François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, born on this day in 1743, was a Haitian general and leader of the Haitian Revolution, the first successful slave revolution in the Americas. Haiti was the first country in the region to outlaw slavery.

Louverture's participation in the war was complex, first fighting for the Spanish against the French; then for France against Spain and Great Britain; and finally, he fought on behalf of independence for Saint-Domingue against the French.

Initially, Louverture was only supportive of fighting for better living conditions for the enslaved, but, after committing to the full abolition of slavery in 1791, he issued a proclamation at Camp Turel of St. Domingue: "Brothers and friends, I am Toussaint Louverture; 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."

As a revolutionary leader, Louverture's military and political acumen helped transform the fledgling slave rebellion into a revolutionary movement. He governed Saint-Domingue with varying degrees of power for several years, proclaiming an autonomous constitution for the colony in 1801 that declared himself its governor for life.

Louverture was eventually tricked into being arrested by Brunet, a French General, and deported to France, where he died of unknown causes while imprisoned. Shortly thereafter, the colony finally achieved independence under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

"This gun is liberty; hold for certain that the day when you no more have it, you will be returned to slavery."

  • Toussaint Louverture

Toussaint Louverture 2012 (English Subtitles) :louverture-shining:

Revolutions Podcast by Mike Duncan - S4: Haitian Revolution - Episode 1 :france-cool:

The Haitian Revolution - The Slave Society - Extra History - #1 :JB-shining-aggro:

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  • Huldra [they/them, it/its]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Disco Elysium fans on :reddit-logo: are a strange fucking breed.

    "Hey, I think Harry may have been like a super cop or something, like look at how much encyclopedia knows, Harry must have known that too before the amnesia!"

    I mean, idk maybe whoever this is didn't finish the game but there are uh, several conversations where characters literally just face the screen and tell you that Harry was a super cop. You don't need to extrapolate from the skills or find hints in the dialogue, they just tell you this.

    • Huldra [they/them, it/its]
      ·
      2 years ago

      And then you get the opposite where people will be like:

      Hmm, well the RCM is suggested several times to literally be built from the ruins of the revolutionary militia, and one of the final things you can hear in the game is the brass of the RCM making a list of names they can trust, while referencing "when the time comes" and how Harry "will side with Revachol."

      BUT this is really open ended, I mean come on this might as well just mean that when the revolution comes, the RCM are just gonna be the same kind of cops they've been all game and mildly reduce bloodshed!