1805: (The Legacy of Conquest and the Foundation of Enmity on the Island): The differences between Toussaint’s campaign of 1801 and that of Dessalines in 180…

1805: (The Legacy of Conquest and the Foundation of Enmity on the Island): The differences between Toussaint’s campaign of 1801 and that of Dessalines in 1805 illustrate the fundamental differences between the two regimes and the men who led them. Where Toussaint had proclaimed liberty and unification, revitalizing commerce, administration, and even the road system of Santo Domingo, Dessalines came purely as an invader with no desire to stay and no motive save to extirpate the last trace of French influence. Christophe alone carried back some 1,200 men, women, and children from the eastern territory, including 318 girls younger than fifteen, as forced laborers for the northern kingdom’s construction projects. So far as can be determined, the Emperor had no strategic interest in occupation, only in breaking Dominicans of all colors to his fearful will. What he achieved, in the final reckoning, was to lay the foundation of unending fear, hatred, suspicion, and recrimination between the two nations of the island that persists to this day.