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From the preface:
In 1789 the French West Indian colony of San Domingo supplied two-thirds of the overseas trade of France and was the greatest individual market from the European slave trade. It was an integral part of the economic life of the age, the greatest colony in the world, the pride of France, and the envy of every other imperialist nation. The whole structure rested on the labour of half-a-million slaves. [...]
These slaves revolted, the revolt lasted twelve years (!) and an independent state was established. It was "the only successful slave revolt in history" (James).
The transformation of slaves, trembling in hundreds before a single white man, into a people able to organise themselves and defeat the most powerful European nations of their day, is one of the great epics of revolutionary struggle and achievement. Why and how this happened is the theme of this book.
Page 4:
Las Casas, a Dominican priest with a conscience, traveled to Spain to plead for the abolition of native slavery. But without coercion of the natives how could the colony exist? All the natives received as wages was Christianity, and they could be good Christians without working the mines.
To Tortuga came fugitives from justice, escaped galley slaves, debtors unable to pay their bills, adventurers seeking adventure or quick fortunes, men of all crimes and nationalities.
@book{clrjames1989blackjacobins,
title={The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution},
author={James, C.L.R.},
isbn={0679724672},
lccn={6315043},
year={1989},
publisher={Vintage Books}
}
"Capturing Labor, Capturing Land" in "Empire of Cotton"