Constitution of Haiti

About the Author

Toussaint-Louverture called for a constitutional assembly to write a constitution for Saint Domingue, even though it was still technically a colony of France. The assembly, whose members' names are listed at the end of the document, was composed of three mulattoes and seven whites. Their deliberations were directed by Bernard Borgella, the mayor of Port-au-Prince and formerly a barrister in the French city of Bordeaux. Chief among the members was Julien Raimond, a free man of color who was born in 1744 on the island of Martinique. His mother was a mulatto, and his father, a French colonist, was a planter. Raimond achieved wealth as an indigo planter, and by the 1780s he owned about a hundred slaves. He gained fame in the history of Haiti, however, for his ultimate opposition to slavery. He moved to Paris, where he petitioned the colonial ministry for the end of slavery and full equality for blacks in France's colonies. Working with an abolitionist group called Société des Amis des Noirs, or Society of Friends of the Blacks, he presented his case so effectively that the French General Assembly took up the issue in 1790 and in 1792 granted political rights to mulattos and free blacks. He died in 1801, shortly after the constitution he helped write took effect.

The motive force behind the constitution, however, was Toussaint-Louverture. He was born into slavery on May 20, 1743, as Toussaint Bréda near Le Cap in northern Haiti. Legend holds that his father had been an African chieftain, but it is likely that his father was actually the man whom others have often called his godfather and whom Toussaint-Louverture claimed as his father: Pierre Baptiste Simon, an educated black slave. Toussaint-Louverture was somewhat fortunate in that the owners of the Bréda plantation treated their slaves with kindness, and Toussaint was able to acquire an informal education. He was granted his freedom in 1776 when he married, and in the ensuing years he would rent and work a farm.

Toussaint may have been involved in planning the 1791 revolt, though it is uncertain. What is certain is that he joined the military, serving initially as a doctor but rising to the rank of commander. Throughout the 1790s he demonstrated his skill as a military leader and as a diplomat. In 1793 he added “Louverture” (often spelled L'Ouverture), meaning “the opener of the way,” to his name. By the turn of the century he had consolidated his position as governor not just of Saint Domingue but, indeed, of the entire island of Hispaniola. In response to Toussaint-Louverture's constitution, Napoléon dispatched troops to the island under the command of his brother-in-law, General Victor Emmanuel Leclerc. Toussaint-Louverture put up resistance as long as he could, but the numbers were overwhelming, and he surrendered, signing a treaty with the French on May 7, 1802. He believed that he would be able to retire to his farm, but just a month later Leclerc had him arrested. He was taken to France, where he died in the Fort de Joux prison on April 7, 1803.