Liberty is the
ultimate right and one of the most beautiful experiences of the human beings. The
Christian concept says that God created the man in his image and granted him
the freedom of living. The Haitian heroes who pioneered the liberty from mass slavery
cried, it is either “freedom or death.” November 18, 1803 marked a decisive
date in the struggle for the freedom of the Negro race and the liberty of all
mankind. It is the date when the French military force of enslavement, the most
formidable military of the moment, succumbed to the band of revolting slaves of
Haiti and marked the end of institutional slavery of mankind.
Today, November 2014, a little over 200 years later, this
date is much kept in the dark. Most Haitians are not aware of the importance of
it; and, it generally not existed for the world at large. Yet, November 18 was
the date when the enchained Negro race started to drop the yoke from its neck
and the chain from its feet to never wear them again. In the Battle of Vertiere
in Cap- Haitian, Haiti, the mighty naval forces of Bonapatre cried, enough! We
give up.
It all started with the Negro General Toussaint Louvertre’s
declaration of liberty from slavery for all in Haiti, in accord with the Declaration
of the Rights of Man in France. Toussaint did not want Independence. He only
proclaimed freedom for the slaves, as citizens of France. The colonial power
could not consume the freedom for the Negroes. The dictator Napoleon Bonaparte
deployed the largest naval forces ever, at the moment, to conquer the tiny
island nation and return the Negroes into slavery. After much devastation,
atrocities, treasons, diseases, deaths, and tragedies, the colonial forces met
with the rebels in the Battle of Vertiere.
Legend has it that it was the most formidable battle. They
started in the night of 17. They fought and slaughtering each other through the
night and into the day of the 18. At a certain point in the mid afternoon, a General of Brigade named Capois Lamort, was advancing on his horse, and the
animal was struck by bullets and fell down the ground; the General kept on
moving ahead. Then, a bullet ripped up his hat from his head, and he brandished
his sword, crying, “Keep moving ahead, keep moving ahead...” When the cruel
French General Rochambeau saw that, he stopped the battle and commanded his
troops to applaud the Negro General. Thereafter, the battle raged on, until the
French capitulated in the middle of the night.
The important thing is, the French could no longer hold on
their atrocious pursuit of the Negro race. They gave up; and the following days,
they took up to the seas to whatever destinations that they could safely reach.
At that point, all enslaved men and women of Saint Domingue or Haiti became
free to never suffer the whip, the yoke, the chains, the rapes, and the
evilness of the slave masters again.
Although it is true that Haiti has remained under much
difficulty. The Haitians have yet to be unified from the slave system or
mentality that had much divided them; there is still a great deal to celebrate.
This struggle was not only for Haitians. It was for the whole Negro race and
mankind at large. The liberty proclaimed by the Haitian Heroes gave courage to
all those afflicted by slavery. It gave them hope. When we have Martin Luther
King, Mandela, Obama; it is only the continuation of the seeds of freedom
planted by Toussaint Louverture. Now, on 18 November 2014, 211 years later, the
Haitians have only to continue building on this freedom. Our forefathers gave
us the liberty. Now let us make it work for us!
Join the conversation. Connect with granmoun@hotmail.com, or Join the
Facebook group: MKNA – All Haitians Together For A Better Haiti
By E.C. GRANMOUN
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