CANCELLED: We will aim to reschedule as soon as possible.
The Haitian Revolution began in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue with a slave revolt in August 1791, and culminated a dozen years later in the proclamation of the worlds first independent black state. After the abolition of slavery in 1793, Toussaint Louverture, himself a former slave, became the leader of the colonys black population, the commander of its republican army and eventually its governor. During the course of his extraordinary life, he confronted (and for a time overcame) some of the dominant forces of his age slavery, settler colonialism, imperialism and racial hierarchy. Treacherously seized by Napoleons invading army in 1802, this charismatic figure ended his days, in Wordsworths phrase, the most unhappy man of men, imprisoned in a fortress in France.Sudhir Hazareesingh takes us on Toussaint Louvertures singular journey, from his triumphs against French, Spanish and British troops to his skilful regional diplomacy, his Machiavellian dealings with successive French colonial administrators and his bold declaration of an autonomous Constitution. Hazareesingh shows that Louverture developed his unique vision and leadership not only in response to imported Enlightenment ideals and revolutionary events in Europe and the Americas, but through a hybrid heritage of fraternal slave culture, Caribbean mysticism and African traditions.
