In Chapter 18 of Bury the Chains, Hochschild opens the chapter by bringing us to St. Domingue, the island that was a French colony that brought about some of the most notable slave rebellions. After Vesuvius erupted, the slaves started to rebel by running through the plantations and towns and lighting everything they could on fire, especially any sugar crops. All of a sudden, the number of white people being killed increased drastically and the world was in shock. Since St. Domingue was such a profitable colony because of its rich soil, abundant sugar crops, and coffee crops, the destruction of everything was a harsh reality for people to face. Despite the destruction in these colonies, France and Britain decided to go to war over them. Unfortunately, Britain lost more than they would gain from that war because of Toussaint L'Ouverture’s ability to raise a strong force of the slaves to fight against them. Many British men became ill while fighting and suffered from malaria and yellow fever. Unfortunately, the British were not succeeding in their efforts to win against France and decided to withdraw from the war.
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