2io The National Geographic Magazine 



life, with the power to name a successor. 

 This proclamation was made in due form 

 in 1801. 



He decreed that slavery should be for- 

 ever abolished, and at the same time the 

 planters were by law required to give a 

 fifth part of the crops in payment for the 

 labor of the freed slaves, and at the same 

 time the negroes were compelled to labor 

 for their sustenance. To carry this 

 scheme into practical operation was a no 

 less difficult task for him than for the 

 negroes, but the ex-slaves were, with 

 few exceptions, contented and happy. 



Though the Spanish colony had been 

 formally ceded to France in 1795, and 

 different posts had in consequence been 

 actually occupied by the Republican 

 troops, yet the city of Santo Domingo, 

 the capital of the eastern part of the 

 island, still remained in the hands of the 

 Spaniards. To obtain possession of the 

 capital and to establish such regulations 

 as might be required on its change of 

 government, Toussaint made a trip 

 through the whole island for this purpose, 

 which was in reality a triumphal march 

 after hisigreat victories in the field. The 

 end of the year 1801 found every part of 

 Santo Domingo in quiet submission to the 

 negro chief and rapidly improving in 

 wealth and happiness under his wise ad- 

 ministration. With the aid of the whites, 

 whom Toussaint was anxious to befriend, 

 agriculture was beginning to improve ; 

 the finances were getting in order, and 

 the government was being wisely and 

 regularly administered. This prosper- 

 ity, however, was soon to be interrupted 

 by calamities as serious as any which had 

 ever visited the ill-fated island. 



CAPTURE OF TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE BY 

 TREACHERY 



War having ceased between Great 

 Britain and France in October, 1801, the 

 French navy, which had not for several 

 years been able to leave its ports without 

 fear of capture, was once more free, and 

 Bonaparte determined to recapture Santo 

 Domingo. Although Toussaint had in no 

 way separated the colony from the 



mother country, Napoleon became sus- 

 picious of the black general's ambition 

 and, fearing lest his principal colony 

 should slip away from him, he was in- 

 duced to listen to the strong appeals of 

 the planters whose estates had been 

 ruined by the negro insurrection, who 

 insisted that they could not be restored 

 unless slavery was again resumed. To 

 counteract the growing tendency of the 

 islanders to free themselves from his 

 control, as well as to offset any possi- 

 bilities of his everlasting enemy, England, 

 reaping benefit from an alliance with the 

 new country if left to act for itself, Na- 

 poleon planned and fitted out the famous 

 expedition of 1802 to bring the colony 

 again under subjection. His brother-in- 

 law, General Leclerc, was given an im- 

 posing force of 30,000 men, reinforced, 

 it. is said, from time to time up to 55,000. 

 The general embarked and with his naval 

 convoy proceeded to Cape Haitien, where 

 he arrived on the 12th of February of 

 that year. There can be no doubt that 

 the avowed object of the expedition was 

 to restore slavery, although this object 

 was disguised by kindly and friendly let- 

 ters to Toussaint, such as Napoleon knew 

 so well how to write. 



It is not intended to go into the history 

 of this fatal attempt on the part of the 

 French government to reenslave its sub- 

 jects — a history that is characterized by 

 unspeakable atrocities on the part of the 

 French, who set an example that was 

 speedily followed in retaliation by the 

 negroes. Toussaint, assisted by his two 

 principal chiefs, Christophe and Dessa- 

 lines, fought with the bravery of desper- 

 ation ; but they were at last overcome, not 

 by battle, but by the artful persuasion and 

 duplicity of his enemy in debauching his 

 own people, who were tired of the strug- 

 gle. Finally a truce was declared and the 

 tricolor again waved over the whole land. 



RETRIBUTION BY THE .BEACKS 



Probably one of the blackest pages in 

 Napoleon's record is his treachery to 

 Toussaint in cajoling him into disarma- 

 ment and then having him kidnapped 



