1801 – Haitian General Toussaint Louverture Deported by France

On May 10, 1801, Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture was deceitfully captured by French forces and deported to France. Invited under the guise of negotiation, Louverture was arrested by General Jean-Baptiste Brunet on orders from Napoleon Bonaparte. France feared Louverture’s growing power and Haiti’s independence momentum. Deported and imprisoned in Fort de Joux in the Jura Mountains, he died there in 1803 from neglect and exposure. His removal was part of France’s attempt to reassert control over Saint-Domingue and restore slavery. Despite this, Louverture’s revolutionary leadership had already laid the groundwork for Haitian independence in 1804. His betrayal on May 10 represents the enduring tension between colonial powers and Black autonomy. Louverture’s vision of racial equality, democratic governance, and economic independence would inspire anti-colonial movements across Africa and the Caribbean in centuries to come.