Guide to the Toussaint Louverture letters, 1800-1802
Collection overview:
Title:
Date range(inclusive
dates):
Creator:
Extent:
Abstract:
Toussaint Louverture letters
1800-1802
Toussaint Louverture, 1743-1803
0.01 linear feet (1 folder)
Touissant Louverture (1743-1803) was the leader of the Haitian
Revolution (1794-1804) and in these two letters, written in French, he
writes to a fellow citizen requesting the payment of certain accounts.
Language of materials: French
Repository: Redwood Library & Athenaeum, Newport, Rhode Island
Collection number: RLC.Ms.532
Access and use:
Access to the collection: Access is open to members and researchers at the Redwood Library and
Athenaeum.
Use of the materials: This collection is owned by the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the
Special Collections Librarian of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
Preferred citation: Toussaint Louverture letters, RLC.Ms. 532, Redwood Library and
Athenaeum.
Administrative information:
About the collection
Acquisition: Acquisition information is unknown.
Processing information: This collection was initially processed by Leah Podolsky in 2009 and Aimee
Saunders in 2010.
About the finding aid
Author and Encoding: Elizabeth Delmage, 2013 October
Descriptive rules: Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
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Additional information:
Bibliography: Tyson, George F., Jr., ed. Toussaint L’Ouverture. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall, 1973.
Sponsor: Funding for processing and cataloging this collection was provided by the
van Beuren Charitable Foundation.
Biographical note:
Touissant Louverture (1743-1803) was born a slave in the French colony, Bréda, Saint Domingue (now
Haiti), in 1743 and was legally freed in 1777. In 1791, Touissant began his military career as a leader of
the slave rebellion that broke out on Saint Domingue and began the Haitian Revolution (1794-1804),
which culminated with the elimination of slavery and the founding of the Republic of Haiti in 1804.
Toussaint initially allied with the Spaniards in the neighboring Dominican Republic, but switched
allegiance to the French when they abolished slavery in 1794. Toussaint gradually established control
over the whole island of Hispaniola, using military and political tactics to gain dominance over rivals.
During his years in power as governor and commander-in-chief, he worked to improve the economy of
Saint Domingue, restored the plantation system using paid labor, negotiated trade treaties with the
United States and Britain, and maintained a large army. In 1801, Toussaint submitted a newly written
constitution, which named himself as governor for life, and provided for autonomy and a black
sovereign state to Napoleon Bonaparte (1763-1821) and the French legislature for ratification. In
response, Bonaparte sent an army to force Toussaint to resign and restore French authority in the
former colony. Toussaint was taken prisoner by the French forces in June 1802 and was deported to
France where he died in the prison at Fort-de-Jeux on April 7, 1803.
Scope and content note:
This collection consists of two letters written by Touissant Louverture in Saint Domingue to a Citizen
Dupuch regarding accounts that he wanted to have paid. Both letters are written in French and dated
according to the French Revolutionary calendar with was created during the French Revolution (17881789) and used by the French government for twelve years from late 1793 to 1805. Due to the way
these letters are dated and the inability to decipher some of the writing, the actual dates of these letters
are uncertain. In the first letter Louverture writes in his capacity as General and Chief of the Army of
Saint Domingue. This letter was written during the eighth year of the French Republic, which was 1800.
The month and date of this letter is obscured by an inkblot. Louverture writes to Dupuch as the
Governor of Saint Domingue in the second letter, which is dated the seventh day of Vendémiaire of the
tenth year of the French Republic, which was likely September 29, 1802.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in chronological order.
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Inventory:
Box
Manuscripts Box 1
Title
Letters to Dupuch
Date
1800, 1802
Access terms:
Subjects:
Haiti--History--Revolution, 1791-1804
Genre terms:
Letters (correspondence)
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