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Toussaint Louverture’s Army (Estimate)
Summary
The following are simply brief summaries of TL’s life. The next panels breaks things down by different years of his life, from c. 1740 (historians aren’t 100% sure of his birthdate.) to his death in 1803.
- Belonged to the Allada ancestral group
- Nicknamed “Fatras-Bâton” as a young man
- c.1740:
- 1758 (January): Makandal, François is wrongfully executed. Keep in mind, Toussaint is about 18 years old by this point.
- Invented Escalin in Santo Domingo
- 1763 (November). Jesuits are expelled from Saint-Domingue. There’s some speculations by scholars that these Jesuits may have been responsible for TL learning how to read and write.
- 1772 – 1789. Bayon de Libertat assumes the role of manager of Bréda estate; Louverture, Toussaint appointed as his coachman. It’s important to note here that this appointment (and many others like it) illustrates the stratification of slave society into factions:
- some that are closer to the master’s house foster trust vs. the field slaves who are farther away physically and socially from the master’s house.
This social division was artificially created by slavery to divide and conquer eventually unraveled throughout the Haïtian Revolution. - 1774 (Jan & April): The death of Louverture’s parents, Hippolyte and Pauline.
- c.1775. The historical record suggests (though not definitively) that this might be the year Toussaint was emancipated from slavery.
- 1782. At 42 years old, Toussaint marries Suzanne Baptiste & they have two children. 1786, Isaac, his first son is born; 1791, Saint-Jean was born. Toussaint was now 51 years old when he had his second boy. Keep in mind: the mortality rate currently (2023) in Haïti is 65 years old. While the mortality rate for male slaves isn’t known based on my research, you can assume it was much lower than it is now. I bring this up to suggest that Toussaint appears to have married quite late in life at 42 years old.
- Note: As the scholar Marlene Daut told me, Haïtian history is local and global. The year 1789 was particularly impactful. A lot happened abroad and domestically in Saint-Domingue that would later have significant ramifications on the island. For example, January of 1789 saw
1784 (December): Royal ordinance calling for more “humane” treatment of slaves rejected by Saint-Domingue desettlers.
1788 (February): The abolitionist organization Société des Amis des Noirs in France was created.
1789 (January): many colonial assemblies were formed throughout SD, as different factions in the colony organized to gain greater freedom from the metropole.
–(July): The French Revolution begins with the Fall of Bastille.
–(August): The French National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
–(September): Property-owning free people of color petition French National Assembly, demanding (not asking) equal civil and political rights. (I cover this extensively in the books Blue Coat or Powdered Wig and The Making of Haiti).
–(October); Saint-Domingue Colonial Assembly pushed back against the reforms from France (issued in August) by continuing to deny the rights to free people of color in the colony.
Timeline (c. 1740 – Present)
His Birth (c. 1740)
Childhood (c. 1743-54)
His Enslavement (1754)
Warrior Apprentice (1757 – 1773)
Family LIfe (1761 – 85)
Freedom (c. 1772 – 1779)
Toussaint the Slave Driver (1779 – 81)
Toussaint the Muleteer (1781 – 89)
Witness (1788 – 91)
Toussaint the Rebel (1791)
Toussaint the Monarchist (1792)
Toussaint the Spanish Officer (1793 – 94)
Toussaint the French Patriot (1794 – 96)
Toussaint the Politician (1796 – 98)
Toussaint the Diplomat (1798 – 1800)
Toussaint the Planter (1800 – 01)
Toussaint the Governor General (Early 1801)
Toussaint & God? (Late 1801)
Toussaint the Renegade (Early 1802)
Toussaint the Prisoner (1802 – 03)
Toussaint the Iconic Figure (1803 – Now)
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