Toussaint had emerged as the most powerful general in Saint-Domingue by 1798. He functioned autonomously from the French authorities and attempted to refuel the economy of the island. He decided to send the slave population back to work on the plantations.
In 1801 a new constitution was issued; the Constitution proclaimed loyalty to France and installed Toussaint as the governor-general of the colony for life. This alarmed Napoleon Bonaparte, the new French emperor. He dispatched General Charles Leclerc, his brother-in-law, and 43,000 French troops to capture Louverture. He also wanted to restore both the French rule and slavery.
The conflict that followed was not simple. In the end, Toussaint was arrested and sent to France where he died in prison. After the imprisonment of Toussaint, Jean- Dessalines, a former slave and one of Louverture’s generals led the revolutionaries at the Battle of Vertieres. The French forces were eventually defeated. On 1st January, 1804, Dessalines declared the nation independent and renamed it as Haiti. France became the first nation to recognize its independence.
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