Louverture seized Spanish Santo Domingo unilaterally, overriding French authority.

Evidence

Louverture explained his desire to conquer Santo Domingo, however, in a different way: he claimed that men, women, and children who were “French citizens” were being kidnapped to Santo Domingo and sold as slaves. In April 1800 he announced to the agent Roume that he was determined to end this abuse by sending his troops across the border into the Spanish colony. Convinced that the occupation order had to come from Paris, Roume hesitated to lend his approval to the project, but Louverture simply locked him up. … Accounts of his army’s reign in the colony vary widely. One contemporary presented it in the manner of many imperial apologists, describing how the “principles of French administration” brought “new industry and activity” to the Spanish colony, along with “magnificent” new roads and a new economic prosperity. Others have described a regime in which Louverture’s black officers enriched themselves through pillage and seizure of lands. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 836

Categorization

• SHARE: Louverture imprisoning the French agent Roume to force his occupation through is an arresting detail for anyone interested in colonial power dynamics.