1801: An envoy of Napoleon Bonaparte captured Toussaint Louverture and banished him to a prison in France as part of a metropolitan effort to re-establish sl…

1801: An envoy of Napoleon Bonaparte captured Toussaint Louverture and banished him to a prison in France as part of a metropolitan effort to re-establish slavery in the colonies. This betrayal signaled the end of the period of autonomous black governance under Toussaint and the start of a final, more violent phase of the war. Despite his removal, the momentum of the revolution remained unbreakable among the black masses and the military officers he had trained. Toussaint’s death in exile failed to extinguish the “common wind” of liberty that his leadership had helped to unleash. His downfall served as a catalyst for the total commitment of the black population to full independence.