Video 2: The long fuse
Which major document passed in France served as an unintended ideological spark for the unrest in Saint-Domingue?
A)The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
What primary economic tactic did the enslaved rebels use to dismantle the system of their oppression in August 1791?
a)Staging peaceful sit-ins at major coastal port cities.
b)Systematically burning cane fields, mills, and refineries.
c)Fleeing immediately across the sea to neighboring islands.
d) Refusing to learn French or communicate with plantation managers.
c)Fleeing immediately across the sea to neighboring islands.
How many French military troops arrived with the Second French Commission in September 1792 to enforce order?
6,000 troops
Approximately what percentage of the massive British military expedition died of yellow fever while trying to occupy Saint-Domingue?
Roughly 60% (about 15,000 men)
What ideological rationale did Napoleon Bonaparte provide for sending a massive 20,000-man expedition to crush Saint-Domingue in 1802?
Why did the 'big whites' (wealthy plantation owners) initially reject a political alliance with the wealthy free people of color?
A)They were fiercely committed to preserving the existing racist caste system without any compromise
B)Free people of color lacked the property requirements needed to participate in political discussions.
C)The free people of color refused to support the system of slavery.
D)The French National Assembly explicitly forbade any local alliances between the two groups.
A)They were fiercely committed to preserving the existing racist caste system without any compromise
Why were the various pro-slavery elite factions in Saint-Domingue initially unable to unite against the slave rebellion?
a)They were prohibited from coordinating forces by British maritime law.
b)They mistakenly believed the enslaved could not organize such a plot and blamed each other instead.
C)A massive yellow fever epidemic had wiped out all colonial leaders.
D)They agreed that the slave system should be abolished immediately.
D)They agreed that the slave system should be abolished immediately.
What deadly tropical disease cut the Second French Commission's military reinforcements in half shortly after they landed?
Yellow fever.
What strict, controversial economic policy did Toussaint Louverture and André Rigaud enforce to rebuild the colony's cash-crop trade?
A military-backed forced labor program on the sugar and coffee plantations.
This U.S. President and Virginia slaveholder completely refused to recognize or trade with the revolutionary government of Saint-Domingue out of fear that slave insurrections would spread to America.
Thomas Jefferson?
Which group of enslaved workers played a disproportionately vital intelligence role by passing messages between different plantations?
D)Carriage drivers
On what exact date did the massive, coordinated slave insurrection break out in the Northern Province of Saint-Domingue?
August 22, 1791.
In February 1794, what historic action did the French National Convention take regarding slavery across all of its global possessions?
It officially abolished slavery in all French colonies and declared all men full citizens under the constitution.
With which US President did Toussaint Louverture trade and secure naval assistance from during the global Quasi-War?
President John Adams.
This former enslaved general took nominal command of the local forces and successfully led the unified Black and mixed-race armies to a decisive victory against the French.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Why was Vodou an exceptionally effective medium for organizing the clandestine enslaved resistance network?
a)It was heavily funded and sponsored by Spanish religious missionaries.
b)It provided a rare cultural and linguistic overlap for a population captured from diverse West African backgrounds.
C) Plantation owners required all workers to attend Vodou rituals weekly.
D)It was the only language permitted in the formal all-white colonial assemblies.
D)It was the only language permitted in the formal all-white colonial assemblies.
What happened to the rebel leader Dutty Boukman in early November 1791?
He was killed in battle,
What desperate tactical offer did the French commissioners make during the battle for Le Cap to gather immediate reinforcements?
a)They promised financial rewards from the bank of Paris.
B)They offered freedom and full French citizenship to any enslaved person who fought for them.
C)They offered to step down and return to France immediately.
D)They offered land grants in the American Louisiana territory.
B)They offered freedom and full French citizenship to any enslaved person who fought for them.
What is the historical name given to the brutal, no-quarter civil war fought between Toussaint Louverture’s northern forces and André Rigaud’s southern forces?
The War of Knives.
Why did global empires like Great Britain and the United States under Thomas Jefferson refuse to support Louverture's government?
C) They believed the colony had completely run out of sugar and coffee.
What was the tragic fate of Vincent Ogé following the defeat of his brief rebellion?
B)He was exiled to Great Britain where he wrote his memoirs.
C)He was extradited from Spanish territory and brutally broken on the wheel.
C)He was extradited from Spanish territory and brutally broken on the wheel.
From which neighboring colony did the militarized rebel forces purchase their weapons and gunpowder?
Spanish Santo Domingo
What monumental action by the French National Convention in February 1794 finally caused Toussaint Louverture to defect from Spain and join France?
A)They offered to pay him a massive personal salary in gold.
B)They officially abolished slavery across all French colonies and granted full citizenship to all men regardless of skin color.
C)They declared war on the United States.
D)They agreed to execute all white inhabitants remaining in the colony.
B)They officially abolished slavery across all French colonies and granted full citizenship to all men regardless of skin color.
What historic legal document did Toussaint Louverture independently write in 1801 that outlawed slavery forever and named him Governor-for-Life?
The Constitution of 1801.