In the 1690s, the French seized control of the west of the island of Hispaniola from Spain. The French named their new colony Saint-Domingue.
The French prospered in their new colony which is now known as Haiti. Saint-Domingue produced more sugar than Jamaica, Brazil and Cuba combined. But the French brutally exploited the slaves to gain economic prosperity. More than a hundred sugar plantations were established between 1700 —1704. This required lots of slaves.
As more plantations were established more slaves were imported. Soon, the slaves were the only people working in the farms. Life was hard for the slaves; they had to bear the French brutality in addition to poor living conditions. In 1789, when revolution broke out in France, unrest quickly spread to Saint-Domingue.
The slaves revolted in August 1791. Rather than complete freedom, the slaves sought an improvement in their conditions, such as more free time.
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