4.14- The Constitution of 1801

In 1801 Toussaint Louverture annexed Santo Domingo and promulgated a new constitution without permission from France. First Consul Bonaparte was not amused. 

Direct Link: 4.14- The Constitution of 1801

Comments

[Whynotbubbles]

Thanks for another great episode, Mike!

Will you elaborate on a comment that surprised me? Towards the end you say that the French invasion could not have come at a worse time for Toussaint, when his domestic power base was starting to fracture. That does sound logical, but if there's one thing I've learned from your podcasts, it's that an outer enemy is exactly what you need to unify the different factions supporting you.

Thanks,
Niels

[Michael Beach]

Hey Mike could you cite the source where you said that Louverture and his staff could travel up to 100 miles a day since from what I've found 100 miles a day is a good pace for the Mongols traveling across the steppe compared to a rugged island
http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/westtech/xmongol.htm

[Charles Meier]

So, basically this is the episode where Toussaint made the leap from "liberator of Haiti" to "terrifying strongman".

Wonderful. I'm sure THIS didn't set a precedent for Haitian heads of state.

[Eric]

Niels, "an outer enemy is exactly what you need to unify the different factions supporting you" is just that. Unless you're a sixth rate power even with your enemies' backing and that outer enemy is Napoleon.