Toussaint L'Ouverture not captured by French

I've been on this board for a while, and I've noticed that there is very little about the Haitian revolution, which freed the slaves of Haiti. Most of you know that Toussant L'Ouverture was the main general who led the black slave armies, and then gained independance for Haiti.

During the year Toussaint was captured, he had control of virtually the entire island, consisting of both modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The French in 1802, under General Leclerc, tried to retake the island, and Toussant was forced to sign a treaty with the French, provided that they would not re-instate slavery to the island. However, three weeks later, Toussaint was captured and then sent to France, where he died in captivity.

Yet what if the French had decided not to capture Toussaint? Would Saint Dominque have remained a French colony for the foreseeable future, or would there have been another uprising leading to the independance of Haiti, just like OTL? And if Toussaint had become the leader of an independant Haiti, would it have developed into a stable republic unlike the destitute condition it is now in?
 
One might guess that it would be more or less along the lines of Martinique, but perhaps less well-off economically. It would take some doing to make it as hopelessly destitute as a department of France as it is as an independent republic.
 
But if he had control over the whole island, things would develop different. (Of course, later they might split again, for cultural differences.)
 
How exactly did they capture him?
Spain had sold Santo Domingo to France in 1795,
And General Toussant L'Ouverture, Had taken controll of SD for the French.
The French were worried about Him being too popular, and being able to lead the Island to Independence.
So they Asked him in to a conference, under a flag of truce, then slipped the Irons on him.

This Happened during the "Peace of Amiems".
Delay this for several Months and the War is back on, and the French can no longer travel back and forth.
 
L'Ouverture was not as radically anti-French as his Lieutenants, and I don't believe that he carried out the same kind of white exterminations that they did. He was also fairly educated, and appeared to want to develop his island's politics. Having said this, he is dealing with a very politically splintered society, one that OTL has never been able to rise out of grinding poverty. I think that had he not been captured he probably would have ended up imposing a military dictatorship, for "the good of the People" that probably would have lasted while he was alive. That doesn't mean that Haiti couldn't develop though. If a strong military dictatorship is ruling, then he may be able to advance Haiti's economy and maintain law and order. One of the major problems that Haiti is going to have is that none of the European powers (and the United States) are going to want to trade with them, because the island is a living nightmare of what could happen should the slaves rise up. Perhaps if Haiti doesn't descend into OTL's chaos, it could speed British emancipation, and with that make Haiti a place the British would want to trade.

Perhaps L'Ouverture maintains his rule during the Napoleonic Wars, and when the Bourbons are restored, he can get Haiti into the French Kingdom? Haiti's supply of sugar cane would still be valuable, and Haiti needs European recognition (and trade) in order to prosper long-term. So L'Ouverture could get himself named Royal Governor, and perhaps Haiti can get French advisers, to assist with education and trade. When the mechanization of sugar cane comes, France's position as Haiti's "metropolitan" would give French businessmen a chance to invest in Haiti's sugar cane production. Haitians could be valuable to the French when the French start looking at African expansion, as a ready-made official class, able to put an African face on France's African expansion. I don't knkow how well that would work though, since Liberia was such a bust, but this is AH I suppose . . .

One of the really big problems that Haiti will have is that its main crop, sugar cane, will soon get mechanized, thus removing the need for large-scale labor to plant and harvest it, and killing Haiti's economy. So whoever is ruling at that time better have a good plan.
 
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