IV.2 Abolitionist struggles and revolutions

Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Le Havre, inv.......

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The burning of Cap-Français, capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue, began on June 21, 1793 and marked the start of the island’s uprising.

Jean-Baptiste Chapuy (1760 - 1802?), after Pierre Jean Boquet (1751 - 1817)
Haitian Revolution – The Burning of Cap Français
1794 Etching, 52.2 x 73.6 cm
Bordeaux, Musée d’Aquitaine, Gift of Chatillon, Accession No. 2003.4.98

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Toussaint Louverture was born in Saint-Domingue in 1743. Legally freed in around 1776, he took part in the slave revolt of 1791. After the abolition of slavery in 1794, Louverture went over to the French. As governor-general of Saint-Domingue, he proclaimed its autonomy in 1801 and drew up a constitution in which he sought to be recognized as governor-for-life.

Denis Volozan (1765 - 1820)
Equestrian portrait of Toussaint Louverture on his horse Bel-Argent
c. 1800 Ink wash painting, 47 x 37.7 cm
Bordeaux, Musée d’Aquitaine, Gift of Chatillon, Accession No. 2003.4.188

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In 1802, the 25,000-strong Leclerc expedition was mounted to restore the old order. On June 7, 1802, Toussaint Louverture was captured and deported to France. Under arrest, he was imprisoned at Fort de Joux in the Doubs region, where he died on April 7, 1803. His wife Suzanne and two sons, Isaac and Placide, were also deported to France. Isaac found asylum in Bordeaux, up until his death in 1854.

Villain
General Toussaint Louverture being begged by his wife and children to abandon the Black cause
1822 Lithograph, 46 x 33.2 cm
Bordeaux, Musée d’Aquitaine, Gift of Chatillon, Accession No. 2003.4.190

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The two sides of this toy for adults present two diametrically opposed visions of a society that was slave-owning at this time: on the obverse, the Slave Trade is inspired by the painting by the Englishman George Morland (1763-1804), Execrable Human Traffic (1788). The artist shows and denounces the violence linked to the deportation of Africans to the West Indies. On the reverse of the toy, a “village festival” illustrates the prosperity and simple pleasures of a carefree European population.

Abolitionist “emigrette” toy France,
late 18th – early 19th century
Ebony wood
Musée Le Secq des Tournelles - RMM. Inv. LS.2001.1.27

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Abolitionist “emigrette” toy France,
late 18th – early 19th century
Ebony wood
Musée Le Secq des Tournelles - RMM. Inv. LS.2001.1.27