Early leader of the 1791 slave rising who fought for Spain against Toussaint and died a Spanish general in Florida
Born a slave on a sugar plantation in Saint-Domingue in 1741, he was named by the Vodou priest Dutty Boukman at the Bois-Caïman ceremony of August 1791, with Jean-François Papillon and Jeannot Bullet, to lead the insurrection, and in its first months he and Jean-François were the most important rebel leaders, Biassou commanding some 40,000 slaves. Their offer to end the revolt in exchange for emancipation was dismissed by France. In 1793 he joined Spain as one of the Black Auxiliaries of Charles IV and, defeated by his former ally Toussaint Louverture after Toussaint went over to the French, stayed loyal to Spain. After the Treaty of Basel he moved to St. Augustine in Spanish Florida, took the name Jorge and commanded the black militia from Fort Matanzas. He died in a drunken brawl in 1801.
Also known as: Jorge Biassou
Activities and affiliations
- 1793–1801 Military command · Spain state institutions
- 1791–1793 Military command
Career Timeline
- 1791Leader of the slave rising in the North
- 1793–1795General of Spain's Black Auxiliaries
- 1796–1801Commander of the black militia in Spanish Florida