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  1. Oct 2020
    1. I n 1790, Haiti’s enslavers saw the Declaration of t he Rights of Man (Article 1: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights”) as a green light f or t heir i ndependence drive and for t heir demands for new trade relations t o increase their wealth. F ree and affluent bira-cial activists numbering almost 3 0,000 (slightly less t han the White population) started driving for t heir civil r ights. Close to half a mil-lion enslaved Africans, who were producing about half t he world’s sugar and coffee i n the most profitable European colony in the world, heard these curious cries f or r ights and liberty among the i sland’s f ree people. On August 22, 1791, enslaved Africans revolted, i nspired in more ways t han one by Vodou priest Dutty Boukman. They emerged as t he fourth faction in the civil war between White royalists, White independence seekers, and free biracial a ctivist