘Everything must be prepared for the restoration of slavery. This is not only the opinion of the metropolis but also the view of England and other European powers.’
Just as the British were humiliated by Toussaint’s slave army, so were the French; but not before Louverture had been captured and deported to France, where he was left to rot in jail, dying in 1803 from pneumonia.
The French hoped that removing their leader would end the resistance of the slave army, but not for the first time they underestimated the rebels. Other leaders, such as Dessalines and Christophe, more ruthless than Louverture, emerged to continue the war against the French, who were finally driven off the island by the end of 1803, with Haiti declaring independence on 1 January 1804.