Historical events often follow a course where one event influences another and reaches a conclusion of sorts. Sometimes these events remain confined but they can also spin off in unforeseen directions. I have written previously about how the same events impact different nations in different ways with disparate results. (Currents in the River of History) Finding these connections makes history inherently interesting. At the turn of the 19th century, the slaves of French colony Saint-Domingue and resourceful leader Toussaint L’Ouverture rose up demanding their freedom. Over the course of 15 years they fought and defeated three major European powers as the world’s most successful slave uprising. By 1804, they established a new nation, Haiti. The Haitian Revolution is historically significant in its own right but the consequences set in motion a series of events that had the greatest of import in an unanticipated place: the United States. The loss of Saint-Domingue motivated Napoleon to sell the Louisiana Territory to the US. The Haitian revolutionaries never gave a thought to America, but their actions resulted in one of the most fortuitous opportunities the United States ever received.

Thomas Jefferson came to office in a time of very different circumstances from today. Just 30 years after winning independence, many ambitious Americans dreamed of becoming an “Empire of Liberty,” but faced daunting obstacles. Most notably, much of North America lay in the hands of European powers. To the south, the Spanish controlled Florida, Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and as far north as Colorado and Utah. The French possessed land west of the Mississippi River stretching west to modern Montana and Idaho. British Canada ran along the northern US border to the Pacific with much of the western border unresolved.

Americans expected to expand west beyond the Mississippi River, but had few means to achieve this end. Taking the territory by force required fighting France, Spain, and/or Great Britain, an unrealistic prospect for the fledgling nation. Jefferson believed westward expansion could only occur “piece by piece” over the course of decades. 1

In the meantime, Jefferson faced a more immediate problem. Midwestern farmers depended on the Mississippi River to transport their goods to market. However, European powers controlled New Orleans and could block commerce on a whim—which they did twice before 1803. President Jefferson charged US Minister to France Robert Livingston and James Monroe with purchasing New Orleans for $10 million to guarantee free passage of the Mississippi. Negotiating with the French proved frustrating and unproductive in the previous decade. The wily Charles Maurice de Tallyrand managed to hold the position of Foreign Minister for Louis XVI, the French Revolutionary Directorate and Napoleon. He had been the central figure in the XYZ Affair demanding bribes to negotiate with John Adams’ Administration over French interdiction of American shipping. Instead of reaching an accord, the US became embroiled in the Quasi-War with France on the Atlantic.

Jefferson and his diplomats expected negotiations to be difficult and drawn out. French Finance Minister Francois Barbé-Marbois, however, appeared at the very first meeting instead of Tallyrand and stunned his American counterparts by offering immediate sale of not just New Orleans, but the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million. The shocking offer would have been impossible just a year earlier.Napoleon recognized the potential of the American west and hoped to build a new Franco-American Empire to match the European empire he planned for Europe.

The Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue (modern Haiti) was the centerpiece of his scheme. Rich soil and a favorable Caribbean climate made Saint-Domingue more lucrative to the French than all of the 13 American colonies combined. While North American colonies provided valuable raw materials, the sugar cane, coffee, indigo and cotton plantations on Saint-Domingue generated a large and steady stream of cash. By the 1790s, France exported 17 million pounds of raw materials and goods of which 11 million pounds came from Saint-Domingue. Saint-Domingue accounted for 40% of all sugar and 60% of all coffee consumed in Europe until the slave uprising brought production to a standstill. Napoleon hoped to restore Saint-Domingue as a productive colony.

The disruption in Saint-Domingue had its roots in the French Revolution of 1789 which overthrew a nation dominated by an absolutist monarchy and a small class of landed nobility. The revolutionaries issued a set of guiding principles known as the Rights of Man drafted by the Marquis de Lafayette and Honoré Mirabeau with assistance from then US Ambassador Thomas Jefferson. Based in Enlightenment ideals of natural law and influenced by the American Revolution, the Rights of Man abolished serfdom in favor of equality.

The radical changes in France raised expectations for slaves in French colonies. They hoped that slavery would be abolished as well. As it became clear the Rights of Man did not apply to slaves, widespread revolts broke out in Saint-Domingue in 1791. A former slave named Toussaint rose to prominence as a primary leader. Toussaint soon took on the last name of L’Overture, French for “one who opens the way.” The slaves at first negotiated for better work conditions and recognition of some basic rights. When they were rebuffed, the revolt widened. Toussaint was one of the first to call for total abolition. He made a famous proclamation still celebrated in Haiti today:

“Brothers and friends, I am Toussaint L’Ouverture; perhaps my name has made itself known to you. I have undertaken vengeance. I want Liberty and Equality to reign in St Domingue. I am working to make that happen. Unite yourselves to us, brothers and fight with us for the same cause.”

The British and Spanish were already at war with France in Europe and began supporting the slave rebels. By 1794 Toussaint had organized his forces from a rabble into a trained military force who joined up with expeditionary forces sent to Saint-Domingue by Britain and Spain. Unable to contain the slaves, and on the verge of losing Saint-Domingue, the French Revolutionary Government abolished slavery. L’Ouverture switched allegiance to France joining French soldiers to oust his former Spanish and British allies.

It would seem the story should be over with former slaves now free. However, problems remained. L’Ouverture proclaimed himself to be a loyal Frenchman. He advocated remaining a part of the French Empire and even offered to allow white Frenchmen who had fled the revolt the opportunity to return. Other former slaves pushed for independence and opposed conciliatory measures such as allowing the return of former masters. Additionally, though many mulattos and blacks rejoined the French cause once slavery was abolished, some remained allied with the Spanish and British.

To further complicate matters, racial lines were blurred in Saint-Domingue. Mulattos had often been slaves before 1791, but some had become emancipated and owned plantations and slaves. Tensions developed between mulattos who had been part of the slave regime and former slaves. Even though the French eventually expelled the British and Spanish expeditionary forces, factions remained with divided interests and loyalties.

By 1799, the excesses and chaos of the Reign of Terror in France allowed Napoleon to seize the reins of power. Napoleon cared little about individual rights, he craved power and influence. His top priority was maintaining the revenues Saint-Domingue provided and believed the best approach was to re-assert pre-existing white French dominance. Napoleon created a new constitution for Saint-Domingue with a two-tiered legal code. White Frenchmen lived under one set of laws that cemented the egalitarian reforms of the French Revolution. A different set of “special laws” would govern blacks and mulattos and sent over 20,000 soldiers to impose the dual set of laws in 1801. Napoleon denied he intended to restore slavery but Haitians were understandably suspicious.

At first, L’Ouverture and other leaders accepted the French presence. Peace did not last though. The French launched attacks to re-assert European dominance and re-impose slavery in 1802. Initially the French had success but an outbreak of yellow fever and L’Ouverture’s effective guerilla tactics decimated the French army.

Pressure intensified to declare independence, but L’Ouverture remained loyal to France. Divisions that L’Ouverture had managed to keep united began fraying. For the first time, former allies began questioning their leader’s motives. L’Ouverture negotiated a ceasefire and amnesty that ended hostilities but did not resolve who would control Saint-Domingue. Both the French and several of L’Ouverture’s key supporters were unhappy with the arrangement and they conspired to have him arrested and deported to France later in 1802. Jean Jacques Dessalines, perhaps L’Ouverture’s most capable and trusted lieutenant, participated in the conspiracy and then took power. He defeated the weakened French army in a series of battles and forced an evacuation. By 1804, the inhabitants declared themselves to be the independent nation of Haiti with Dessalines as their leader.

These events were unfolding as American negotiators approached the French regarding the sale of New Orleans on April 11, 1803. Their timing was impeccable. The French had lost control of Saint-Domingue and the plan to restore a lucrative stream of revenue was in shambles. Napoleon was ready to begin a major new European campaign and needed money to finance his European foray. With the British Navy dominating the seas, defense of western hemisphere territories would be futile. Napoleon decided to kill two birds with one stone. He instructed Barbé-Marbois to sell Louisiana.

The negotiations proceeded quickly. US negotiators only had authority to purchase New Orleans for $10 million, but time was of the essence. They knew the fortuitous offer could be withdrawn at any time. On their own initiative, Livingston and Monroe agreed to buy the Louisiana Territory for $15 million on April 30, 1803. It was an unbelievable deal. The United States added 828,000 square miles of territory, doubling in size overnight, at the incredibly low price of 3 cents an acre.

Though Jefferson worried over about the constitutionality of purchasing land, he quickly overcame his reservations and the Senate approved the sale on October 20, 1803. The US formally took possession of the Louisiana Territory on December 20th. It was an amazing acquisition. Purchasing New Orleans alone was expected to take months or years. Instead the US acquired New Orleans and a vast new territory in less than a month without firing a shot. The Louisiana Purchase only came to fruition as a result of the uprising on Saint-Domingue. Americans today owe a great debt to an unexpected source: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the freedom seeking slaves on a relatively small Caribbean island.

Sources:

1 George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. 103.

2 The Letters of Robert R. Livingston: The Story of the Louisiana Purchase, edited by Edward Alexander Parsons, the American Antiquarian Society, Oct. 1942. 407. http://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44807068.pdf

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George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

L. R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the Santo Domingo Revolution, New York: Random House 1963, 1989.

David Brion Davis, Impact of the French and Haitian Revolutions, from The Impact of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World, edited by David P. Geggus, Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2001.

The Letters of Robert R. Livingston: The Story of the Louisiana Purchase, edited by Edward Alexander Parsons, the American Antiquarian Society, Oct. 1942. 407. http://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44807068.pdf

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