Between 1791 and 1804, and inspired by the sorcerers Boukman and Mackandal, the ringleaders François Dominique Toussaint-Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines led the Haitian revolution against the slave system established in the French colony of Saint-Domingue , which would culminate in the prohibition of slavery and the proclamation of the Republic of Haiti.
Charles Deslondes
Already on the continent, in the land of New Orleans, we have Charles Deslondes , a slave more than one of the many cotton plantations. Apparently he was an obedient and hard-working slave, but he had spent years preparing a revolution, similar to what happened in Haiti, and founding a republic for blacks on North American soil. Although he knew that everything was at stake, freedom or death, his revolution would not be a savage bloodbath against his oppressors. For months they were diverting the necessary material for his army:weapons, uniforms... and even a drum.
On January 8, 1811, Charles mounted a horse and led a uniformed army of 500 slaves, marching in formation at the pace set by the drummer. The time they spent touring the plantations to add more slaves to their cause, allowed the southern slavers to reach New Orleans (Louisiana) and give notice of the revolt. When they reached the gates of the city, the militia was waiting for them. Faced with the best preparation and, above all, the best weapons of the militiamen, the slave army was defeated. The repression was brutal…
About 50 rebels were beheaded and their heads were nailed to pikes along the road.
Another 29 were tried and hung at the city gates.
Those who were able to escape were hunted down the plantations and executed.
And Charles served as a lesson and warning…
After cutting off his hands, they shot him in one leg and then in the other, a third shot in his chest and while he was dying they covered him with straw and set him on fire.
In addition, the owners of the slaves were compensated with 300 dollars… for the losses suffered.
That uprising, the largest in terms of the number of slaves involved, barely transpired… “isolated acts of banditry and pillage ”. To date, the previous revolts had been less numerous and, above all, bloodier, which justified the brutal repression of the slave owners. Now, everything had changed, it was a battle between two armies and nothing could justify that bloodbath. It was better to minimize what happened and start the machinery of collective amnesia.