In August 1791, slaves in the French colony of Saint-Domingue revolted, rising up by the thousands. Within ten days they've taken over the whole northern province. By the following year, they controlled a third of the colony. It was the spark that would ignite the Haitian revolution — a 13-year-long endeavour. Independence would finally come on January 1, 1804. But they would have to defeat three European countries to get there.

This is episode 64 of Stories of Resistance—a podcast produced by The Real News. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times.

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The slave revolt that founded a new nation