How did slave revolt on colonial Saint-Domingue lead to the creation of the independent nation of Haiti in 1804?

PPRIOR TO 1789 SAINT-DOMINGUE, the French colony that was to become Haiti, reaped huge profits through a ruthless system of slave-based plantation agriculture. News of revolution in France lit a powder keg of contradictory aspirations among white planters, free people of color, and slaves. Free people of color and, later, the enslaved rose up to claim their freedom. They succeeded, despite invasion by the British and Spanish and Napoleon Bonaparte’s bid to reimpose French control. In 1804 Haiti became the only nation in history to claim its freedom through slave revolt.

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Saint-Domingue Slave LifeAlthough the brutal conditions of plantation slavery left little time or energy for leisure, slaves on Saint-Domingue took advantage of their day of rest on Sunday to engage in social and religious activities. The law officially prohibited slaves of different masters from mingling together, but such gatherings were often tolerated if they remained peaceful. This image depicts a fight between two slaves, precisely the type of unrest and violence feared by authorities. (Musée du Nouveau Monde, La Rochelle, France/Scala/White Images/Art Resource, NY)