Most of the
persons who abandoned the island during these troublous times settled
in Cuba, Porto Rico and Venezuela, where they established coffee and
sugar plantations, to the great advantage of these countries. Some of
the most prominent families of Cuba to-day are descendants of families
which left Santo Domingo at this time.
Toussaint tried to stem the tide of emigration by issuing conciliatory
proclamations; but when he found his efforts in vain, it is claimed
that he conceived the idea of a general massacre of the whites
remaining in the capital. He ordered the entire population, without
distinction of age or sex to gather on the plaza and the men, women
and children to be separated into different groups, the whole plaza
being surrounded by strong forces of cavalry. Appearing before the
terrified people Toussaint declared slavery abolished and began to
walk up and down and ask the women in broken Spanish whether they were
French or Spanish, touching them with his cane in an ever more
insolent manner. It was too much for one high-spirited young woman,
who commenced to upbraid him for daring to touch her.
Pages:
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73