Desaiines was the slave of Louverture's daughter and there's always this subordinate superior relationship which Desaiines later talked about as something that he always resented. And with Louverture out of the way, Desaiines eventually assumes control of the black armies in Haiti. Once it becomes apparent that actually the French are here with one aim only and that is to reintroduce and reinstate slavery which there's nothing quite a loop. So let's move to January 1803, Kate Haughtson when Desilin declares independence. January 1804. Can you say what happened when you declared that? Absolutely. In fact, very recently a copy, the only original surviving
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Haitian Revolution. In 1791 an uprising began in the French colonial territory of St Domingue. Partly a consequence of the French Revolution and partly a backlash against the brutality of slave owners, it turned into a complex struggle involving not just the residents of the island but French, English and Spanish forces. By 1804 the former slaves had won, establishing the first independent state in Latin America and the first nation to be created as a result of a successful slave rebellion. But the revolution also created one of the world's most impoverished societies, a legacy which Haiti has struggled to escape.
Contributors
Kate Hodgson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in French at the University of Liverpool
Tim Lockley, Reader in American Studies at the University of Warwick
Karen Salt, Fellow in History in the School of Language and Literature at the University of Aberdeen
Producer: Luke Mulhall.