Who was Toussaint Louverture?
The Case for a Memorialization of Toussaint Louverture in New England – May 2014
“Cet homme fut une Nation! This man was a nation!” Alphonse de Lamartine, one of France’s foremost romantic and revolutionary poet commenting on Toussaint Louverture.
The case for memorializing Haitian Hero and precursor of Haiti’s independence in New England is stronger than ever following a conjunction of recent political and historical milestones that materialized over the past two decades in New England–a stronghold of the 19th century abolitionist movement. This concept has been getting traction among greater Boston residents of all walks of life and the time seems to be ripe to make it a reality.
About Toussaint Louverture…
Two hundred and twenty years ago, in 1793, Toussaint Louverture, who at the age of fifty had spent thirty years of his life in slavery, rose in the ranks of the African slaves of the French colony of Saint Domingue (now Haiti) as a fierce abolitionist and a brilliant military strategist. For 11 years he pursued a relentless military and guerilla war against the Spanish (March 1794), the British (1798) and the French armies (1801-1802), systematically dismantling the slave structure that had close to 500,000 Africans in bondage for about three centuries. His quest for freedom for the African slaves later took a shift when he moved to assert the autonomy of the French colony under his sole authority, prompting Napoleon Bonaparte to send between 1802 and 1803 the most powerful armada ever to reconquer “his” colony, to deport the leaders of the Haitian revolution and reestablish slavery. Toussaint was later captured in June 1802 when he accepted to attend an administrative gathering during a truce. He was sent in exile in France where he died in April 1803. His lieutenant Dessalines and his officers continued a fierce battle against the French troops, which resulted in 1804 in the independence of Haiti, the first black republic in the world and the second republic in the Western Hemisphere after the US.
Toussaint and the US Connection
During his ten years at the helm of Haiti’s affairs, Toussaint interacted with President Adams through US Consul Edward Stevens (from Boston,) who reported to US Secretary Timothy Pickering–a proponent of a “black republic” away from the US. The goal was to channel weapons to Toussaint to conduct war against Great Britain and France. However, in a shift of policy, Adam’s successor Jefferson openly plotted with Napoleon to contain the spread of Toussaint’s revolution. The US would not recognize Haiti’s independence for 60 years.
Toussaint became the object of admiration or intense scrutiny both by abolitionists in the North and slave owners in the South and his actions inspired generations of abolitionists and slave rebels in the Virginia and Mississippi areas during the 1820s and 1840s. Charismatic slave leader Denmark Vesey, who started a slave rebellion in Charleston in the 1820s, is reported to have frequently used quotes and readings on Toussaint Louverture to keep his followers motivated. Similar accounts are reported by Alex Haley in this master piece “Roots.”
Since then, Toussaint’s name has been celebrated by historians and the most famous leaders of the abolitionist movements in the US, black and white alike: Frederick Douglas, John Brown, Senator Charles Summer, Wendell Phillips, Alex Haley, and Malcom X among others. In powerful speeches about Louverture, Douglas at the World Fair in Chicago (1893), lawyer and President of the Anti-Slavery Society Wendell Philips in New York (1881) and Boston (1884) expressed their admiration for Louverture. Phillips went further, listing him atop of his pantheon’s historical figures:
“… But fifty years hence, when Truth gets a hearing, the Muse of History will cite … … Lafayette for France, choose Washington as the bright, consummate flower of our earlier civilization, and John Brown the ripe fruit of our noonday, then, dipping her pen in the sunlight, will write in the clear blue, above them all…the statesman, the martyr, Toussaint l’Ouverture.”
Modern historians acknowledge today that Toussaint’s victories over Napoleon Bonaparte’s French armies had far reaching implications beyond Haiti’s geographic boundaries. They contributed to the emancipation of blacks in the world, inspired abolitionists worldwide and helped change dramatically the geographic make-up of the US by doubling its size in 1803 *. As a result of France loosing troops in Haiti, Napoleon Bonaparte abandoned plans to claim its Louisiana territories previously acquired from Spain and sold them to the US for about $15millions (today’s currency). About 827,000 Square miles were added to the US territories, almost doubling the size of the states. It is still known today as the “cheapest real estate bargain in history.”
In overthrowing me, you have done no more than cut down the trunk of the tree of the black liberty in St-Domingue-it will spring back form the roots, for they are numerous and deep.
TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE
Renewed interest in Toussaint Louverture in scholarly circles and popular culture in the US
Over the past twenty years and more recently after the devastating 2010 earthquake and during the preparations for the forthcoming 2014 bicentennial of Haiti’s independence, the renewal of interest in Haiti’s independence and its aftermath has been substantiated by a number of important materials and publications. Chief among them are Madison Smart Bells’ powerful trilogy on Haiti’s revolution with Toussaint as the central character (About 2000 pages), PBS’s 2009 release of the video documentary “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité”, and the production in France of a full-fledge movie on Toussaint acted by leading Hollywood star Jimmy Jean-Louis (NBC Hero series, Tears of the Sun…). Actor Danny Glover also recently portrayed Toussaint in May 2013 in Boston during the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation. Glover later discussed Toussaint’s influence with author Edwidge Danticat and scholar Henry Louis Gates.
A case for a memorization in New England…
The historical or contemporary New England connections are overwhelming and the case for meaningful recognition or memorialization of Toussaint is strong and long overdue. Most towering New England abolitionists or key politicians of the 19th century had referenced Toussaint at some point: Dubois, Sumner, Douglas, Adams. It can even be argued that his skills at bringing together progressive leaders – black or white – under his administration announced Martin Luther King or even Mandela’s take on racial harmony. In Boston, the Boston Public Library carries one of the richest collections of rare publications on Haiti (18th and 19th centuries) donated by collector James Hunt, a 19th century trader in Haiti.
Precedents regarding such memorialization also abound at the international level in the form of monuments in Cuba (Havana), Benin, France (Bordeaux and in the Jura Mountains), Canada (Quebec’s Boulevard of the Americas). In the US Florida has had a street and a statue of Toussaint for a quite some time, and the City of Delray Beach just inaugurated its “Toussaint Louverture Avenue” in April of 2014. Interestingly, such precedents also exist in Haiti, where abolitionists Charles Sumner and John Brown, and South American Simon Bolivar had streets named after them since the 19th century, while a Martin Luther King and a Harry Truman Boulevards were named in the 20th century.
Toussaint memorialization would also honor the large Boston Haitian-American community in Massachusetts, some 80,000 strong, and recognize its important civic and intellectual contributions to the state: dozen sound social and civic organizations, a vibrant media sector, an annual Haitian Unity Parade that gather some 3,000 to 10,000 participants, an dynamic political presence with leaders such as former State Representative Marie St. Fleur or Senator Linda Dorcena Forry.
Toussaint’s relationship to abolitionist New England begs for a more visible and lasting memorialization. A street? A monument? A building or reading space in a public or academic setting? Let us initiate a thoughtful process. Still, beyond the physical memorialization, a more profound, historical one is overdue. Let us strive to update the social sciences curricula and history books, from America to Africa, and insure that future generations learn of Toussaint, the abolitionist from the Caribbean Islands and his role as part of their own history.
Charlot Lucien is the founder of the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts, a member of the Haitian-Americans United Inc and the president of GRAHN (Groupe de Reflexion et d’Action pour une Haiti Nouvelle) in New England;
Anne Anninger, is a former Philip Hofer Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
