# Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins > Focus on the opening uprising in northern Saint-Domingue rather than the entire Haitian Revolution. Explore plantation slavery, Boukman, Cécile Fatiman, the memory of Bois Caïman, and the revolutionary arguments over freedom and citizenship; separate later traditions from contemporary evidence. Canonical URL: https://aristotree.com/amina_reads/saint-domingue-august-1791-the-uprising-begins Language: en Creator: amina_reads Last modified: 2026-10-07T08:37:39.454Z Concepts: 26 Relationships: 39 This is a public, user-curated knowledge graph. Follow the cited sources when verifying claims. ## Concepts ### Romaine-la-Prophétesse **Romaine-la-Prophétesse**, born Romaine Rivière around 1750 in Santo Domingo, was a free black coffee plantation owner and leader of an uprising early in the **Haitian** Revolution. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaine-la-Proph%C3%A9tesse - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaine-la-Proph%C3%A9tesse?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ### Étienne Polverel **Étienne Polverel** was a French lawyer, aristocrat, and revolutionary. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_Polverel - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_Polverel?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ### Free people of color **Free people of color** were primarily people of mixed **African**, European, and Native American descent in the Americas who were not enslaved. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_people_of_color - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_people_of_color?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julien_Raimond - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue ### Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The **Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen**, set by France's **National Constituent Assembly** in 1789, is a human and civil rights document from the French Revolution; the French title can be translated in the modern era as "Declaration of Human and Civil Rights". Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue ### Port-au-Prince **Port-au-Prince** is the **capital** and most populous city of Haiti. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port-au-Prince - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port-au-Prince?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution ### Cap-Haïtien **Cap-Haïtien** is a **commune** of about 300,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and the capital of the department of Nord. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap-Ha%C3%AFtien - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap-Ha%C3%AFtien?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_Ca%C3%AFman - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_Louverture ### Jean-Jacques Dessalines **Jean-Jacques Dessalines** was the first **Haitian** Emperor, leader of the Haitian Revolution, and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1805 constitution. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Dessalines - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Dessalines?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue ### Henri Christophe **Henri Christophe** was a key leader in the **Haitian** Revolution and the only monarch of the Kingdom of Haiti. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Christophe - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Christophe?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution ### André Rigaud Benoit Joseph **André Rigaud** was the leading mulatto military leader during the **Haitian** Revolution. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Rigaud - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Rigaud?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_Louverture - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue ### Jean-Baptiste Belley **Jean-Baptiste Belley** was a French politician. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Belley - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Belley?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ### Léger-Félicité Sonthonax **Léger-Félicité Sonthonax** was a French politician and **colonial** administrator. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9ger-F%C3%A9licit%C3%A9_Sonthonax - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9ger-F%C3%A9licit%C3%A9_Sonthonax?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Biassou - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue ### François Mackandal **François Mackandal** was a Haitian maroon and spiritual leader in the French colony of **Saint-Domingue** . Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Mackandal - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Mackandal?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutty_Boukman ### Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique **Toussaint Louverture**, also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda, was a **Haitian** general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. Topics: history, historical episode Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_Louverture - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_Louverture?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution ### Bois Caïman **Bois Caïman** was the site of the first major meeting of enslaved Africans during which the first major slave insurrection of the **Haitian** Revolution was planned. Topics: history, historical episode Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_Ca%C3%AFman - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_Ca%C3%AFman?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutty_Boukman ### Code noir The **Code noir** was a decree passed by King **Louis XIV of France** in 1685, defining the conditions of slavery in the Antilles, then also Louisiana, and served as the code for slavery conduct in the French colonies up until 1789, the year marking the Topics: history, historical episode Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_noir - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_noir?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou ### Haitian Vodou **Haitian Vodou** is an **African diasporic religion** that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Catholicism. Topics: history, historical episode Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ### Atlantic slave trade The **Atlantic slave trade** or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of **enslaved African people** to the Americas. This trade was operated by slave ships from both Europe and the New World. Topics: history, historical episode Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_slave_trade - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_slave_trade?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ### Saint-Domingue **Saint-Domingue** was a **French colony** in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. Topics: history, historical episode Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Og%C3%A9 ### Cécile Fatiman **Cécile Fatiman** was a **Haitian Vodou** priestess and revolutionary. Topics: history, historical episode Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9cile_Fatiman - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9cile_Fatiman?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutty_Boukman ### Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins Focus on the opening uprising in northern Saint-Domingue rather than the entire **Haitian Revolution**. Explore plantation slavery, Boukman, **Cécile Fatiman**, the memory of Bois Caïman, and the revolutionary arguments over freedom and citizenship; separate later traditions from contemporary evidence. Topics: history, historical episode Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://guides.loc.gov/women-in-the-french-revolution/women-haitian-revolution - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Biassou - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou ### Jean-François Papillon **Jean-François** emerged as a major leader of the northern insurgents during the uprising that **Boukman** helped initiate. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Papillon - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Papillon?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ### Jean-Baptiste Chavannes **Chavannes** joined Ogé’s failed armed movement for the rights of free people of color in 1790. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Chavannes - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Chavannes?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue ### Julien Raimond **Raimond** and Ogé campaigned for the political rights of free people of color in **Saint-Domingue**. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julien_Raimond - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julien_Raimond?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ### Vincent Ogé **Vincent Ogé** was a Saint-Domingan merchant, military officer and revolutionary who had a leading role in a failed uprising against French colonial rule in the colony of **Saint-Domingue** in 1790. Topics: history, historical episode Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Og%C3%A9 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Og%C3%A9?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution ### Georges Biassou **Biassou** became an important insurgent commander in the 1791 rebellion in northern **Saint-Domingue**. Topics: history Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Biassou - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Biassou?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutty_Boukman - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_Louverture ### Dutty Boukman **Dutty Boukman** was a leader of the **Haitian** Revolution. Born to a Muslim family in Senegambia, he was initially enslaved in Jamaica. Topics: history, historical episode Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutty_Boukman - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutty_Boukman?action=history - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ## Relationships - Free people of color — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Free people of color: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Free people of color: Free people of color: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - Port-au-Prince — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Port-au-Prince: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Port-au-Prince: Port-au-Prince: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - Cap-Haïtien — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Cap-Haïtien: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Cap-Haïtien: Cap-Haïtien: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - Jean-Jacques Dessalines — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Jean-Jacques Dessalines: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Jean-Jacques Dessalines: Jean-Jacques Dessalines: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - Henri Christophe — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Henri Christophe: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Henri Christophe: Henri Christophe: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - André Rigaud — related_to → Toussaint Louverture: André Rigaud: Toussaint Louverture - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → André Rigaud: André Rigaud: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - Jean-Baptiste Belley — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Jean-Baptiste Belley: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Jean-Baptiste Belley: Jean-Baptiste Belley: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - Étienne Polverel — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Étienne Polverel: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Étienne Polverel: Étienne Polverel: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - Léger-Félicité Sonthonax — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Léger-Félicité Sonthonax: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Léger-Félicité Sonthonax: Léger-Félicité Sonthonax: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - Romaine-la-Prophétesse — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Romaine-la-Prophétesse: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Romaine-la-Prophétesse: Romaine-la-Prophétesse: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - François Mackandal — related_to → Saint-Domingue: François Mackandal: Saint-Domingue - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → François Mackandal: François Mackandal: Saint-Domingue, August 1791 - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Toussaint Louverture: Toussaint Louverture: people, places, and context for the episode. - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Atlantic slave trade: Atlantic slave trade: people, places, and context for the episode. - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Vincent Ogé: Vincent Ogé: people, places, and context for the episode. - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Code noir: Code noir: people, places, and context for the episode. - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Haitian Vodou: Haitian Vodou: people, places, and context for the episode. - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Bois Caïman: Bois Caïman: people, places, and context for the episode. - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Cécile Fatiman: Cécile Fatiman: people, places, and context for the episode. - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Dutty Boukman: Dutty Boukman: people, places, and context for the episode. - Saint-Domingue, August 1791: The Uprising Begins — related_to → Saint-Domingue: Saint-Domingue: people, places, and context for the episode. - Vincent Ogé — related_to → Code noir: Ogé’s demand concerned racial exclusion of free people of color within the… - Vincent Ogé — related_to → Jean-Baptiste Chavannes: Chavannes joined Ogé’s failed armed movement for the rights of free people… - Vincent Ogé — related_to → Julien Raimond: Raimond and Ogé campaigned for the political rights of free people of… - Dutty Boukman — related_to → Bois Caïman: Boukman is associated with the Bois Caïman ceremony; its precise details are… - Dutty Boukman — related_to → Georges Biassou: Biassou became an important insurgent commander in the 1791 rebellion… - Dutty Boukman — related_to → Jean-François Papillon: Jean-François emerged as a major leader of the northern insurgents during the…