Toussaint Louverture led the first successful uprising by a slaves against colonial powers, and defeated the Spanish, French and British armies. The Haitian revolution changed the face of slavery in the New World, and Haiti was the second colony to become independent in the West.

Toussaint-L'Ouverture, 20 May 1743 - to 8 April 1803, was a leader in this lengthy fight, and he achieved military victory over the whites and freed slaves and became governor of the Haiti in 1797.

He expelled the French and British forces and invaded nearby Santo Domingo to free the slaves there. For the new state of Haiti he created a written constitution and expected to be Governor for the rest of his life, but he was tricked into captivity by the French. After he died in exile in 2003 free Haiti was ruled by a series of dictators and suffered economic and political decline.

He is also known as Toussaint Bréda or François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, and is sometimes referred to as 'The Black Napoleon'.