On August 25, 1803, Toussaint Louverture was imprisoned in Fort de Joux, Jura, France.
Toussaint Louverture was leader of the Haitian independence movement. Born a slave in the French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1743, Louverture was freed in 1776.
For over a decade, he served as a plantation’s trusted employee, dabbling as a planter, slave owner, muleteer and miller across various plantations. In 1791, during the War for Freedom in Saint Domingue Louverture joined the rebellion. Louverture was noted for his skills and quickly took command of the forces to become a military general. Louverture excelled in training his army in guerrilla fighting.
As he worked to balance the economy and security of Saint Dominque, Louverture established an uneasy partnership with French once the French National Convention declared abolition of slavery in 1794. By 1801 Louverture was in control of the whole of Hispaniola and had freed the island’s entire population of slaves. Drawing up a constitution he made himself Governor-General for life in 1801, against Napolean’s wishes.
“Napoleon Bonaparte, wishing to restore the former slave colony and its economic benefits for France, then sent an invading arming under Charles Leclerc in 1802. Louverture was lured to a false dinner and under Napoleon’s orders captured and sent to France where he was imprisoned. He died in 1803 after apparently being denied food.” (Toussaint Louverture (General and Revolutionary) – On This Day).
Louverture’s army would later prevail against the French in 1803.
