The slaves who defeated Napoleon

The first successful slave uprising in modern times happened in present-day Haiti. Former slave, Toussaint Louverture, forced the French colony to abolish slavery in 1794. The rebellion sent shock waves across America and Europe and made its leader famous around the world. France eventually lost its colony completely when its great military leader, Napoleon, was defeated by the former slaves. They then created the world's first black republic, which they named 'Haiti' from the indigenous Taino language. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Sudhir Hazareesingh, who's written a biography of Toussaint Louverture.Image: Toussaint Louverture - portrait after lithograph by Delpech. Courtesy of Culture Club/Getty Images

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Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest, the disastrous D-Day rehearsal, and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.