The reach and impact of revolutionary ideas that so unnerved Catherine and other European monarchs is reflected in the revolt, and eventual independence (1804), of slaves and free people of color in this former French island colony.

The seeds of independence were first sown among free black soldiers sent by the white French governors to fight against the British in the American War of Independence, where they were exposed to anti-colonial ideas. Later, the French Revolution's notions of liberty, equality, and brotherhood inspired an independence movement among the minority white settlers and a highly fragmented socioeconomic mix of free blacks. When the white population defied an order from France to enfranchise free blacks, it triggered a violent revolt that involved changing alliances among free blacks and the large slave population. After promulgating a constitution in 1801 and overcoming a military force sent by Napoleon (First Consul, 1799–1804; Emperor, 1804–14/15), Haiti successfully declared its independence. Its success, along with that of the American War of Independence, inspired a number of anti-colonial struggles throughout Latin America.