From:
https://historyincharts.com/timeline-of-the-haitian-revolution/
1789-1798
1789-1790 – The French Revolution erupts and the Declaration of the Rights of Man is passed. The free blacks and mulatto class demand full French citizenship and rights. An uprising of the free black populace is suppressed in brutal fashion.

1791-1792 – In August 1791 a full-fledged slave revolt began. In March 1793 the French assembly granted full rights and French citizenship to free blacks and mulattos. The white planter class objects and further violence erupts. The French send military forces and a new governor to enact these measures.

1793 – Great Britain and Spain enter the fight. The British align with the white planter class and see the conflict as an opportunity to restore order and gain control of the lucrative colony. The Spanish controlled the other side of the island of Hispaniola and favored disruption in the colony. They sided with Toussaint Louverture’s forces and provided food, supplies, and military support.

1794 – France issues a decree freeing all slaves in February. Louverture turns on the Spanish and fights for the French, now believing in their edict to free slaves and knowing the Spanish did not share the same ideals. Andre Riguard leads free black and mulatto forces in the south to fight against the British.

1795-1798 – The British send more forces to Saint Domingue, though they are defeated. The forces are plagued by disease and the British lose nearly three of every five men sent to the island. The Spanish exits the conflict in 1795 upon a peace agreement with France. Louverture consolidates control and leadership of the colony.

1799-1804
1799-1800 – War of the Knives ensues between Louverture in the north and Riguard in the south. Louverture proves victorious and rules over all of Saint Domingue.

1801 – Louverture invades and captures Santo Domingo, the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola. He abolishes slavery there and now rules over the entire island. Louverture issues a constitution claiming autonomy from France.

1802 – Napoleon sends brother-in-law Charles Leclerc to subdue Saint Domingue and capture Louverture. The French are met with fierce resistance and brutal tactics are employed by both sides. 

After two significant generals defect to the French, Louverture agrees to a truce. He is however tricked, then captured and imprisoned in France. He would die months later in a French prison cell.

It is learned that France intends to reimplement slavery and the rebellion resumes. General Jean-Jacques Dessalines defects back to the rebels to fight the French once again. Leclerc dies of yellow fever, along with much of his army.

1803 – Napoleon diverts troops from the Louisiana territory to Saint Domingue. By April, Napoleon anticipates failure and agrees to sell the Louisiana territory to the United States. French forces are dealt a final defeat in November.

1804 – Dessalines officially declares independence on January 1st. The former colony is renamed Haiti, believed to be after the name the original Taino inhabitants used for the island before they were exterminated.

The Aftermath and Response of the United States
The response of the United States to the Haitian Revolution was decidedly mixed. At times the country supported the white planters, sometimes Louverture and the rebels, and sometimes stayed neutral.

The revolution spanned three different presidencies and hence complicated matters. The Washington presidency (1789-1797) favored supporting the white planter class and maintaining the status quo.

The Adams presidency (1797-1801) reversed this policy and provided support to Louverture. Adams was a noted abolitionist and wanted to maintain trade relations with Saint Domingue, though was wary the eventual new country could turn to state-sponsored piracy like the Barbary states.

The Democratic-Republican Jefferson presidency (1801-1809) once again reversed course, though it mainly stayed somewhat neutral and tried to isolate the new country.

Jefferson faced a dilemma. He was an avid supporter of the French Revolution’s ideals, though he was a slaveholder himself. He was also enormously popular among southern slaveholders who greatly feared a future spread of slave revolts to America.


Many white planters fled the colony and were admitted into the United States as refugees
Instead, he chose to isolate the new republic and refused to recognize its independence. Every other country adopted this same policy, isolating Haiti economically and politically to show how a black-led republic could not succeed.

Eventually, through the use of gunboat diplomacy, the French agreed to a treaty to recognize Haitian independence in 1825 in exchange for a large sum of reparation payments. The United States refused to follow suit and would not recognize the country until 1862 – during the US Civil War.

The Haitian Revolution and the Louisiana Purchase
The United States has the Haitian Revolution to thank for the massive territory expansion with the Louisiana Purchase.

The newly-formed United States had long sought to further expand westward. At the turn of the 19th century it was more preoccupied with gaining access to the crucial port of New Orleans.

New Orleans is located at the mouth of the Mississippi river and the owner of this port controlled access to all goods flowing from the interior of the continent (as the Erie Canal had not yet been built). Many Midwestern farmers relied on the Mississippi to ship their goods to market.

The leaders of the United States had much angst over this port city. If Spain or France were to prohibit exports from the US, they feared midwestern farmers could revolt and switch allegiances.

The United States offered to purchase New Orleans several times from Spain, though their offers were rebuffed. When Napoleon gained the French crown the United States’ worst fears were confirmed.

A secret deal between Napoleon and Spain saw New Orleans and the Louisiana territory change hands. Napoleon sought to reignite French colonial ambitions and prepared to send two forces to the Americas: one to Saint Domingue to quell the rebellion, and one to New Orleans.

Given the failure of the French military to quell the Haitian revolution, Napoleon was forced to send his New Orleans contingent to Saint Domingue as well. Faced with total defeat, Napoleon gave up his ambitions in the Americas in early 1803.

He would go on to offer the Americans not only New Orleans, but the entire Louisiana territory for just $15 million. The territory gained in the Louisiana Purchase would represent nearly half the new nation at the time.

Jefferson would owe his thanks for Louisiana to the Haitian revolution, though he would never acknowledge the fact.

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