ANALYZE THE CONDITIONS THAT PRODUCED SLAVE INSURRECTIONS IN SAINT DOMINGUE. Mathilda Seger, Ben Reed, and Sam Wooley

SOCIAL CAUSES  Thesis: The slaves of Saint-Domingue were influenced to revolt when news of the French Revolution touched the Haitian society in 1789, especially with their knowledge of what freedom felt like from their lives in Africa, their missed opportunity of freedom from the French abolition of slavery in 1794, and the overwhelming 5:1 majority they held in the colonies. French Revolution French abolition of slavery Knowing Freedom in Africa Overwhelming majority

FRENCH REVOLUTION   Declaration of the Rights of Man  Creates conditions for more revolution in Haiti  Encourages whites and affranchis to give hope to enslaved people  Political and social upheaval

FRENCH ABOLITION OF SLAVERY  1794  Abolishes slavery in France and all French territories  Gives hope to slaves, something to fight for  Should be free according to law, but kept enslaved by the plantation owners

KNOWING FREEDOM FROM AFRICA  Because most owners would rather work their slaves to death and buy new ones than keep them healthy, nearly all of the slaves had been captured only 10 years or less before the Revolution.  They knew what freedom was like  Desire for equality and freedom

OVERWHELMING MAJORITY  Enough people to overwhelm and overpower their slave owners and to remove white people from the land  Large army can be created when the time is right  If France wants to reclaim the land, they have to send a massive army to beat 500,000 slaves and growing

CONCLUSION  Slaves in Saint-Domingue found themselves in a prime opportunity to strike against their cruel plantation owners, with a large number in force and a goal with an outcome that could change the world.