Perfect Timing

Slavery has been enmeshed in nearly every society for thousands of years, and throughout time, rebellion has erupted from slaves. Although slaves have always counted for a large part of the population during a rebellion, there has only been one successful slave rebellion – the Haitian Revolution. The Haitian Revolution occurred from 1791 to 1804 on the prosperous Island of Saint Domingue (after the revolution it was named Haiti). There are many factors that contribute to the success of the Haitian Revolution such as the sheer amount of slaves, the brilliant military leader L’Ouverture Toussaint, and the anger from years of oppression by slaves, but the must vital factor is timing. The Haitian Revolution was inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, (1789-1799) liberty, equality, and fraternity. The idea of equality motivated Haitian slaves who were being oppressed by the whites and to some extent the free blacks. Without the ideas of the French Revolution, the slaves might not have had the inspiration and ideas to ever rise up. In addition to the French Revolution, while Haiti occupied half of the island known as Hispania, Spain owned the other half. L’Ouverture cleverly joined alliance with Spain against France, and then when the time came, he drove the Spanish out. If the Spanish had not occupied the same island, then L’Ouverture would have never gotten the support of the Spanish. Also, Britain was at war with France and was thus able to keep France at bay while L’Ouverture gained power. After the French Revolution, Santhonax was able to grant freedom for slaves, and although it did not last, it showed slaves the possibility of freedom and make them hunger for freedom more. While Napoleon’s rule of France, set L’Ouverture back, and eventually caused his death, after he was killed Dessalines was able to re-rally the slaves and get them ready to fight. Eventually the Haitian slaves overpowered the French army and gained equality. While L’Ouverture’s leadership skills were incredible, the Haitian Revolution could have only occurred during the French Revolution. The ideals and the chances presented by the French Revolution were unparallel and vital to the success of the Haitian Revolution.