Toussaint L’Ouverture
1801
Source: Victor Schoelcher, Vie de Toussaint Louverture.
Paul Ollendorf,
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitch Abidor;
CopyLeft:
Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2004.
It
was Victor Schoelcher, Toussaint’s biographer, who
aptly labeled this proclamation, “dictatorial.” It contains almost all the
elements of Toussaint’s domestic policies for Saint Domingue.
***** ***** *****
Cap
Francais, 4 Frimmaire, Year
X (November 25, 1801)
Since the revolution, I have done all that
depended upon me to return happiness to my country and to ensure liberty for my
fellow citizens. Forced to combat internal and external enemies of the French
Republic, I made war with courage, honor and loyalty. I have never strayed from
the rules of justice with my enemies; as much as was in my power I sought, to
soften the horrors of war, to spare the blood of men ... Often after victory I
received as brothers those who, the day before, were under enemy flags. Through
the overlooking of errors and faults I wanted to make even its most ardent
enemies love the legitimate and sacred cause of liberty.
I constantly reminded my brothers in arms,
general and officers, that the ranks to which they'd been raised were nothing
but the reward for honor, bravery and irreproachable conduct. That the higher
they were above their fellow citizens, the more irreproachable all their
actions and words must be; that scandals caused by public men had consequences
even more dire for society than those of simple citizens; that the ranks and
functions they bore hadn’t been given to them to serve only their ambition, but
had as cause and goal the general good. ...
It is up to officers to give their
soldiers with good lessons good examples. Every captain should have the noble
goal of having his company the best disciplined, the most cleanly attired, the
best trained. He should think that the lapses of his soldiers reflect on him
and believe himself lowered by the faults of those he commands. ...
Having always regarded religion as the
basis of all virtues and the foundation of the happiness of societies, in one
of my proclamations, at the time of the war in the south, I laid out the obligations
of fathers and mothers, their obligation to raise their children in the love
and fear of God.
Nevertheless, how negligently fathers and
mothers raise their children, especially in cities. They leave them in a state
of idleness and in ignorance of their principal obligations. They seem to
inspire in children contempt for agriculture, the first, the most honorable,
and the most useful of all states.
Barely are they born than we see these
same children with jewels and earrings, covered in rags, their clothing filthy,
wounding the eyes of decency through their nudity. Thus they arrive at the age
of twelve, without moral principles, without a skill, and with a taste for
luxury and laziness as their only education. And since bad impressions are
difficult to correct, it is certain beyond any doubt that they will be bad
citizens, vagabonds, thieves. And if they are girls, then they are prostitutes
all of them ready to follow the prompting of the first conspirator who will
preach murder and pillage to them. It is upon such vile mothers and fathers, on
students so dangerous, that the magistrates of the people must ceaselessly keep
an open eye.
The same reproaches equally apply to
cultivators on the habitations. Since the revolution perverse men have told
them that freedom is the right to remain idle and to follow only their whims.
Such a doctrine could not help but be accepted by all the evil subjects,
thieves and assassins. It is time to hit out at the hardened men who persist in
such ideas.
As soon as a child can a child walk he
should be employed on the habitations according to his strength in some useful
work, instead of being sent into the cities where, under the pretext of an
education that he doesn’t receive, he goes to learn vice, to add to the horde of
vagabonds and women of evil lives, to trouble by his existence the repose of
good citizens, and to terminate it with the final punishment. Military
commanders and magistrates must be inexorable with this class of men. Despite
this, they must be forced to be useful to society upon which, without the most
severe vigilance, they will be a plague.
Since the revolution, it is evident that
the war has made perish many more men than women. In addition, many more of the
latter, whose existence is based on libertinage, can be found in cities.
Entirely given over to concern for their attire, a result of their
prostitution, they want to do absolutely nothing that is useful. It is they who
receive harbor all the evil subjects, who live on the products of their crimes.
It would be all to the honor of magistrates, generals, and commandants to not
leave a single one in the cities. The least negligence in this regard would
render them worthy of public lack or esteem. ...
As for domestics, each citizen should only
have as many as are necessary for indispensable services. The persons in whose
homes they reside should be the first overseers of their conduct and should not
tolerate anything in their conduct contrary to good morals, submission, and
order. If they are thieves they should be denounced to military commandants so
they can be punished in conformity with the law. And since under the new regime
all labor deserves a salary, every salary demands work. Such is the invariable
and firm will of the government.
An object worthy of its attention is the
surveillance of foreigners who arrive in the colony. Some among them, knowing
only through the reports of enemies of the new order of things, of the changes
that have taken place, make statements which are all the more dangerous in that
they are avidly listened to by those who, basing their hopes on the troubles,
ask only for pretexts. Such straying must be severely punished. The
carelessness of public functionaries in this regard will harm the confidence of
which they are in need and will have them looked upon, with justice, as
accomplices of the enemies of freedom!
The most holy of all institutions among
men who live in society, that from which flows the greatest good, is marriage ...
Thus a wise government must always occupy itself with surrounding happy couples
with honor, respect and veneration. It should only rest after having extirpated
immorality to the last root. Military commanders, and especially public
functionaries, are inexcusable when they publicly give themselves over to the
scandal of vice. Those who, while having legitimate wives, allow concubines
within their houses, or those who, not being married, live publicly with
several women are not worthy of command: they shall be dismissed.
Idleness is the source of all disorders,
and if it is allowed with one individual I shall hold the military commanders
responsible, persuaded that those who tolerate the lazy and vagabonds are
secret enemies of the government.
In keeping with his faculties, no one
under any pretext is to be exempt from some task. Creole mothers and fathers
who have children and properties should go there to live and work, to make
their children work or to oversee their labor; and in moments of rest they should,
either themselves or through instructors, teach them the precepts of our
religion.
It is through these means that useful and
respectable citizens will be formed, and we will distance forever from this
colony the horrible events whose memory should never be effaced from our minds.
Consequently, I decree the following:
I.
Any
commander who during the late conspiracy had knowledge of the troubles which
were to break out and who tolerated pillage and murder or who, able to prevent
or block the revolt allowed the law that declares that “life, property and the
asylum of every citizen are sacred and inviolable” to be broken, will be
brought before a special tribunal and punished in conformity with the law of
August 10, 1801. Any military commander who, by lack of foresight or
negligence, has not stopped the disorders that have been committed, will be
discharged and punished with one year in prison. In consequence of this a
rigorous inquest will be carried out, according to which the government will
pronounce on his destiny.
II.
All
generals and commanders of arrondisements
and quarters who in the future will neglect to take all necessary measures to
prevent or block sedition will be brought before a special tribunal and
punished in conformity with the law of August 10, 1801.
III.
In
case of troubles, or upon indication that such will break out, the national
guard of a quarter or arrondisement shall be
at the orders of the military commanders upon their simple requisition. Any
military commander who shall not have taken all the measures necessary to
prevent troubles in his quarter, or the spreading of trouble from a quarter
neighboring to that which he commands, and any military man, be he of the line
or the national guard, who shall refuse to obey legal orders shall be punished
with death.
IV.
Any
individual, man or woman, whatever his or her color, who shall be convicted of
having pronounced serious statements tending to incite sedition shall be
brought before a court martial and punished in conformity with the law.
V.
Any
Creole individual, man or woman, convicted of making statements tending to
alter public tranquility but who shall not be worthy of death shall be sent to
the fields to work with a chain on one foot for six months.
VI.
Any
foreign individual found in the case of the preceding article shall be deported
from the colony.
VII.
In
all the communes of the colony where municipal administrations exist, all male
and female citizens who live in them, whatever their quality or condition, must
obtain a security card. Such card shall contain the name, family name, address,
civil state, profession and quality, age and sex of those who bear them. It
shall be signed by the mayor and the police superintendent of the quarter in
which lives the individual to which it shall be delivered. It shall be renewed
every six months and paid at the price one gourdin
for each individual, and the sums coming from this are destined for communal
expenses.
VIII.
It is
expressly ordered that municipal administrators are only to deliver security
cards to persons having a known profession or state, irreproachable conduct and
well assured means of existence. All those who cannot fulfill the conditions
rigorously necessary to obtain it will be sent to the fields if they are Creole,
or sent away from the colony if they are foreigners.
IX.
Two
weeks after the publication of the present act, any person found without a
security card shall be sent to the fields if they are Creole and if they are
foreigners deported from the colony without any form of trial if they don’t
prefer to serve in the troops of the line.
X.
Any
domestic who has not been judged worthy of obtaining a certificate of good
conduct upon leaving a house in which he or she served, shall be declared
incapable of receiving a security card. Any person who, in order to favor them
shall have delivered them one shall be punished with one month in prison.
XI.
Dating
two weeks after the publication of the present act all managers and drivers on
habitations are to send to the commanders of their quarter the exact list of
all the cultivators on their habitations of every age and sex, under penalty of
one week in prison. Every manager and driver is the first overseer of his
habitation. He is declared personally responsible for any kind of disorder that
shall be committed, and for the laziness and vagabondage of the cultivators.
XII.
Dating
from one month after the publication of the present act, all commanders of
quarters are to send lists of the cultivators of all the habitations of their
quarter to the arrondisement commanders
under penalty of discharge.
XIII.
The arrondisement commanders are to send list of all
the habitations of their arrondisements to
the generals under whose orders they serve, and these latter to the governor as
quickly as possible, under penalty of disobedience. Said lists, deposited in
the archives of the government, shall serve in the future as the immutable
bases for the fixing of cultivators on the habitations.
XIV.
Any
manager or driver of a habitation upon which a foreign cultivator shall have
taken refuge shall denounce him to the captain or commander of the section
within twenty-four hours under penalty of one week in prison.
XV.
Any
captain or commander of a section who through negligence allowed a foreign
cultivator on a habitation in his section for more than three days shall be
discharged.
XVI.
Vagabond
cultivators arrested in this way shall be taken to the commander of the
quarter, who will have them sent to the gendarmerie on their habitation. They
will be confided to the special surveillance of the drivers and managers and
they shall be deprived of passports for leaving the habitation for three
months.
XVII.
It is
forbidden for any soldier to work on a habitation or for private individuals in
the cities. Those who want to work and who will obtain the permission of their
officers shall be employed in labors for the account of the republic and paid
according to their work.
XVIII.
It is
forbidden for any soldier to go to a habitation, unless it is to see his father
or mother and with a limited permit from his chief. If he fails to return to
his corps at the stated hour he shall be punished in accordance with military
ordinances.
XIX.
Any
person convicted of having disturbed or attempted to disturb a married couple
shall be denounced to the civil and military authorities, who shall render an
account to the governor, who shall pronounce on their fate in accordance with
the needs of the case.
XX.
My
regulations on cultivation, given at Port-Républicain
the 20th of Vendémiaire of the year IX, shall be
executed exactly as stated. All military commanders are enjoined to execute it
rigorously and literally in all that is not contrary to the present
proclamation.
The present proclamation shall be printed,
transcribed on the registers of administrative and judiciary bodies, read,
published and posted wherever needed, and also inserted in the Bulletin Officiel de Saint-Domingue. A copy shall be sent to
all ministers of religion for it to be read to all parishioners after mass.
All generals, military commanders and all
civil authorities in all departments are enjoined to maintain a firm hand in
ensuring the full and complete execution of all of these dispositions on their
personal responsibility and under penalty of disobedience.