41 pages • 1 hour read
C.L.R. JamesThe Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1938A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “Toussaint Seizes the Power”
British leaders, now eager to secure trading rights with San Domingo, expressed public support for Toussaint. Not wanting to hurt the colony’s relationship with France, which was still at war with England, Toussaint refused their offer of trade. When the British found out that Toussaint already had a trade agreement with the United States, they threatened further attacks unless Toussaint would allow them to trade under the same terms. He capitulated.
Pressure mounted for Toussaint to address Rigaud’s forces in the south. He began by trying to win over Beauvais, one of Rigaud’s generals. Torn, Beauvais left for France. Rigaud, similarly conflicted, submitted his resignation to Philippe-Rose Roume, the French commissioner. Roume rejected his resignation, and war broke out between Toussaint’s and Rigaud’s forces. Though he opposed Toussaint, Rigaud insisted that their disagreements were not motivated by race. Following a series of battles ending with a five-month siege at Jacmel, Toussaint took control of the south.
Napoleon Bonaparte, newly come to power in France, suspected Toussaint of harboring British sympathies. He officially allowed Toussaint to continue as governor but avoided taking sides and refused to respond to Toussaint’s letters. Instead, he sent a commission headed by Charles de Vincent. After meeting with Toussaint, Vincent visited Rigaud. Confused and resentful of French support for Toussaint, Rigaud surrendered and left for France.
Toussaint knew he could not trust the troops Rigaud left behind, who might turn on him if France were to send additional troops. After failing to convince a Mulatto officer to assume control of the region, he appointed Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the commander who had won the battle for Jacmel, to take the post. Following Toussaint’s instructions to “prune the tree” (236), Dessalines ordered several of Rigaud’s officers to be shot, which only increased ill will.
Wanting to further secure the colony against potential takeover by France, Toussaint set out to conquer Spanish San Domingo. Before the invasion, he forced Roume to sign a document sanctioning his actions, despite Bonaparte’s objections. Officially, Toussaint claimed that his attack on the Spanish colony was motivated by a desire to end the slave trade there.
Spanish San Domingo fell almost immediately. By January 21, 1800, Toussaint was in command of the entire island. His fateful mistake, James argues, was failing to explain his actions to the common people, who no longer believed that Toussaint was acting to protect them from French tyranny and slavery, rather than simply pursuing personal ambition.
Chapter 11 Summary: “The Black Consul”
Toussaint now set out to rebuild a society damaged by 12 years of war. Working long hours, he reformed working conditions, reset the monetary system, constructed buildings and monuments, established schools, and encouraged cultural activities. His rule marked the emergence of a “new black ruling class” that nevertheless treated Whites with respect (259). Racial prejudice declined, and the economy grew.
Some of his actions courted controversy. Some Blacks felt that he was too forgiving of the Whites, whom he allowed to reclaim their plantations under the new conditions, even as he associated with them socially. He also drafted and printed a Constitution that appointed him governor for life, over the objections of Vincent and several of his generals, who felt that the document would anger French officials. Though the Constitution proclaimed allegiance to France, it specified no governing role for French officials.
Toussaint, who knew that reactionaries in France remembered the profits of the slave trade, anticipated French invasion. He wrote frequently to Bonaparte, stockpiled weapons, and kept the laborers armed. Vincent, who considered the reinstatement of slavery “unthinkable,” left San Domingo and warned Toussaint against pursuing independence.
Chapter 12 Summary: “The Bourgeoisie Prepares to Restore Slavery”
Disappointed after a failed plot to seize power from the British in India, Bonaparte resolved to boost France’s economy by restoring slavery in San Domingo. Vincent, Roume, and others with experience in San Domingo attempted to dissuade him, describing Toussaint in glowing terms. Aware of the difficulties, at the latter end of 1801, Bonaparte dispatched a massive expedition consisting of 20,000 experienced soldiers and capable officers, headed by his brother-in-law, Charles Leclerc.
As he prepared to defend the island, Toussaint faced opposition. In the north, Blacks under Moïse refused to work for the reinstated Whites. When Moïse’s forces began a coordinated attack on Whites in September 1801, Toussaint, Christophe, and Dessalines moved quickly. After suppressing the attack, Toussaint invited the commissioners to order Moïse’s execution; they complied. Following his death, northern radicals’ opposition to Toussaint deepened. Toussaint responded with stronger measures to keep them from banding together, a move James sees as “an infallible sign of revolutionary degeneration” (279).
James compares Toussaint’s position to that of Vladimir Lenin, a Russian communist leader, when confronted with the radical opposition of the Kronstadt revolt in 1921. Whereas Lenin recognized the legitimate concerns of those who opposed him and adapted his economic policy accordingly, Toussaint treated his opponents mercilessly. James suggests that Toussaint should instead have undertaken more grassroots efforts to explain and justify his actions to the masses. At the end of December 1801, the first French fleet arrived. Toussaint, seeing their numbers, declared, “We shall perish. All France is come to overwhelm us” (288).
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
In these chapters, James explores the consequences of Toussaint’s tight-lipped dictatorial style. Though his tactics were sound and his intentions pure, Toussaint’s inability to maintain popular support fostered resentment that weakened the island’s defenses. Already confused by his generous treatment of the Whites and his decision to deport Sonthonax, Blacks across the island could make no sense of Toussaint’s decision to invade Spanish San Domingo. James suggests that Toussaint should have taken time to justify his methods more broadly instead of cracking down on those who opposed him. Toussaint’s lack of communication does not diminish his accomplishments in other areas. Chapter 11’s title, “The Black Consul,” echoes the title of the book, The Black Jacobins, and suggests that the reforms enacted by Toussaint and his associates mirror those enacted by the radical Jacobins in France.
In Chapter 12, James draws attention to the colonists’ insatiable drive towards exploitation. A keen strategist, Bonaparte avoided responding to Toussaint until the last possible moment, not wanting to commit to a position or course of action until he could be sure it was in his interest. When Bonaparte did make his move, he concealed his true intentions. This approach enabled the soldiers of the expedition, like Vincent before them, to believe that they were protecting liberty when in fact they were sent to destroy it. Bonaparte would employ any trick in the hopes of regaining control of the colony.
