friends of the blacks, both in Paris and in London, and all appeared
to look with hope to the rising up of a black chief, who should prove
himself adequate to the emergency. Nor did they look in vain. In the
midst of the disorders that threatened on all sides, the negro chief
made his appearance in the person of a slave, named Toussaint. This man
was the grandson of the King of Ardra, one of the most powerful and
wealthy monarchs on the west coast of Africa. By his own energy and
perseverance, Toussaint had learned to read and write, and was held in
high consideration by the surrounding planters as well as their slaves.
His private virtues were many, and he had a deep and pervading
sense of religion, and in the camp carried it even as far as Oliver
Cromwell. Toussaint was born on the island, and was fifty years of age
when called into the field. One of his chief characteristics was his
humanity.
Before taking any part in the revolution, he aided his master's family
to escape from the impending danger. After seeing them beyond the reach
of the revolutionary movement, he entered the army as an inferior
officer, but was soon made aid-de-camp to General Bissou. Disorder and
bloodshed reigned throughout the island, and every day brought fresh
intelligence of depredations committed by whites, mulattoes, and blacks.
Such was the condition of affairs when a decree was passed by the
Colonial Assembly giving equal rights to the mulattoes, and asking
their aid in restoring order and reducing the slaves again to their
chains. Overcome by this decree, and having gained all they wished, the
free colored men joined the planters in a murderous crusade against the
slaves. This union of the whites and mulattoes to prevent the bondman
getting his freedom, created an ill feeling between the two proscribed
classes which seventy years have not been able to efface. The French
government sent a second army to St. Domingo, to enforce the laws
giving freedom to the slaves; and Toussaint joined it on its arrival in
the island, and fought bravely against the planters.
While the people of St. Domingo were thus fighting amongst themselves,
the revolutionary movement in France had fallen into the hands of
Robespierre and Danton, and the guillotine was beheading its thousands
daily. When the news of the death of Louis XVI. reached St. Domingo,
Toussaint and his companions left the French, and joined the Spanish
army in the eastern part of the island, and fought for the king of
Spain. Here Toussaint was made brigadier general, and appeared in the
field as the most determined foe of the French planters.
The two armies met; a battle was fought in the streets, and many
thousands were slain on both sides; the planters, however, were
defeated. During the conflict the city was set on fire, and on every
side presented shocking evidence of slaughter, conflagration, and
pillage. The strifes of political and religious partisanship, which
had raged in the clubs and streets of Paris, were transplanted to
St. Domingo, where they raged with all the heat of a tropical clime
and the animosities of a civil war. Truly did the flames of the
French revolution at Paris, and the ignorance and self-will of the
planters, set the island of St. Domingo on fire. The commissioners,
with their retinue, retired from the burning city into the neighboring
highlands, where a camp was formed to protect the ruined town from the
opposing party. Having no confidence in the planters, and fearing a
reaction, the commissioners proclaimed a general emancipation to the
slave population, and invited the blacks who had joined the Spaniards
to return. Toussaint and his followers accepted the invitation,
returned, and were enrolled in the army under the commissioners. Fresh
troops arrived from France, who were no sooner in the island than
they separated--some siding with the planters, and others with the
commissioners. The white republicans of the mother country arrayed
themselves against the white republicans of St. Domingo, whom they
were sent out to assist; the blacks and the mulattoes were at war with
each other; old and young, of both sexes and of all colors, were put
to the sword, while the fury of the flames swept from plantation to
plantation and from town to town.
During these sad commotions, Toussaint, by his superior knowledge of
the character of his race, his humanity, generosity, and courage,
had gained the confidence of all whom he had under his command. The
rapidity with which he travelled from post to post astonished every
one. By his genius and surpassing activity, Toussaint levied fresh
forces, raised the reputation of the army, and drove the English and
Spanish from the island.
With the termination of this struggle every vestige of slavery and all
obstacles to freedom disappeared. Toussaint exerted every nerve to make
Hayti what it had formerly been. He did every thing in his power to
promote agriculture; and in this he succeeded beyond the most sanguine
expectations of the friends of freedom, both in England and France.
Even the planters who had remained on the island acknowledged the
prosperity of Hayti under the governorship of the man whose best days
had been spent in slavery.
The peace of Amiens left Bonaparte without a rival on the continent,
and with a large and experienced army, which he feared to keep idle;
and he determined to send a part of it to St. Domingo.
The army for the expedition to St. Domingo was fitted out, and no pains
or expense spared to make it an imposing one. Fifty-six ships of war,
with twenty-five thousand men, left France for Hayti. It was, indeed,
the most valiant fleet that had ever sailed from the French dominions.
The Alps, the Nile, the Rhine, and all Italy, had resounded with the
exploits of the men who were now leaving their country for the purpose
of placing the chains again on the limbs of the heroic people of St.
Domingo. There were men in that army that had followed Bonaparte from
the siege of Toulon to the battle under the shades of the pyramids of
Egypt--men who had grown gray in the camp.
News of the intended invasion reached St. Domingo some days before the
squadron had sailed from Brest; and therefore the blacks had time to
prepare to meet their enemies. Toussaint had concentrated his forces
at such points as he expected would be first attacked. Christophe was
sent to defend Cape City, and Port-au-Prince was left in the hands of
Dessalines.
With no navy, and but little means of defence, the Haytians determined
to destroy their towns rather than they should fall into the hands of
the enemy. Late in the evening the French ships were seen to change
their position, and Christophe, satisfied that they were about to
effect a landing, set fire to his own house, which was the signal for
the burning of the town. The French general wept as he beheld the ocean
of flames rising from the tops of the houses in the finest city in St.
Domingo. Another part of the fleet landed in Samana, where Toussaint,
with an experienced wing of the army, was ready to meet them. On
seeing the ships enter the harbor, the heroic chief said, "Here come
the enslavers of our race. All France is coming to St. Domingo, to
try again to put the fetters upon our limbs; but not France, with
all her troops of the Rhine, the Alps, the Nile, the Tiber, nor all
Europe to help her, can extinguish the soul of Africa. That soul, when
once the soul of a man, and no longer that of a slave, can overthrow
the pyramids and the Alps themselves, sooner than again be crushed
down into slavery." The French, however, effected a landing, but they
found nothing but smouldering ruins, where once stood splendid cities.
Toussaint and his generals at once abandoned the towns, and betook
themselves to the mountains, those citadels of freedom in St. Domingo,
where the blacks have always proved too much for the whites.
Toussaint put forth a proclamation to the colored people, in which he
said, "You are now to meet and fight enemies who have neither faith,
law, nor religion. Let us resolve that these French troops shall
never leave our shores alive." The war commenced, and the blacks
were victorious in nearly all the battles. Where the French gained a
victory, they put their prisoners to the most excruciating tortures;
in many instances burning them in pits, and throwing them into boiling
caldrons. This example of cruelty set by the whites was followed by the
blacks. Then it was that Dessalines, the ferocious chief, satisfied his
long pent-up revenge against the white planters and French soldiers
that he made prisoners. The French general saw that he could gain
nothing from the blacks on the field of battle, and he determined upon
a stratagem, in which he succeeded too well.
A correspondence was opened with Toussaint, in which the
captain-general promised to acknowledge the liberty of the blacks and
the equality of all, if he would yield. Overcome by the persuasions of
his generals and the blacks who surrounded him, and who were sick and
tired of the shedding of blood, Toussaint gave in his adhesion to the
French authorities. This was the great error of his life.
Vincent, in his "_Reflections on the Present State of the Colony of
St. Domingo_," says, "Toussaint, at the head of his army, is the most
active and indefatigable man of whom we can form an idea; we may say,
with truth, that he is found wherever instructions or danger render
his presence necessary. The particular care which he employs in his
march, of always deceiving the men of whom he has need, and who think
they enjoy a confidence he gives to none, has such an effect that he
is daily expected in all the chief places of the colony. His great
sobriety, the faculty, which none but he possesses, of never reposing,
the facility with which he resumes the affairs of the cabinet after the
most tiresome excursions, of answering daily a hundred letters, and of
habitually tiring five secretaries, render him so superior to all those
around him, that their respect and submission are in most individuals
carried even to fanaticism. It is certain that no man, in the present
times, has possessed such an influence over a mass of people as General
Toussaint possesses over his brethren in St. Domingo."
The above is the opinion of an enemy--one who regarded the negro chief
as a dangerous man to his interest.
Invited by the captain-general of the island to attend a council, the
black hero was treacherously seized and sent on board the ship of
war Hero, which set sail at once for France. On the arrival of the
illustrious prisoner at Brest, he was taken in a closed carriage and
transferred to the castle of Joux, in the Lower Pyrenees. The gelid
atmosphere of the mountain region, the cold, damp dungeon in which he
was placed, with the water dripping upon the floor day and night, did
not hasten the death of Toussaint fast enough. By Napoleon's directions
the prisoner's servant was taken from him, sufficient clothing and
bedding to keep him warm were denied, his food curtailed, and his
keeper, after an absence of four days, returned and found the hero of
St. Domingo dead in his cell. Thus terminated the career of a self-made
man.
Toussaint was of prepossessing appearance, of middle stature, and
possessed an iron frame. His dignified, calm, and unaffected features,
and broad and well-developed forehead, would cause him to be selected,
in any company of men, as one born for a leader. Endowed by nature with
high qualities of mind, he owed his elevation to his own energies and
his devotion to the welfare and freedom of his race. His habits were
thoughtful; and like most men of energetic temperaments, he crowded
much into what he said. So profound and original were his opinions,
that they have been successively drawn upon by all the chiefs of St.
Domingo since his era, and still without loss of adaptation to the
circumstances of the country. The policy of his successors has been
but a repetition of his plans, and his maxims are still the guidance
of the rulers of Hayti. His thoughts were copious and full of vigor,
and what he could express well in his native _patois_ he found tame and
unsatisfactory in the French language, which he was obliged to employ
in the details of his official business. He would never sign what he
did not fully understand, obliging two or three secretaries to re-word
the document, until they had succeeded in furnishing the particular
phrase expressive of his meaning. While at the height of his power,
and when all around him were furnished with every comfort, and his
officers living in splendor, Toussaint himself lived with an austere
sobriety which bordered on abstemiousness. He was entirely master of
his own passions and appetites. It was his custom to set off in his
carriage with the professed object of going to some particular point of
the island, and when he had passed over several miles of the journey,
to quit the carriage, which continued its route under the same escort
of guards, while Toussaint, mounted on horseback and followed by his
officers, made rapid excursions across the country, to places where he
was least expected. It was upon one of these occasions that he owed his
life to his singular mode of travelling. He had just left his carriage
when an ambuscade of mulattoes, concealed in the thickets of Boucassin,
fired upon the guard, and several balls pierced the carriage, and one
of them killed an old domestic who occupied the seat of his master. No
person knew better than he the art of governing the people under his
jurisdiction. The greater part of the population loved him to idolatry.
Veneration for Toussaint was not confined to the boundaries of St.
Domingo; it ran through Europe; and in France his name was frequently
pronounced in the senate with the eulogy of polished eloquence. No one
can look back upon his career without feeling that Toussaint was a
remarkable man. Without being bred to the science of arms, he became a
valiant soldier, and baffled the skill of the most experienced generals
that had followed Napoleon. Without military knowledge he fought like
one born in the camp. Without means he carried on the war. He beat his
enemies in battle, and turned their own weapons against them. He laid
the foundation for the emancipation of his race and the independence
of the island. From ignorance he became educated by his own exertions.
From a slave he rose to be a soldier, a general, and a governor, and
might have been king of St. Domingo. He possessed splendid traits of
genius, which was developed in the private circle, in the council
chamber, and on the field of battle. His very name became a tower
of strength to his friends and a terror to his foes. Toussaint's
career as a Christian, a statesman, and a general, will lose nothing
by a comparison with that of Washington. Each was the leader of an
oppressed and outraged people, each had a powerful enemy to contend
with, and each succeeded in founding a government in the new world.
Toussaint's government made liberty its watchword, incorporated it in
its constitution, abolished the slave trade, and made freedom universal
amongst the people. Washington's government incorporated slavery and
the slave trade, and enacted laws by which chains were fastened upon
the limbs of millions of people. Toussaint liberated his countrymen;
Washington enslaved a portion of his. When impartial history shall
do justice to the St. Domingo revolution, the name of Toussaint
L'Ouverture will be placed high upon the roll of fame.
CRISPUS ATTUCKS.
The principle that taxation and representation were inseparable was
in accordance with the theory, the genius, and the precedents of
British legislation; and this principle was now, for the first time,
intentionally invaded. The American colonies were not represented
in Parliament; yet an act was passed by that body, the tendency of
which was to invalidate all right and title to their property. This
was the "Stamp Act," of March 23, 1765, which ordained that no sale,
bond, note of hand, or other instrument of writing should be valid
unless executed on paper bearing the stamp prescribed by the home
government. The intelligence of the passage of the stamp act at once
roused the indignation of the liberty-loving portion of the people
of the colonies, and meetings were held at various points to protest
against this high-handed measure. Massachusetts was the first to take
a stand in opposition to the mother country. The merchants and traders
of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia entered into non-importation
agreements, with a view of obtaining a repeal of the obnoxious law.
Under the pressure of public sentiment, the stamp act officers gave
in their resignations. The eloquence of William Pitt and the sagacity
of Lord Camden brought about a repeal of the stamp act in the British
Parliament. A new ministry, in 1767, succeeded in getting through the
House of Commons a bill to tax the tea imported into the American
colonies, and it received the royal assent. Massachusetts again took
the lead in opposing the execution of this last act, and Boston began
planning to take the most conspicuous part in the great drama. The
agitation in the colonies provoked the home government, and power
was given to the governor of Massachusetts to take notice of all
persons who might offer any treasonable objections to these oppressive
enactments, that the same might be sent home to England to be tried
there. Lord North was now at the head of affairs, and no leniency was
to be shown to the colonies. The concentration of British troops in
large numbers at Boston convinced the people that their liberties were
at stake, and they began to rally. A crowded and enthusiastic meeting,
held in Boston in the latter part of the year 1769, was addressed by
the ablest talent that the progressive element could produce. Standing
in the back part of the hall, eagerly listening to the speakers, was a
dark mulatto man, very tall, rather good looking, and apparently about
fifty years of age. This was Crispus Attucks. Though taking no part
in the meeting, he was nevertheless destined to be conspicuous in the
first struggle in throwing off the British yoke. Twenty years previous
to this, Attucks was the slave of William Brouno, Esq., of Framingham,
Mass.; but his was a heart beating for freedom, and not to be kept in
the chains of mental or bodily servitude.
From the Boston Gazette of Tuesday, November 20, 1750, now in
the possession of William C. Nell, Esq., I copy the following
advertisement:--
"Ran away from his master William Brouno Framingham, on the 30th of
Sept., last, a Molatto Fellow, about 27 years of Age named Crispus,
well set, six feet 2 inches high, short curl'd Hair, knees nearer
together than common; had on a light coloured Bearskin Coat, brown
Fustian jacket, new Buckskin Breeches, blew yarn Stockins and Checkered
Shirt. Whoever shall take up said Run-away, and convey him to his above
said Master at Framingham, shall have Ten Pounds, old Tenor Reward and
all necessary Charges paid."
The above is a verbatim et literatim advertisement for a runaway slave
one hundred and twelve years ago. Whether Mr. Brouno succeeded in
recapturing Crispus or not, we are left in the dark.
Ill-feeling between the mother country and her colonial subjects had
been gaining ground, while British troops were concentrating at Boston.
On the 5th of March, 1770, the people were seen early congregating at
the corners of the principal streets, at Dock Square, and near the
custom house. Captain Preston, with a body of redcoats, started out for
the purpose of keeping order in the disaffected town, and was hissed at
by the crowds in nearly every place where he appeared. The day passed
off without any outward manifestation of disturbance, but all seemed
to feel that something would take place after nightfall. The doubling
of the guard in and about the custom house showed that the authorities
felt an insecurity that they did not care to express. The lamps in
Dock Square threw their light in the angry faces of a large crowd who
appeared to be waiting for the crisis, in whatever form it should
come. A part of Captain Preston's company was making its way from the
custom house, when they were met by the crowd from Dock Square, headed
by the black man Attucks, who was urging them to meet the redcoats,
and drive them from the streets. "These rebels have no business here,"
said he; "let's drive them away." The people became enthusiastic, their
brave leader grew more daring in his language and attitude, while the
soldiers under Captain Preston appeared to give way. "Come on! don't
be afraid!" cried Attucks. "They dare not shoot; and if they dare, let
them do it." Stones and sticks, with which the populace was armed,
were freely used, to the great discomfiture of the English soldiers.
"Don't hesitate! come on! We'll drive these rebels out of Boston,"
were the last words heard from the lips of the colored man, for the
sharp crack of muskets silenced his voice, and he fell weltering in
his blood. Two balls had pierced his sable breast. Thus died Crispus
Attucks, the first martyr to American liberty, and the inaugurator of
the revolution that was destined to take from the crown of George the
Third its brightest star. An immense concourse of citizens followed
the remains of the hero to its last resting place, and his name was
honorably mentioned in the best circles. The last words, the daring,
and the death of Attucks gave spirit and enthusiasm to the revolution,
and his heroism was imitated by both whites and blacks. His name was
a rallying cry for the brave colored men who fought at the battle of
Bunker's Hill. In the gallant defence of Redbank, where four hundred
blacks met and defeated fifteen hundred Hessians headed by Count Donop,
the thought of Attucks filled them with ardor. When Colonel Greene fell
at Groton, surrounded by his black troops who perished with him, they
went into the battle feeling proud of the opportunity of imitating the
first martyr of the American revolution.
No monument has yet been erected to him. An effort was made in the
legislature of Massachusetts a few years since, but without success.
Five generations of accumulated prejudice against the negro had
excluded from the American mind all inclination to do justice to one of
her bravest sons. When negro slavery shall be abolished in our land,
then we may hope to see a monument raised to commemorate the heroism of
Crispus Attucks.
DESSALINES.
Jean Jacques Dessalines was a native of Africa. Brought to St. Domingo
at the age of sixteen, he was sold to a black man named Dessalines,
from whom he took his own. His master was a tiler or house-shingler,
and the slave learned that trade, at which he worked until the breaking
out of the revolution of 1789, when he entered the army as a common
soldier, under Toussaint. By his activity and singular fierceness
on the field of battle, Dessalines attracted the attention of his
general, who placed him among his guides and personal attendants; and
he was subsequently rapidly advanced through several intermediate
grades to the dignity of being the third in command. He was entirely
ignorant of learning, as the utmost extent that he ever acquired was
to sign his name. Dessalines was short in stature, but stout and
muscular. His complexion was a dingy black; his eyes were prominent
and scowling, and the lines of his features expressed the untamed
ferocity of his character. He had a haughty and disdainful look.
Hunger, thirst, fatigue, and loss of sleep he seemed made to endure as
if by peculiarity of constitution. He bore upon his arms and breast
the marks of his tribe. Inured by exposure and toil to a hard life,
his frame possessed a wonderful power of endurance. He was a bold and
turbulent spirit, whose barbarous eloquence lay in expressive signs
rather than in words. What is most strange in the history of Dessalines
is, that he was a savage, a slave, a soldier, a general, and died, when
an emperor, under the dagger of a Brutus.