Haitian Culture Curriculum Guide

Humane masters employed Toussaint’s parents as personal servants, and he was allowed to receive
instruction while working as a coachman. Toussaint became one of the few literate black
revolutionaries. When he heard of the slave uprising, he secured the safe expatriation of his
master’s family before joining the revolutionary forces. His leadership ability brought him to
prominence quickly.
During his childhood, Toussaint was a laughing stock because he was small and weak. They used
to call him fatra baton (rubbish rod). Infuriated by so much ridicule, he strengthened his body with
energetic exercise, such as horseback riding and swimming. Still a young man, he became an
outstanding horseman and won the title of Centaure de la Savane (Centaur of the Savannah).
Toussaint was forty years old when his godfather, Pierre Baptiste, an old black man, taught him
how to read and write. He became so fond of reading that, before 1789, he had read l’Histoire
Philosophique des Indes (The Philosophic History of the Indies) several times. The author’s
prediction about the coming of a Spartacus avenger of the black race profoundly impressed
Toussaint.
Toussaint took advantage of every opportunity to educate himself. From his father he learned
simple traditional medicine, and while caring for the horses on the plantations, he became a
veterinarian.
From the Spanish army he had joined during the spring of 1793, he learned how to discipline
troops and prepare for war. In appreciation of his military performance, the Spaniards honored him
with a sword, a decoration, and the rank of Lieutenant-General in the Armies of the King of Spain.
At the beginning of 1794, the Governor of Saint Domingue invited Toussaint to join the French
Army, telling him that the Republic of France would allow him to pursue his fight for the freedom
of blacks. By October 1795, he became Brigadier General of the French Army. Only his
remarkable talent as an organizer surpassed his outstanding military activities.
Toussaint was recognized as the General-in-Chief of Saint Domingue, on January 12, 1799. He
came to realize that he could reunite the two regions of the island under his sole political and
administrative authority. He engineered the invasion of the eastern part of the island and proceeded
with his plan in early January 1801.
On January 27, 1801, before the government officials, the army and the people, Toussaint raised the
French Tricolor and received the keys to the city of Santo Domingo, the capital of the eastern
region, from Don Joaquin Garcia, the Spanish Governor. As he entered the old cathedral, the
hymns of a victory, Te Deum, reverberated throughout with solemnity. After the ceremony, before
an enormous crowd assembled on the main square of Santo Domingo, Toussaint declared slavery
abolished for all without exception.
With extraordinary tenacity and political savvy, Toussaint began the reorganization of the eastern
region. The amazing spectacle of a poor old black man showing such remarkable administrative
talent astonished the white men of Saint Domingue.
Toussaint’s way of life was prodigious. He slept only two hours a day and ate very little. Quite
often, he would have a cassava and a glass of water as his only meal of the day.
He took his only relaxation during long rides. Always on horseback, he would crisscross the island
and would never hesitate to sanction an unscrupulous or negligent public servant.
Toussaint became convinced that the island could not continue to be solely regulated by French law.
In the spring of 1801, he convened a handpicked “Constitutional Assembly” composed of seven
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