Destiny Smith

Dr. Evan Rothera

HIST 3503

September 1, 2023

“You want to slaughter all the whites?”- Toussaint Louverture 1797

This primary source is organized in conversation style between Toussaint Louverture, the

General in chief of the French forces in Saint-Domingue, and Léger Felicité Sonthonax, the head

of the French commission to the island. Sonthonax was a strong opponent of slavery, a supporter

of the black and mulatto forces, and a fierce enemy of the white colonists. The source begins

with Sonthonax explaining that the black forces were worried for their freedom and suspicious of

colonists before he dramatically announces they all must be slaughtered. When Toussaint

questions the statement, Sonthonax clarifies that only the “enemies of freedom” be slaughtered.

The source continues with Sonthonax pushing Toussaint to go along with his radical plans,

making Toussaint angry in the promise. The conversation ends with a promise to never speak of

Sonthonax’s plans again. However, shortly after this report in August of 1797, Sonthonax was

expelled from Saint-Domingue by Toussaint.

 Work Cited

Louverture, Toussaint. “you Want to Slaughter All the Whites?” by Toussaint Louverture,

www.marxists.org/reference/archive/toussaint-louverture/1797/report.htm. Accessed 30 Aug.

2023.