Part 10/15:
The French government, concerned by Louverture's autonomous ambitions, mounted the 1802 expedition to restore control. Defeated repeatedly, Louverture was captured and deported to France, where he died in 1803 in captivity. His death did not quell the revolutionary fervor—instead, it galvanized local leaders such as Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who would lead the final push for independence.
The Final Victory: November 1803 and the Birth of Haiti
On November 18, 1803, at the Battle of Vertières, Dessalines and his forces defeated the French remnants, forcing them to evacuate. Then, on New Year’s Day 1804, Dessalines declared Haiti’s independence, symbolically rewriting history by taking back the island’s indigenous name.