The stratification of the Saint Domingue colony combined with the inspiration of the French Revolution set the stage for change on the island. The enslaved population highly outnumbered both the white planters and mulattoes as they represented approximately 86% of the colony. As the free men of color fought for proper representation and equal rights in France's National Assembly, the French people were revolting against that very institution. After the denial of representation in a now overthrown assembly, the free men of color and the enslaved Africans were empowered to take action against their oppressors. With numbers and sheer will on their side, the highly successful, slave-led Haitian Revolution was ready to begin.

The Haitian Revolution occurred from August 1791 to January 1804. It was one of the largest and most successful slave revolts in history. Former slave Toussaint L’ouverture led the slaves during the revolution. Other notable figures that were part of the independent revolution were lieutenant Jean Jacques Dessaline and former slave Henry Christophe. Between 1800-1802 the landowning class expressed opposition to L’ouverture’s push towards equality. During the next two years, the slaves and the mulatto groups worked together to fight off Napoleon’s attempt to take back Haiti.

While Haiti has now claimed independence, there are still many questions facing the new country. The global community had little interaction with them which forced them to handle a lot of things by themselves. This is a contributing factor to modern day poverty in the country. France also still had troops in the area. These threats cause a spark of violence in the country that leads to an order to kill all the remaining french citizens in Haiti. During the revolution Haiti destroyed a lot of the infrastructure that once made it one of the wealthiest colonies. While Haiti eventually signed a constitution in 1805, the many problems facing the country turned it into one of the most impoverished countries in the world. At first, America responded to the Haitian Revolution with signifying silence until 1862 where the government gave into the pressure to recognize the independence of Haiti. In order to keep Haiti impoverished, America decided to deploy the National Marine Corps from 1915-1934 to the reintroduction to mercantilism trading in order to maintain ties with Haiti leading to the country’s economic and political instability.