The Haitian Revolution begins in Saint-Domingue
- Date
- 22 August 1791
- Category
- Social & demographic
- Region
- Saint-Domingue (Haiti), Caribbean
- Era
- Early Modern
- Significance
On the night of 22 August 1791, following a clandestine vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman associated with the leader Dutty Boukman, enslaved people across the northern plain of Saint-Domingue rose in revolt, burning plantations and seizing control of much of France's wealthiest sugar colony within weeks.
The uprising swelled to tens of thousands of participants and launched a thirteen-year revolution—the only slave rebellion in history to produce an independent state. Drawing on the revolutionary language of liberty and equality emanating from France, the insurgents forced the French Republic to abolish slavery in its colonies in 1794. Under the ex-slave general Toussaint Louverture, the rebels repelled British and Spanish intervention and established autonomous rule. Napoleon's attempt to restore slavery and French control failed disastrously, and on 1 January 1804 the colony declared independence as Haiti. The revolution shook the Atlantic slave system, terrified slaveholding societies, and inspired the enslaved and abolitionists across the Americas.
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Empires active in 22 August 1791
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Qing Dynasty1636 CE – 1912 CE
- Russian Empire1721 CE – 1917 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
- Mughal Empire1526 CE – 1857 CE
Related social & demographic events
- Destruction of Palmares and the death of Zumbi1694–1695
- Cocoliztli Epidemic of 1545–15481545–1548
- The Great Irish Famine1845–1852
- Emancipation of the serfs in Russia3 March 1861 (19 February O.S.)
- Influenza pandemic of 1918–19201918–1920
- World population reaches one billionc. 1804
Further reading
If you read one book
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution
The classic history of the only successful slave revolution.
Get it on Amazon →Also worth reading
- Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution — Amazon →
Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution
Prize-honored, gripping narrative history of the only successful slave revolution.
Get it on Amazon →
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