To be a great leader, one must be able to rise above the rest in order to pave the way to sucess. Toussaint Louverture is considered to be a great leader, but not all leaders are good ones. King Louis XVI, ruler of France from 1774-1792 is someone who shows qualities of a bad leader many times during his rain of power. He was known for his taking of international loans and the decision to raise tax prices to pay for his own personal financial needs. Instead of thinking about his people, he was only thinking about himself. This lead to poverty and starvation throughout the lower classes in France. It also lead to King Louis XVI execution in 1793 because of the upset civilians. Toussaint Louverture, a free slave had a huge role in Hatian independence that occurred in 1804. Louverture's legacy not only consisted of him being the ruler of Saint Domingue, but he was also a military commander who became the most powerful person on the island of Haiti. These traits all contributed to the abolition of slavery in Haiti, but being a liberator of slaves had the most impact on Haiti's independence and is what he should be most remembered for.
Louverture was a very influential and confident leader which are traits a successful liberator has. This is why his legacy is a successful one. Throughout the abolition of slavery in Saint Domingue, Louverture was on and off France's side. During 1792 the revolutionary government and France abolishes slavery in France and all its colonies including Haiti, because of this he and his troops stop the revolts and start to support France. This goes to show that the only intentions Louverture has are to end slavery in Haiti and potentially around the world. He doesn't care who's side he is on, even if it is France's, as long as slavery is no more. He also will go to extreme risks in order to maintain freedom. When the new conservative French government wants to reinstate slavery in French colonies, he writes a threat in the form of a letter warning France to preserve the abolition of slavery in Haiti. In the letter he explains how freemen can't go back to being a slave, and how these men would rather die than return to the hell-like slave life. Out of all the roles Louverture had, being a liberator of slaves is most likely what he would consider himself and think was the most important part of his legacy. If there was a way to abolish slavery he was the one to find that opening and make it happen.
Another important role Louverture had in addition to being a liberator of slaves was his position of power in Saint Domingue. In 1798 he not only defeats the British, but becomes ruler of Saint Domingue. As part of his role as ruler, he assembled and headed the commission that created a Constitution in 1801 for Saimt Domingue. It promised all inhabitants that slavery could not exist on the island and that slaves are entitled to share in the revenues. Citizens would still be doing work on plantations since the island is essentially agricultural and depends on these plantations as a part of the islands economy. Inhabitants would still be working on the same plantation as they were before but instead they were supposed to be treated better and each worker had a right to share in the plantations profits. This caused controversy since workers did not want to go back to work but instead would rather have no job than return to a similar life as I had before. In the Proclamation on 25 November in 1801, Louverture establishes more laws in regards to who and where workers are supposed to work, with this he's trying to control the population that is refusing to work. It states that if you refuse to work your plantation police will arrest you and bring you back to your plantation, also all accused of sedition would go before a court-martial. His people feel as though that he is being hypocritical since he was a huge part of the abolition of slavery, but the workers are feeling like they're being enslaved even though these are not his intentions. His role as a ruler of Saint Dominguegives a more balanced view on his legacy.
Louverture's actions Michelle have you as a military leader since he had to make difficult decisions in order to maintain order in Haiti. Workers were objecting to work since they were going back in the same conditions as they were before under the same landowner so they didn't think much would change even though the abolition of slavery was in action. A lot of former slaves and Moyse, Louverture's nephew thought he was "too close" with the white planter class and felt as though it was unfair to force free slaves to work on plantations again. Freemen got fed up with these laws making them work, that a rebellion occurred led by his nephew which resulted in many white plantation owners dead and also many of the rebels deaths as well. This also included the execution of his nephew. These deaths could've been avoided if Louverture would have listened to the unhealthy free slaves before it got out of hand. Even though it must have been difficult to kill his own nephew he did what he thought he had to do in order to be a successful military leader. Although he made some bad decisions as a military leader he also had many character traits that helped him gain his soldiers' confidence and respect. When Napoleon send troops to reinstate slavery in Haiti, Louverture burned down their own city so that the French army couldn't take it over and would have a more difficult time surviving. They arent able to take over city, if there's no city to take over. Before the French army got to Haiti, troops fled to the mountains. This way, by the time French troops got to them they would be worn out from their travel and Haiti would have the advantage. Louverture posses good war tactics and inspires his troops which leads them to success as a military commander.
Although Toussaint Louverture is remembered for many things. Most importantly he should be remembered for being an influential and courageous liberator of slaves who will go to all extremes to maintain freedom. Being the ruler of Saint Domingue definitely contributed to the abolition of slavery, since he was the most powerful man on the island and was able to fight for the rights and independence of the citizens in Haiti and have a large say in the way the island was run. Also by being a military commander he was able to defeat and threaten major powers like France who wanted to bring back slavery in its colonies. But being a liberator of slaves had the most impact on the abolition of slavery in which is why it is the most important part of his legacy.
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