Diario las Américas., 1958-08-02
Know thy
Neighbotl
BY ANTONIO RUIZ

DeIlllon OF the slaves and the mer-
CHESS retaliatory measures taken
by the authorities at Cap-Haitien
were the beginning of the end of
the French rule in the Island. To
save the colony from the English
and the Spanish, who had already
seized large portions of it, the
French Civil Commissioner San
thonax sought to win over the Ne
groeS by proclaiming the freedom
of the slaves of the North,in 1893.
1t was then that the First of the
Blacks" emerged - the self-edu-
Gated ex-slave and stable boy who
dared to defy the First of the
Whites, the great Napoleon b.
naparte.
His name was Francois TouS-
saint, and a monument to his me-
mory can be seer on the Breda
Plantation, Haut-du-Cap, where he
was born into slavery. Several ex
plantations have been given of the
origin of the name Louverture,
which he adopted. Some people af-
firmed that it was a nickname gil
ven him because of the Opening"
left by some missing front teeth.
Others claimed that it was given
to him because of his rapid move
ments and unexpected appearances
all over the battle-ground, which
led a French general to say: sect
homme fait overture partout".
(This man makes an opening every
where).
Toussaint rose to Commander-in-
Chief of the French colonial army
and saved Saint Dominique for
France by expelling the British
and Spanish forces. AS Governor
General for life under the Consti-
tuition of 1901, he was in full con-
troll of Haiti. Peace had been
restored and agriculture was flou-
rishing once more, when on Fee
bruary 1902, the largest fleet
which had ever crossed the Allan
tic sailed into the harbor of Cap
Francois with fifty four vessels in
all. Determined to crush the mar
who dared to usurp Frances pre-
negatives, Napoleon sent his bro
therin-law, General Leclerc, at the
head of $4,000 men chosen from
Frances seasoned troops. Henri
Christophe burned the city as Lee
clerc prepared to besiege it. But
Cap Francois rose from its ashes
again.
In the suburb of Carenage stand
the silent ruins of Pauline Bona
parts sumptuous palace, where
once her gay laughter Was heard.
In a regal Louis XIV setting, Ma
poleon's beautiful and flirtatious
sister held lavish court while her
husband, General Leclerc, lost
Frances priced colony and his own
life, in the epidemic of yellow
fever which decimated his army.
The restoration of slavery and
the abduction of General TouS-
saint by the French united the
rebel generals irrevocably against
France. Cap-Francais was the last
of Frances strongholds to fall,
when in November, 1903, General
Rochambeau capitulated. At Fort
Dauphin, now Fort Liberte, Des-
salines proclaimed the independ-
ence of French Saint Dominique on
November 10Th. On the same day
he took possession of Cap-Francais,
and promptly renamed it Cap
Haitien. France had lost its richest
colony forever and, with it, the
lives of fifty thousand Frenchmen.
The days of pomp and splendor,
however, yer not over in Cap
Haitien. Here d essalines was
crowned first Emperor of Haiti in
1904, and seven years later in a
far more dazzling and impressive
ceremony, President Christophe
had himself proclaimed King Henri
l. He changed the name of the
city to Cap-Henri, created a fan
tastic nobility, and fastened the
completion of the fabulous Sans
Souci Palace and the Citadel.
Spanish version page B..