Toussaint Louverture

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How Should We Remember Toussaint Louverture? Toussaint Louverture should be remembered as a military commander as he cared more about his country’s needs over the needs of the slaves, and although he was a strong activist for the abolition of slavery, ultimately he cared more about how his country was running over the needs of the slaves. The Haitian revolution began in the early 1790s, and one crucial activist for the revolution was Toussaint Louverture. Toussaint, a former slave himself, straddles both worlds, the world of the slaves and the world of the aristocrats running the plantations in Haiti. Louverture was born into slavery yet worked his way up the social and political ladder until he was leading and commanding the slaves he used …show more content…
In the The Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801, Toussaint agrees that no slaves can exist in this territory. Similarly, William Wells Brown explains that, in 1801, Toussaint Louverture uses his military forces to drive out the Spanish and English forces from Haiti, thus keeping his island a free region, which has abolished slavery. Toussaint was a major deciding factor in forcing and keeping the Europeans out of Haiti. This allowed the people of Haiti to abolish slavery. Although this was a major point in Haiti and Louverture’s history, ultimately after the defeat of the French and the abolition of slavery, Toussaint begins to value his county’s needs over the former slaves. Using his military background and abilities Toussaint once again forceds his people into slave like conditions to further his own country’s benefits. Toussaint should be remembered as a military commander who puts the country’s needs over the slaves as he exemplifies characteristics of dictators who only care about their country's production rather than their people. Even the ways in which Toussaint has abolished slavery and driven out the ‘whites’ represents his militaristic characteristics. Toussaint urges and helps Haiti’s former slaves to slaughter and kill the French. He drives them out with violence and truly becomes a military commander who is valuing his country’s needs during this time of
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