Part 2/15:
For enslaved Africans and rebels alike, this act was a revolutionary repudiation of three fundamental affronts: colonial domination, slavery, and racial subjugation. The revolution was not a peaceful transition but a violent upheaval involving daring military campaigns and deep-rooted resistance. Dessalines and his compatriots swore never to live under French rule again, vowing to die rather than submit to the legacy of colonization.