Guadeloupe. Excepted, with Saint-Domingue, from the law of 20 May 1802 restoring slavery.

In the Books that will make up the second volume, we shall relate the siege of Jacmel, the end of the civil war, the embarkation of Rigaud, the absolute triumph of Black influence, and the dominion of Toussaint Louverture over the whole island after the taking of possession of Santo Domingo. We shall see the colonial constitution of 1801, which was almost an act of independence, provoke the French expedition of 1802; the arrival of General Leclerc, the three months’ war, and at last the fall of Toussaint. After this last event French influence will be restored in Saint-Domingue; the whole population, asking for nothing but peace, will rally around the new government, happy to enjoy the rights attached to the status of French citizen. But slavery, restored in the French colonies (Guadeloupe and Saint-Domingue, however, excepted) by the law of 20 May 1802, and the attempt to restore the old regime in our country, will compel the Black people and the men of color to unite frankly, for the first time, against the common enemy. These men, whom Bonaparte wished to plunge back into servitude or degradation, will resolve to conquer or to die, will overthrow their persecutors after a bloody struggle, and will proclaim the independence of Haiti. The men of color and the Black people will then understand that the former had escaped their old abasement, and the latter servitude, only through the frank and sincere union that had existed between them during the war of independence. To efface the memory of the rivalries of caste that had caused their misfortune, they will merge, mixed-race and Black alike, under the name of Haitians. The country will therefore take back its name of Haiti: Hispaniola and Saint-Domingue had groaned under servitude; but Haiti had let itself be exterminated at the end of the fifteenth century rather than accept the yoke of the Foreigner. The country, having won back its original liberty, was bound to take back its ancient name, which recalled a people less fortunate, but no less heroic in its struggle for liberty.