The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His AchievementsBrown, William Wells
History
The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements
Brown, William Wells
African Americans -- Biography
fired upon the guard, and several balls pierced the carriage, and one
of them killed an old domestic who occupied the seat of his master. No
person knew better than he the art of governing the people under his
jurisdiction. The greater part of the population loved him to idolatry.
Veneration for Toussaint was not confined to the boundaries of St.
Domingo; it ran through Europe; and in France his name was frequently
pronounced in the senate with the eulogy of polished eloquence. No one
can look back upon his career without feeling that Toussaint was a
remarkable man. Without being bred to the science of arms, he became a
valiant soldier, and baffled the skill of the most experienced generals
that had followed Napoleon. Without military knowledge he fought like
one born in the camp. Without means he carried on the war. He beat his
enemies in battle, and turned their own weapons against them. He laid
the foundation for the emancipation of his race and the independence
of the island. From ignorance he became educated by his own exertions.
From a slave he rose to be a soldier, a general, and a governor, and
might have been king of St. Domingo. He possessed splendid traits of
genius, which was developed in the private circle, in the council
chamber, and on the field of battle. His very name became a tower
of strength to his friends and a terror to his foes. Toussaint's
career as a Christian, a statesman, and a general, will lose nothing
by a comparison with that of Washington. Each was the leader of an
oppressed and outraged people, each had a powerful enemy to contend
with, and each succeeded in founding a government in the new world.
Toussaint's government made liberty its watchword, incorporated it in
its constitution, abolished the slave trade, and made freedom universal
amongst the people. Washington's government incorporated slavery and
the slave trade, and enacted laws by which chains were fastened upon
the limbs of millions of people. Toussaint liberated his countrymen;
Washington enslaved a portion of his. When impartial history shall
do justice to the St. Domingo revolution, the name of Toussaint
L'Ouverture will be placed high upon the roll of fame.
CRISPUS ATTUCKS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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