Enslaved people in Haiti ran the only revolution that ever abolished slavery outright

Starting in 1791, enslaved Africans in the French colony of Saint-Domingue rose up under leaders including Toussaint Louverture and fought off French, Spanish and British forces for over a decade. In 1804 they declared Haiti independent, founding the first state in history born from a successful slave revolt. France only formally accepted the loss after later extracting a crushing indemnity that burdened Haiti's economy for generations.

— C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins — 1938
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