The Slave Rebellion began in 1791. Most of the slaves in Haiti were of African origin and suffered terrible conditions at work. They began to struggle for freedom and strive for power equal to the Whites. Eventually, the slaves gathered to revolt against their oppressive masters. It was Toussaint Louverture who helped them plot the rebellion.
Britain and Spain saw this as a good opportunity to seize Haiti, and declared war against France in 1793. The Spanish allied with the slave leaders. The French colonists were shaken. In a frightened response, the French declared an end to slavery. In February 1794, the French National Assembly confirmed the abolition of slavery in an attempt to keep Saint-Domingue’s population on the side of the new revolutionary leaders in Paris.
This act encouraged many leaders of the rebellion including Toussaint Louverture to join hands with the French. Louverture’s army defeated an invasion of tens of thousands of anti-revolutionary British between 1794 and 1799.
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