Ray Kroc once said, "The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves." The leader and ruler of the western half of the large Caribbean island, Hispaniola, went by the name of Touissant Louverture. Louverture was a former slave. The western half of the island was called Saint Domingue but renamed to Haiti in 1804. Saint Domingue was one of the richest colonies in the world while under French control. It was producing 40 percent of the world's sugar, and more than half of the world's coffee in the 1780's. Of course, the people behind all of this hard, successful work were 500,00 slaves. Everything changed for the people of Saint Domingue when word of the French Revolution spread across the island in 1789. Shortly after hearing the word, in 1793, Touissant assembled an army of slaves to fight the French. Touissant ruled from then on and eventually in 1804, Haiti became an indeendent nation. Touissant Louverture should be remembered for his roles of being a liberator of slaves, a military commander, and being the ruler of Saint Dominque.
First, Touissant should be remembered for his most important role of being a liberator of slaves. When he grew up, he was freed and strangely he had slaves of his own doing all sorts of work for him on the plantation. This was how his life went on for sometime. Then, in 1789, word spread across the island of the French Revolution and when the slaves heard, they became interested in revolting themselves with encouragement from Touissant. The slaves achieved freedom for some time after they revolted. However, in 1797, when the French Directory was looking to reinstate slavery, Touissant demonstrated his commitment to being a liberator a slaves in a letter he wrote to the French Directory. He stated in the letter,"Could men who have once enjoyed the benefits of liberty look on calmly while it is taken from them!" (Document B). Touissant argued in the letter that it was totally not fair for the men who had just gained freedom to have to lose it and become slaves again. In the end of the letter he even set up a threat to the French to show that the slaves will put up a fight to preserve their freedom. This shows Touissant's determination as the liberator of slaves to keep the slaves free forever. Another example that shows how much Touissant cared about liberating the slaves is in the Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801. Although the slaves were free, they still needed jobs to make a living and unfourtunately they were still working for the same bosses as when they were enslaved. Touissant made sure that the Constitution stated that all men were equal and that the former slaves will get their pay and be treated like a big family who works on the plantation with the owner of the plantation being like the father. Clearly Touissant's role as being a liberator of slaves is something he definitely should be remembered for.
The second most important quality that Touissant should be remembered for is being a military commander. In 1802, Napoleon sent troops to Saint Domingue in hopes of gaining control over the island again and reinstating slavery. Touissant demonstrated his great military commanding skills by having every one abanon the towns and hide in the mountains to wait for the French to arrive. The French had no idea what guerrilla war style so Touissant cleverly told his men to use that method of war to totally confuse and surprise the French. Athough this example of Touissant's role as a military commander showcases greatness, there was also something he did as a military commander that indicated otherwise. In 1801, the colored people were so fed up with being forced to work all day for the same cruel bosses as when they were slaves that they revolted and massacred whites from Fort Liberte. When Toussaint heard of the revolt, he was so enraged that he ordered his men to fire at the colored people. This shows that Touissant had a different harsh way of commanding the military. Even though Touissant did things that were bad there were also a number of good things he did as a military commander and that is why his role of being a military commander is the second most important quality he should be remembered for.
The third most important quality that Touissant should be remembered for is his role as being ruler of Saint Domingue. Touissant did everything he could to keep order among the people of Saint Domingue. Being a ruler, Touissant had to make extremely tough decisions to keep the people in order. In the Procamation written in 1801, Toussaint stated," All male and feale citizens must obtain a security card. Such card shall contain the family name, address... age and sex of the person who bears it." This statement and rule was to ensure that everyone could be identified. Another example that shows how good of a ruler Touissant was is in the Constitution of Saint Domingue. This goes along with his role of being a liberator of slaves but it also has to do with his ruling. Touissant made sure that all of the people he ruled over were treated equally and that there would be NO unfair treatment or slavery existing among them. It is very important for rulers to ensure that all of the people will be treated fairly and Touissant did a great job in doing so. Therefore, Touissant should be remembered for his role of ruling Saint Domingue.
In conclusion, Touissant should be remembered for his roles of being a liberator of slaves, a military commander, and the ruler of Saint Domingue. His role as being a liberator of slaves is most important because he did so many things to make sure there was an end to slavery. Next, Touissant's role as being a military commander is important because he made a lot of good moves but also a few bad one's. Lastly, his role of being the ruler of Saint Domingue is important to remember because he went out of his way to make sure the people were treated fairly and that there was order among them. When looking back in the world's history, Touissant Louverture should definitely be remembered for the roles of being a liberator of slaves, a military commander, and the ruler of Saint Domingue!
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