★ RK for Sunday
Korngold p 101 Speculates on Toussaint's reason for choosing the name Louverture. I would prefer to avoid speculation on such things. Who knows whether Toussaint himself consciously knew the reason? Sometimes our psyches assimilate circumstances for us. Perhaps, though, Toussaint did see himself as a savior. Perhaps he was aware of himself as uniquely positioned to deliver emancipation.
P 110 Toussaint claims to have spent 640,00 Francs of his own money. Korngold speculates this was given to Toussaint at the beginning of the revolution.
TL's success in battle is often credited to the speed with which his army moved. Compare this with the successes of other great generals including Napoleon and to the OODA loop and the theories proposed by John Boyd.
P 112 "The statesman Toussaint realized that surrounded as were the Negroes of St. Domingo by slaveowning powers, they could not hope to maintain liberty without building an economically powerful state able to supply them with modern weapons of warfare. To do this the cooperation of the whites was indispensable."
Toussaint's significant contributions to the liberation of Haiti included arming the Negroes and bending over backwards to treat whites humanely and without a trace of vindictiveness. By showing himself to be fair and just, he gained the cooperation of blacks AND whites.