Chapter 3: Vive la Revolution!
Located on the island of Hispaniola, Saint-Domingue was one of the most profitable colonies in the world. Since Spain ceded the colony to France in 1697 at the end of the Nine Years War, its sugar plantations had produced millions of dollars for France, with coffee and cattle raising also being highly profitable. It was also home to the most brutal slave economy in the Caribbean, if not the world. Tens of thousands of African slaves were imported every year, both to fuel the growth of agriculture and to replace the thousands of blacks who died in accidents or were executed by local authorities. Harsh punishments were inflicted on slaves, including hanging, drowning, being burned at the stake, or even occasionally boiled alive in cauldrons.
By 1717, the slaves of Saint-Domingue had reached their breaking point. A series of uprisings on different plantations snowballed into widespread disorder. The militia soon found itself overwhelmed by the majority black population, which proclaimed freedom from the French crown. Back on Nassau, the Brethren Council saw an opportunity. Saint-Domingue was an export economy, and one that was suddenly freed from the trade restrictions of its European masters. If the pirates sent support to the rebels, then they would finally have an ally. Hispaniola had a long history with pirates. The island was home to the original Buccaneers, settlers of French, English, Dutch, and numerous other backgrounds who had made their homes on the island, mostly after shipwrecks and mutinies. When the Spanish drove them from their homes, they fortified the nearby island of Tortuga, which remained a pirate stronghold for years. With all this in mind, Saint-Domingue and Nassau seemed like a perfect match.
In early 1718, the Brethren Council voted to recognize the rebels as the legitimate rulers of Saint-Domingue and provide them with military aid. The first pirates to arrive were the crews of Jack Rackham and Charles Vane, who sailed into Port-au-Prince in late February. France was already preparing an expedition to retake the colony, and the former slaves were glad to receive help, even if it came from brigands. When the French troops arrived in March, they found themselves in a nightmarish situation. They had the advantage in open battle, but the rebels would not engage them directly. Small groups of soldiers would be ambushed and slaughtered on the road, raiding parties would strike camps and supply depots before disappearing into the jungle, and the supply lines from France were ravaged by the pirates, who took many of the larger vessels into their own fleets. In Britain, Parliament was delighted by this turn of events. The fact that their greatest rival had lost its most valuable colony made the idea of striking a deal with the pirates much more appealing. The situation in the Caribbean was set to change.