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Toussaint's Goal Was Autonomy Not Breakaway
- Toussaint Louverture sought autonomous home rule and open trade rather than outright ideological independence from France.
- He pursued dominance over Saint-Domingue while keeping a veneer of fealty to France, preferring local control over metropolitan oversight.
War Of Knives Was Leadership Clash Not Pure Race War
- The War of Knives was superficially a race war but fundamentally a clash between two ambitious authoritarian leaders.
- Rigaud and Toussaint both defended plantation economics and authoritarian labor regimes despite accusing each other of betrayal.
Alexandre Pétion's Defection Boosted Rigaud
- Alexandre Pétion defected from Toussaint to support Rigaud after Rigaud seized Petite and Grand-Goâve in 1799.
- Pétion, educated in France and later first president of Haiti, became a key figure after switching sides.