After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal The Dark Truth about the Haitian Revolution
Feb 19, 2026
Marlene Daut, a Yale professor of French and African Diaspora Studies and author on Haitian history, narrates the origins and scale of the 1791 uprising. She explores plantation brutality, the role of Vodou ceremonies, shifting international alliances, and leaders like Toussaint, Dessalines and women fighters. The conversation traces how abolition, betrayals and global politics forged the first permanent Black republic.
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Mont Rouge Meeting Sparked Mass Arson
- Secret meetings at Mont Rouge in August 1791 brought drivers and overseers together to plan rebellion.
- Within a week they burned plantations across the northern plain, crippling the sugar economy.
Economic Warfare Dismantled The Colony
- The revolt spread rapidly across the northern and then southern plains despite plantation distances.
- The rebels targeted plantation infrastructure to dismantle the island's export economy.
Global Wars Complicated Local Revolt
- The Haitian uprising coincided with France's wars against Britain and Spain, creating a chaotic multi-sided conflict.
- Free people of colour and some Black leaders sometimes allied with foreign powers for strategic advantage.