Letter to Charles Humbert Marie Vincent signed by Toussaint Louverture
date: label: Date
content: October 21, 1797
name: label: Written by
content: Unidentified
label: Signed by
content: Toussaint Louverture, Haitian, 1743 - 1803
label: Received by
content: Charles Humbert Marie Vincent, French, 1753 - 1831
notes: label: Caption
content: Toussaint Louverture campaigned tirelessly on behalf of slaves during the Haitian Revolution, and his actions helped push France to abolish slavery in all its colonies in 1794. He wrote this letter in response to a speech in French parliament calling for slavery's restoration on Saint-Domingue. He warned the French that he would fight for Haitian independence if France ever revoked abolition.
label: Description
content: A letter signed by Toussaint Louverture to Charles Humbert Marie Vincent from Cap-Français (now Cap-Haïtien), Haiti, on October 21, 1797. The text itself was recorded by a scribe as Louverture's written French was limited, though the content comprises his own thoughts. At the top of the first page is pre-printed letterhead for Toussaint Louverture, Chief General of the Army of Saint-Domingue. The letter is handwritten in black ink on the front and back sides of two (2) sheets of paper. The contents of the letter are in regards to ongoing conflicts in the French colony of Saint Domingue, later the free nation of Haiti, and military leader Louverture's dissatisfaction with a speech given in the French parliament earlier in 1797 in which Viénot de Vaublanc spoke against abolition and people of African descent as uncivilized.
label: Transcription Center Status
content: Transcribed by digital volunteers
place: label: Place made
content: Cap-Haïtien, Nord, Haiti, Caribbean, Latin America, North and Central America
label: Place used
content: France, Europe
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Antislavery
label: Topic
content: Colonialism
label: Topic
content: Correspondence
label: Topic
content: Decolonization
label: Topic
content: Freedom
label: Topic
content: French colonialism
label: Topic
content: Government
label: Topic
content: Justice
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: Resistance
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Slavery and Freedom Objects
label: Classification
content: Documents and Manuscripts
label: Movement
content: Anti-slavery movements
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2009.26.2ab
objectType: label: Type
content: letters (correspondence)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (a): 12 1/16 × 7 13/16 in. (30.6 × 19.8 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (b): 12 1/8 × 7 13/16 in. (30.8 × 19.8 cm)