"The Black Napoleon"

In 1803, there were two highly successful military-dictators in the world: Toussaint L’Ouverture of St. Domingue and Napoleon Bonaparte of France. These two figures have gone down in history as two enemies who supported contradictory ideals. One supported the equality of all humans and specifically, the abolition of slavery. The other one clearly supported slavery, and even reinstated the concept in French colonies. Obviously, the former was L’Ouverture, while the latter was Bonaparte. However, the distinction and difference between these two leaders is not as clear cut as it is commonly evidenced. While Napoleon did betray and essentially murder L’Ouverture, and did later explain himself by saying, “What could the death of one wretched Negro mean to me?” (http://www.historywiz.com/toussaint.htm), these two men shared many common traits in their ascension to power and their leadership.


Napoleon is often referred to today as the “child of the Revolution”, in that the French Revolution resulted in a changed France, and subsequently provided a chance for a military man like Napoleon to seize power. During the Revolution, there was absolutely no way that a dictator could seize power, however, the ideals and public beliefs evolved over the course of the Revolution. In the end, France had reverted back to a mindset that favored anything reminiscent of the “ancien régime”. In essence, the French Revolution ‘produced’ Napoleon by allowing him to rule.

The same can be said about L’Ouverture’s rise to power, (that he was given a chance to rule by the circumstances of his ascension). In 1791, mass slave revolts occurred in St. Domingue that responded to the white colonist’s refusal to grant colored people their rights. Never before had there been a slave revolt like this in St. Domingue. L’Ouverture seized this incredibly emotional opportunity to take leadership over the slaves, and subsequently propel himself into a position of power. Later, L’Ouverture would seize complete control over St. Domingue, (after chasing away both the British and the Spanish from St. Domingue), and the reason why he would not experience revolt was because of the incredible amount of support he had garnered by fighting in the war, and by leading the slave army. However, L’Ouverture made a fatal mistake when he decided to write up a constitution that granted him “rule for life”. This event likened him to a monarch, and his former followers began to see this. Ultimately, L’Ouverture was defeated by the French in 1802 in part because his own troops (who had so passionately fought for him years before), could not capture the same spirit of freedom they had maintained so very well before.

Although Napoleon crushed L’Ouverture, reinstated slavery, (which L’Ouverture had so passionately supported), and imprisoned him, there were many similarities between these two. Both were military men first, and political leaders second; both overthrew their nation’s former government, both appeared as ‘hero’s to their followers, and both were exiled. In fact, L’Ouverture is sometimes known as the “black Napoleon”. If Napoleon had led St. Domingue, and L’Ouverture had ruled France, history might not have noticed the difference.

Other Sources Used:
http://www.historywiz.com/toussaint.htm
http://www.helium.com/items/1775724-commonalities-between-napoleon-bonaparte-and-toussaint-louverture