Napoleon Bonaparte feared few people, but one he did fear: a black Haitian slave named Toussaint Louverture from the Caribbean colony of St. Domingue. Napoleon feared that this homely, 5-foot-2-inch tall military genius would build an empire to challenge his own.
Toussaint, who took on the last name of “Louverture” only later in life, had as his primary goal the freeing of his people. He said of himself, “I was born a slave, but Nature gave me the soul of a free man. Every day I raise up my hands in prayer to implore God to come to the aid of my brethren and to shed the light of His mercy upon them.”
