Victory against Europe’s armies did not mean unity within Saint-Domingue. In Chapter 7, The Mulattoes and the Slaves, C.L.R. James explores the bitter divisions between the free people of color (mulattoes) and the formerly enslaved majority.
This chapter reveals that revolutions are not only fought against external empires they are also struggles within, between classes and races, over visions of the future. Toussaint L’Ouverture, now the central leader, had to navigate these tensions or risk the revolution collapsing from within.
Who Were the Mulattoes?
The Gens de Couleur, or free people of color, were often wealthy, educated, and sometimes slaveholders themselves. Many were born to white fathers and African mothers. By the late 18th century:
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They owned plantations, businesses, and property.
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Some lived like whites in luxury and status.
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Yet, they were denied equality by racist colonial laws.
Their fight during the French Revolution had been for political rights equality with whites not for the abolition of slavery.
This made them natural rivals of both whites and the formerly enslaved.
Mulatto Ambitions
When the enslaved masses rose in 1791, the mulatto elite hesitated. They feared slave uprisings as much as white planters did. But as the revolution spread, many mulatto leaders tried to carve out power for themselves.
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They pushed for laws giving rights to free men of color.
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They demanded political representation.
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But they stopped short of embracing full emancipation.
For Toussaint, this was a dangerous contradiction: a group that wanted liberty for itself but not for the masses.
Suspicion of the Masses
Among the formerly enslaved, there was deep suspicion of mulattoes. To them, free people of color looked too much like the planters wealthy, privileged, and often exploitative.
Many mulatto generals, like André Rigaud, treated Black troops as expendable and acted more like European commanders than revolutionary leaders.
The divide was not just racial it was class conflict: mulatto elites versus Black workers.
Toussaint the Balancer
Toussaint understood that internal division was the greatest threat to the revolution. He tried to unify the two groups under his command:
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He appointed mulatto officers but kept them under strict discipline.
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He emphasized that the revolution was for liberty, not privilege.
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He punished both Blacks and mulattoes when they abused power.
But the mistrust ran deep, and rivalries threatened to explode into open conflict.
The Rigaud Challenge
One of Toussaint’s greatest challenges was André Rigaud, a powerful mulatto leader in the south. Rigaud commanded a disciplined army and had ambitions of ruling Saint-Domingue himself.
The rivalry between Rigaud and Toussaint was not just personal it symbolized the larger divide:
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Rigaud wanted mulatto dominance.
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Toussaint represented the formerly enslaved majority.
This tension simmered and would later erupt into the War of the Knives a bloody civil war within the revolution itself.
The Global Context
Meanwhile, European powers tried to exploit these divisions. Britain and France both sought allies among mulattoes and Black leaders. They understood that if the revolution fractured, they could reassert control.
James makes it clear: unity was the revolution’s greatest weapon. Division was its greatest danger.
Lessons in Leadership
Toussaint’s genius was not only military but also political. He saw that revolutions are fragile, often destroyed not by enemies but by internal betrayal.
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He reached out to mulatto leaders but kept the masses as his base.
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He refused to let privilege return under a new name.
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His leadership was not about race but about liberty for all.
This principle set him apart and allowed the revolution to survive when it might otherwise have collapsed.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 7 reminds us that revolutions are not simple struggles of “good vs. evil.” They are complicated, with factions, ambitions, and betrayals. The Haitian Revolution was unique not only because it defeated empires, but because it survived internal conflict.
Toussaint’s ability to balance these forces was as important as his victories on the battlefield.
Chaos Decoder Insight
A revolution does not die only when empires strike it down. It dies when its children fight over who deserves freedom. Toussaint knew: liberty divided is liberty lost.
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