How the Haitian Revolution Ended Slavery and Defeated Empires

CrashCourse

This educational video provides a fast-paced and comprehensive overview of the Haitian Revolution, arguably the most successful slave rebellion in history. Host John Green explains the complex social and economic structures of the French colony Saint-Domingue, detailing how a hierarchy of wealthy white planters, free people of color, poor whites, and enslaved Africans created a powder keg that ignited alongside the French Revolution. The narrative traces the transition from a pirate outpost to the world's most valuable sugar colony, highlighting the brutal conditions of plantation slavery that necessitated constant importation of human lives.