Bois Caïman, 14 August 1791: the night the revolution began
In August 1791, Saint-Domingue was the most profitable colony on earth. Its sugar and coffee were produced by about half a million enslaved people, who outnumbered the free population many times over.
The gathering
On the night of 14 August, representatives from plantations across the northern plain met in a wooded place called Bois Caïman. Tradition says it was a stormy night. Two figures led the ceremony: Dutty Boukman, a respected leader among the enslaved, and Cécile Fatiman, a mambo. Those present swore to rise up and to keep the plan secret.
The uprising
On the night of 22 to 23 August, the plan was carried out. Plantation after plantation rose. Within days the northern plain was burning, and within weeks tens of thousands of people had joined the revolt.
Why it matters
Boukman was killed that November, but the uprising did not end. It grew into a revolution that lasted thirteen years and ended slavery in the colony for good. Haitians remember Bois Caïman as the moment a people decided, together, to be free.
