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Historical perspectives on race
Historical perspectives on race

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3 The great slave rebellion of 1791

A photograph of a statue featuring a man on a horse, situated on a hill.
Figure 3 People stand under a statue of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti, in Port au Prince on February 10, 2018 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The conflicts between different groups of white and mixed-race settlers in Saint-Domingue were not primarily about the question of slavery. Yet they formed the background to the great slave rebellion which swept the Northern Plain – the richest part of the colony – on 22 August 1791. The anti-slavery uprising spread rapidly, destroying hundreds of sugar and coffee plantations. Many white colonists were killed, while others fled to the towns. The rebels were at first only around 1,000 strong, but by the end of September they numbered between 10,000 and 20,000 and were well armed and organised (Dubois and Garrigus, 2006, pp. 24–5).