The assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise on July 7 has once again brought international focus on that tragic country. Haiti declared independence in 1804 after a slave rebellion turned into a revolutionary war for independence from France. The revolution was first led by legendary general Toussaint Louverture, a former slave.
A treacherous French plot led to his arrest and imprisonment in France, where he died. Louverture was succeeded by Jean-Jacques Dessalines who, after defeating Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, declared Haiti an independent republic. Shortly after, Haiti became the first country in the Americas to permanently abolish slavery.
