Toussaint Louverture

François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (French: [fʁɑ̃swa dɔminik tusɛ̃ luvɛʁtyʁ] 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803), also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda, was the leader of the Haitian Revolution. His military genius and political acumen transformed an entire society of slaves into the first successful slave uprising that led to the independent state of Haiti. It was the greatest slave uprising since Spartacus, who led the revolt against the Roman Republic, but was ultimately defeated. The success of the Haitian Revolution shook the institution of slavery throughout the New World.

Toussaint Louverture began his military career as a leader of the 1791 slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint-Domingue; he was by then a free black man and a Jacobin. Initially allied with the Spaniards of neighboring Santo Domingo, Toussaint switched allegiance to the French when they abolished slavery. He gradually established control over the whole island and used political and military tactics to gain dominance over his rivals. Throughout his years in power, he worked to improve the economy and security of Saint-Domingue. He restored the plantation system using paid labour, negotiated trade treaties with Britain and the United States, and maintained a large and well-disciplined army.

Toussaint

Toussaint (French for All Saints' Day, literally All Saints) may refer to:

Jimmy Jean-Louis

Jimmy Jean-Louis (born August 8, 1968) is a Haitian actor and model best known for his role as "the Haitian" on the NBC television series Heroes. Born in Pétionville, he moved to Paris at a young age to pursue a modeling career. His early roles were in French musical theatre and television commercials. Eventually settling in Los Angeles in the late 1990s, he had small roles in The Bourne Identity and Arliss before breaking into larger roles in American television and film.

Early life

Jean-Louis was born in Pétionville, near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He lived there until the age of twelve, when he moved to Paris with his family to pursue a modeling career, after moving he experienced a culture shock because of the rural to city lifestyle change. He enrolled in business courses, but quickly realized that his heart lay in performance, and studied at the Academie International de Dance. His parents returned to Haiti, but Jean-Louis and his brother remained in Paris. Around a decade later in 1991, producers discovered Jean-Louis during one of his dancing stints in a French club, who were impressed. They tapped him to appear in a Coca-Cola advertisement, the success of which prompted the Jean-Louis to spend several years modeling across Europe. He was very successful in London, working for such notables as Gianfranco Ferré and Valentino. Before finding success as a model, he was homeless at times in Paris. By the mid-'90s, he was gracing music videos by such stars as Mariah Carey, Seal, and George Michael, and appearing in low-budget "independent" films in Los Angeles.