Editing Toussaint Louverture (section)

===Constitution of 1801===
[[File:AduC 073Toussaint-Louverture (1748-1803).JPG|thumb|upright|left|An engraving of Louverture]]
Napoleon had informed the inhabitants of Saint-Domingue that France would draw up a new constitution for its colonies, in which they would be subjected to special laws.<ref>Alexis, Stephen, ''Black Liberator'', London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1949, p. 165.</ref> Despite his protestations to the contrary, the former slaves feared that he might restore slavery. In March 1801, Louverture appointed a constitutional assembly, composed chiefly of white planters, to draft a constitution for Saint-Domingue. He promulgated the Constitution on 7 July 1801, officially establishing his authority over the entire island of [[Hispaniola]]. It made him governor-general for life with near absolute powers and the possibility of choosing his successor. However, Louverture had not explicitly declared Saint-Domingue's independence, acknowledging in Article 1 that it was a single colony of the French Empire.<ref>"Constitution de la colonie français de Saint-Domingue", Le Cap, 1801</ref>
Article 3 of the constitution states: "There cannot exist slaves [in Saint-Domingue], servitude is therein forever abolished. All men are born, live and die free and French."<ref>Ogé, Jean-Louis. ''Toussaint L'Ouverture et l'Indépendence d'Haïti.'' Brossard: L’Éditeur de Vos Rêves, 2002, p. 140.</ref> The constitution guaranteed equal opportunity and equal treatment under the law for all races, but confirmed Louverture's policies of forced labor and the importation of workers through the slave trade.<ref>Bell, pp. 210–211.</ref> Identifying as a loyal Christian Frenchman, Louverture was not willing to compromise [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholicism]] for [[Haitian Vodou|Vodou]], the dominant faith among former slaves. Article 6 states that "the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman faith shall be the only publicly professed faith."<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Haitian Constitution of 1801 (English) – TLP |url=https://thelouvertureproject.org/index.php?title=Haitian_Constitution_of_1801_(English) |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=thelouvertureproject.org}}</ref> This strong preference for Catholicism went hand in hand with Louverture's self-identification of being a Frenchman, and his movement away from associating with Vodou and its origins in the practices of the plantation slaves from Africa.<ref>Ogé, Jean-Louis. ''Toussaint L'Ouverture et l'Indépendence d'Haïti.'' Brossard: L’Éditeur de Vos Rêves, 2002, p. 141.</ref>

Louverture charged Colonel [[Charles Humbert Marie Vincent]], who personally opposed the drafted constitution, with the task of delivering it to Napoleon. Several aspects of the constitution were damaging to France: the absence of provision for French government officials, the lack of trade advantages, and Louverture's breach of protocol in publishing the constitution before submitting it to the French government. Despite his disapproval, Vincent attempted to submit the constitution to Napoleon but was briefly exiled to the Mediterranean island of [[Elba]] for his pains.<ref>Philippe Girard, ''The Slaves Who Defeated Napoléon: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian War of Independence'' (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, November 2011).</ref>{{efn|group=note|Napoleon himself would later be exiled to Elba after his 1814 abdication.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Latson|first=Jennifer|date=February 26, 2015|title=Why Napoleon Probably Should Have Just Stayed in Exile the First Time|url=https://time.com/3714089/napoleon-exile-history/|magazine=Time|access-date=August 10, 2020}}</ref>}}

Louverture identified as a Frenchman and strove to convince Bonaparte of his loyalty. He wrote to Napoleon, but received no reply.<ref>[[#James|James (1814)]], p. 263.</ref> Napoleon eventually decided to send an expedition of 20,000 men to Saint-Domingue to restore French authority, and possibly, to restore slavery as well.<ref>Philippe Girard, "Napoléon Bonaparte and the Emancipation Issue in Saint-Domingue, 1799–1803," ''French Historical Studies'' 32:4 (Fall 2009), 587–618.</ref> Given the fact that France had signed a temporary truce with [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] in the [[Treaty of Amiens]], Napoleon was able to plan this operation without the risk of his ships being intercepted by the [[Royal Navy]].