ConflictNorth America
The Haitian Revolution
The only slave revolt that ended in a state
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The revolution took the Enlightenment's words about liberty seriously in a way that frightened every slaveholding power, and was therefore systematically isolated. In 1825 France demanded an indemnity equal to many years of state revenue for lost "property" — a debt Haiti paid until 1947, and a principal explanation of the country's poverty.
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In France's richest colony the enslaved rose in revolt, defeated French, Spanish and British armies, and declared Haiti independent in 1804. It was the first time a slave revolt produced a country of its own.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org