The Only Successful Slave Revolution

The Haitian Revolution is the only instance in history where enslaved people overthrew their masters, defeated colonial armies, and established an independent nation. Beginning in 1791 and lasting thirteen years, it resulted in the creation of Haiti in 1804.

The revolution defeated the three most powerful colonial empires of the age — France, Spain, and Britain — in succession. Yet it remains one of the least taught major events in Western history.

France forced Haiti to pay 150 million francs in reparations for lost "property" — the enslaved people themselves.