"On 1 January 1804,
Dessalines, the new leader under the dictatorial 1801 constitution, declared Haiti a free republic in the name of the Haitian people,
[32] which was followed by the
massacre of the remaining whites.
[33] Dessalines' secretary
Boisrond-Tonnerre stated, "For our declaration of independence, we should have the skin of a white man for parchment, his skull for an inkwell, his blood for ink, and a bayonet for a pen!"
"Dessalines did not try to hide the massacre from the world. In an official proclamation of 8 April 1804, he stated, "
We have given these true cannibals war for war, crime for crime, outrage for outrage. Yes, I have saved my country, I have avenged America"
A majority of Slave Revolts in Latin America and the Caribbean were in Haiti. These Slaves were ruthless in their cac killing ways, Ruthless to the point that several years later most Haitians are referred to as Savages in the World we live in today. It lead to heroes like: Toussaint L'Ouverture & others
One of the most successful black commanders was
Toussaint L'Ouverture, a self-educated former domestic slave. Like
Jean François and
Biassou, he initially fought for the Spanish crown in this period. After the British had invaded Saint-Domingue, L'Ouverture decided to fight for the French if they would agree to free all the slaves.
Sonthonax had proclaimed an end to slavery on 29 August 1793. L'Ouverture worked with a French general, Étienne Laveaux, to ensure that all slaves would be freed. He brought his forces over to the French side in May 1794 and began to fight for the French Republic. Many enslaved Africans were attracted to Toussaint's forces. He insisted on discipline and forbade wholesale slaughter.
Under the military leadership of Toussaint, the forces made up mostly of former slaves succeeded in winning concessions from the British and expelling the Spanish forces. In the end, Toussaint essentially restored control of Saint-Domingue to France. L'Ouverture was very intelligent, organized and articulate. Having made himself master of the island, however, Toussaint did not wish to surrender too much power to France. He began to rule the country as an effectively autonomous entity. L'Ouverture overcame a succession of local rivals (including the Commissioner Sonthonax, a French white man who gained support from many Haitians, angering L'Ouverture;
André Rigaud, a free man of color who fought to keep control of the South; and
Comte d'Hédouville). Hédouville forced a fatal wedge between Rigaud and L'Ouverture before he escaped to France.
[29] Toussaint defeated a British expeditionary force in 1798. In addition, he led an invasion of neighboring Santo Domingo
(December 1800), and freed the slaves there on January 3, 1801.