unnamed, is suggested by Bayon's descriptions. These letters, combined with the anomalous fact that Toussaint cannot be identified on the rolls of slaves belonging to Breda Plantation, suggest an alternative to the story of his origin recounted by Isaac Louverture.
Isaac's description of Gaou-Guinou/Hyppolite's status at Breda is consistent with a condition called
liberte de savane,
according to which a slave would be freed for all practical purposes, but without an official manumission document and thus without the owner's being obliged topay the prohibitive manumission tax. If his father had been freed in this manner, then Toussaint would never have been listed on the rolls of slaves at Breda. General François Marie Perichou de Kerverseau, a French officer who wrote a hostile but incisive study of the black leader at the height of his power, claimed (somewhat spitefully) that Toussaint had never known slavery in anything but name.
And yet, in 1878, Bayon de Libertat's widow wrote to Placide Louverture's daughter Rose: “You must have heard your parents speak about the family of Bayon, in which Monsieur your father was born. Monsieur Bayon, recognizing the intellectual qualities of Monsieur votre pere, had him raised like his own son.” 8
In the early 1770s, Bayon de Libertat sold a plantation with eighty-six slaves in order to make the move to Haut du Cap, but he kept a few of his slaves from the place he gave up and brought them with him to Breda. In a letter to Bredas owner, who had offered him the services of one of his coachmen, de Libertat wrote, “I have no need of his help, I have coachmen of my own.' 9
The previous manager of Breda Plantation, a Monsieur Gilly, died at his post in 1772, and in his last testament he recommended to the owner in Paris that his godson, Bayon de Libertat, take over the management of this property and another plantation owned by Monsieur de Breda a few miles off near the town of Plaine du Nord. It was a valuable concession: not only were the two plantations rich in sugarcane, but the one at Haut du Cap included a pottery works which produced tiles, bricks, and vessels sought after by planters all over the region, for the clay used in the manufacture was of a nonporous type that did not react with sugar, but “favored the cares of the refiner and even seemed to embellish his work.” 10 More than one jealous observer had an eye on the job which Gilly had vacated and Bayon had assumed.
Bayon's first year at Breda was difficult. A severe drought brought on illness among the livestock; many animals were lost. In February 1773, a windstorm damaged many of the plantation's buildings. And although Bayon seems to have been a good friend of the late M. Gilly, he found a good deal of fault with his predecessor's management. According to Bayon's first letters back to France, Gilly had done littlemore than barely keep things going. Bayon himself was for growth and development; he wanted to increase the slave labor force (in part through more births on the plantation), to plant more staples for the slaves to live on, and to make other substantial improvements. Monsieur de Breda (whose own letters are lost) must have complained about the expense entailed, for on August 6,1773, Bayon wrote to complain of a “lack of Confidence”; moreover, the owner's remarks had wounded Bayon's “delicacy.” Abruptly, Bayon turned over Breda Plantation to a Sieur Delribal, writing tartly to Monsieur de Breda: “It's up to you to give your Confidence to whoever seems good to you; you have made a beautiful choice. It remains to be Known just how your plantations will be managed.” 11
Delribal's tenure at Breda was catastrophic. Livestock there continued to die, most likely of drought-related disease which was widespread in the region, but the new manager suspected poisoning. Fear of poisoning was a kind of neurosis among the planter class, nurtured by the fact that every so often a poison plot really did
Isaac's description of Gaou-Guinou/Hyppolite's status at Breda is consistent with a condition called
liberte de savane,
according to which a slave would be freed for all practical purposes, but without an official manumission document and thus without the owner's being obliged topay the prohibitive manumission tax. If his father had been freed in this manner, then Toussaint would never have been listed on the rolls of slaves at Breda. General François Marie Perichou de Kerverseau, a French officer who wrote a hostile but incisive study of the black leader at the height of his power, claimed (somewhat spitefully) that Toussaint had never known slavery in anything but name.
And yet, in 1878, Bayon de Libertat's widow wrote to Placide Louverture's daughter Rose: “You must have heard your parents speak about the family of Bayon, in which Monsieur your father was born. Monsieur Bayon, recognizing the intellectual qualities of Monsieur votre pere, had him raised like his own son.” 8
In the early 1770s, Bayon de Libertat sold a plantation with eighty-six slaves in order to make the move to Haut du Cap, but he kept a few of his slaves from the place he gave up and brought them with him to Breda. In a letter to Bredas owner, who had offered him the services of one of his coachmen, de Libertat wrote, “I have no need of his help, I have coachmen of my own.' 9
The previous manager of Breda Plantation, a Monsieur Gilly, died at his post in 1772, and in his last testament he recommended to the owner in Paris that his godson, Bayon de Libertat, take over the management of this property and another plantation owned by Monsieur de Breda a few miles off near the town of Plaine du Nord. It was a valuable concession: not only were the two plantations rich in sugarcane, but the one at Haut du Cap included a pottery works which produced tiles, bricks, and vessels sought after by planters all over the region, for the clay used in the manufacture was of a nonporous type that did not react with sugar, but “favored the cares of the refiner and even seemed to embellish his work.” 10 More than one jealous observer had an eye on the job which Gilly had vacated and Bayon had assumed.
Bayon's first year at Breda was difficult. A severe drought brought on illness among the livestock; many animals were lost. In February 1773, a windstorm damaged many of the plantation's buildings. And although Bayon seems to have been a good friend of the late M. Gilly, he found a good deal of fault with his predecessor's management. According to Bayon's first letters back to France, Gilly had done littlemore than barely keep things going. Bayon himself was for growth and development; he wanted to increase the slave labor force (in part through more births on the plantation), to plant more staples for the slaves to live on, and to make other substantial improvements. Monsieur de Breda (whose own letters are lost) must have complained about the expense entailed, for on August 6,1773, Bayon wrote to complain of a “lack of Confidence”; moreover, the owner's remarks had wounded Bayon's “delicacy.” Abruptly, Bayon turned over Breda Plantation to a Sieur Delribal, writing tartly to Monsieur de Breda: “It's up to you to give your Confidence to whoever seems good to you; you have made a beautiful choice. It remains to be Known just how your plantations will be managed.” 11
Delribal's tenure at Breda was catastrophic. Livestock there continued to die, most likely of drought-related disease which was widespread in the region, but the new manager suspected poisoning. Fear of poisoning was a kind of neurosis among the planter class, nurtured by the fact that every so often a poison plot really did
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