LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 268th Birthday of Francois
Toussaint L'Ouverture, leader of the Haitian Revolution

WHEREAS, In the course of history, certain events have exemplified the
power of the human spirit to overcome oppression; today we must remember
such events, and pay tribute to the people involved who fought for the
cause of freedom; and
WHEREAS, The citizens of this great Empire State are proud to recog-
nize and commemorate the birthday of Francois Toussaint L'Ouverture, an
observance that celebrates the many contributions of Haitian-Americans
to New York State's unique heritage; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commem-
orate the 268th Birthday of Francois Toussaint L'Ouverture, leader of
the Haitian Revolution, celebrated on May 20, 2011; and
WHEREAS, The remarkable leader of this slave revolt was Toussaint
Breda (later called Toussaint L'Ouverture, and sometimes the "black
Napoleon"); slave revolts from this time normally ended in executions
and failure; and
WHEREAS, It all began in 1791 in the French colony of Saint Dominique
(later Haiti); although born on May 20, 1743, as a slave in Saint Domi-
nique, Toussaint L'Ouverture learned of Africa from his father, who had
been born a free man there; he learned that he was more than a slave,
and that he was a man with intellect and dignity; and
WHEREAS, Toussaint L'Ouverture was fortunate in having a liberal
master who had him trained as a house servant and allowed him to learn
to read and write; Toussaint took full advantage of this, reading every
book he came across; he particularly admired the writings of the French
Enlightenment philosophers, who spoke of individual rights and equality;
and
WHEREAS, In 1789, the French Revolution overwhelmed France; the sugar
plantations of Saint Dominique, although far away, would never be the
same; spurred on by such Enlightenment thinkers as Jean-Jacques Rous-
seau, the early moderate revolutionaries considered seriously the ques-
tion of slavery; those moderate revolutionaries were not willing to end
slavery, but they did apply the "Rights of Man" to all Frenchmen,
including free blacks and mulattoes; plantation owners in the colonies
were furious and fought the measure and the revolutionaries eventually
gave in and retracted the measure in 1791; and
WHEREAS, On August 22, 1791, Haiti was the island nation where
hundreds of thousands of enslaved persons initiated the most successful
slave rebellion in history; under the military leadership of Francois
Toussaint L'Ouverture, the grandson of an African chief, making the
Haitian revolution a major turning point in the history of the world
with repercussions extending far beyond the Caribbean nation; and
WHEREAS, By 1793, the revolution in France was in the hands of the
Jacobins, the most radical of the revolutionary groups; this group, led
by Maximilian Robespierre, was responsible for the Reign of Terror, a
campaign to rid France of "enemies of the revolution"; and
WHEREAS, Though the Jacobins brought indiscriminate death to France,
they were also idealists who wanted to take the revolution as far as it
could go; so they again considered the issue of "equality" and voted to
end slavery in the French colonies, including what was now known as
Haiti; and
WHEREAS, There was jubilation among the blacks in Haiti, and Toussaint
agreed to help the French army expel the British and Spanish; he proved

to be a brilliant general, winning seven battles in seven days, and
became a de facto governor of the colony; and
WHEREAS, A short time later in France, the Jacobins lost power and
people tired of the bloodshed, sent Maximilian Robespierre, the leader
of the Jacobins, to the guillotine, ending their Reign of Terror; and
WHEREAS, More moderate leaders came and went, eventually replaced by
Napoleon, who ruled France with dictatorial powers; he responded to the
pleas of the plantation owners by reinstating slavery in the French
colonies, once again plunging Haiti into war; and
WHEREAS, The death toll climbed high for the French and Toussaint's
forces eventually became utterly exhausted and on May 5, 1802, Toussaint
accepted a peace treaty with General Leclerc which ensured Haiti's inde-
pendence and allowed him to retire to his estates in peace, provided
that the fighting ceased; and
WHEREAS, Betrayal was looming as General Leclerc, under Napoleon's
orders, later invited Toussaint to a meeting where, despite General
Leclerc's promise of safe conduct, the General had Toussaint captured,
bound hand and foot, and put aboard a waiting ship; Toussaint was then
transported to France and thrown into the dungeon of Fort de Joux in the
Jura Mountains, and on April 7, 1803, he died of apoplexy, pneumonia,
and starvation; and
WHEREAS, After Toussaint's death, Haiti was restored to French domi-
nation and slavery was reinstated; Toussaint's life seemed a failure,
ineffective and useless, but as history reveals, this was far from the
case; and
WHEREAS, The taste of freedom that Toussaint had enabled the Haitians
to feel was not in vain; just six months later, Napoleon, preoccupied
with wars in Europe, relinquished his holdings in the New World; having
already lost thousands of soldiers in Haiti alone, the colonies proved
too much work to be worth Napoleon's keeping; and
WHEREAS, Therefore, Napoleon allowed Haiti to regain its independence
and sold his possession of the western North American continent to the
United States in the Louisiana Purchase; Toussaint's life clearly was
productive as his accomplishments remain visible today; his legacy will
never be forgotten; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 268th Birthday of Francois Toussaint L'Ouverture, leader
of the Haitian Revolution.