title: Comma-separated values

text: The format dates back to the early days of business computing and is widely used to pass data between computers with different internal word sizes, data formatting needs, and so forth. For this reason, CSV files are common on all computer platforms.


title: Comma-separated values

text: CSV is a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values (many implementations of CSV import/export tools allow other separators to be used; for example, the use of a "Sep=^" row as the first row in the *.csv file will cause Excel to open the file expecting caret "^" to be the separator instead of comma ","). Simple CSV implementations may prohibit field values that contain a comma or other special characters such as newlines. More sophisticated CSV implementations permit them, often by requiring " (double quote) characters around values that contain reserved characters (such as commas, double quotes, or less commonly, newlines). Embedded double quote characters may then be represented by a pair of consecutive double quotes, or by prefixing a double quote with an escape character such as a backslash (for example in Sybase Central).


title: Comma-separated values

text: CSV formats are not limited to a particular character set. They work just as well with Unicode character sets (such as UTF-8 or UTF-16) as with ASCII (although particular programs that support CSV may have their own limitations). CSV files normally will even survive naïve translation from one character set to another (unlike nearly all proprietary data formats). CSV does not, however, provide any way to indicate what character set is in use, so that must be communicated separately, or determined at the receiving end (if possible).


title: Comma-separated values

text: Databases that include multiple relations cannot be exported as a single CSV file. Similarly, CSV cannot naturally represent hierarchical or object-oriented data. This is because every CSV record is expected to have the same structure. CSV is therefore rarely appropriate for documents created with HTML, XML, or other markup or word-processing technologies.


title: Comma-separated values

text: Statistical databases in various fields often have a generally relation-like structure, but with some repeatable groups of fields. For example, health databases such as the Demographic and Health Survey typically repeat some questions for each child of a given parent (perhaps up to a fixed maximum number of children). Statistical analysis systems often include utilities that can "rotate" such data; for example, a "parent" record that includes information about five children can be split into five separate records, each containing (a) the information on one child, and (b) a copy of all the non-child-specific information. CSV can represent either the "vertical" or "horizontal" form of such data.


title: Comma-separated values

text: In a relational database, similar issues are readily handled by creating a separate relation for each such group, and connecting "child" records to the related "parent" records using a foreign key (such as an ID number or name for the parent). In markup languages such as XML, such groups are typically enclosed within a parent element and repeated as necessary (for example, multiple codice_1 nodes within a single codice_2 node). With CSV there is no widely accepted single-file solution.


title: Comma-separated values

text: The name "CSV" indicates the use of the comma to separate data fields. Nevertheless, the term "CSV" is widely used to refer to a large family of formats that differ in many ways. Some implementations allow or require single or double quotation marks around some or all fields; and some reserve the first record as a header containing a list of field names. The character set being used is undefined: some applications require a Unicode byte order mark (BOM) to enforce Unicode interpretation (sometimes even a UTF-8 BOM). Files that use the tab character instead of comma can be more precisely referred to as "TSV" for tab-separated values.


title: Comma-separated values

text: Other implementation differences include the handling of more commonplace field separators (such as space or semicolon) and newline characters inside text fields. One more subtlety is the interpretation of a blank line: it can equally be the result of writing a record of zero fields, or a record of one field of zero length; thus decoding it is ambiguous.


title: Comma-separated values

text: The 2005 technical standard RFC 4180 formalizes the CSV file format and defines the MIME type "text/csv" for the handling of text-based fields. However, the interpretation of the text of each field is still application-specific. Files that follow the RFC 4180 standard can simplify CSV exchange and should be widely portable. Among its requirements:


title: Comma-separated values

text: The format can be processed by most programs that claim to read CSV files. The exceptions are "(a)" programs may not support line-breaks within quoted fields, "(b)" programs may confuse the optional header with data or interpret the first data line as an optional header, and "(c)" double-quotes in a field may not be parsed correctly automatically.


title: Comma-separated values

text: In 2011 Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF) and various partners created a data protocols working group, which later evolved into the Frictionless Data initiative. One of the main formats they released was the Tabular Data Package. Tabular Data package was heavily based on CSV, using it as the main data transport format and adding basic type and schema metadata (CSV lacks any type information to distinguish the string "1" from the number 1).


title: Comma-separated values

text: The Frictionless Data Initiative has also provided a standard CSV Dialect Description Format for describing different dialects of CSV, for example specifying the field separator or quoting rules.


title: Comma-separated values

text: In 2013 the W3C "CSV on the Web" working group began to specify technologies providing higher interoperability for web applications using CSV or similar formats. The working group completed its work in February 2016 and is officially closed in March 2016 with the release of a set of documents and W3C recommendations


title: Comma-separated values

text: IETF RFC 4180 (summarized above) defines the format for the "text/csv" MIME type registered with the IANA.


title: Comma-separated values

text: Example of a USA/UK CSV file (where the decimal separator is a period/full stop and the value separator is a comma):


title: Comma-separated values

text: Example of an analogous European CSV/DSV file (where the decimal separator is a comma and the value separator is a semicolon):


title: Comma-separated values

text: The latter format is not RFC 4180 compliant. Compliance could be achieved by the use of a comma instead of a semicolon as a separator and either the international notation for the representation of the decimal mark or the practice of quoting all numbers that have a decimal mark.


title: Comma-separated values

text: Some applications use CSV as a data interchange format to enhance its interoperability, exporting and importing CSV. Others use CSV as an "internal format".


title: Comma-separated values

text: As a data interchange format: the CSV file format is supported by almost all spreadsheets and database management systems,


title: Comma-separated values

text: As (main or optional) internal representation. Can be native or foreign, but differ from interchange format ("export/import only") because it is not necessary to create a copy in another format:


title: Comma-separated values

text: CSV format is supported by libraries available for many programming languages. Most provide some way to specify the field delimiter, decimal separator, character encoding, quoting conventions, date format, etc.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: Saheed Adebayo Akinfenwa (born 10 May 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: Akinfenwa's professional breakthrough came at Doncaster Rovers, having spent time up until then in the lower leagues of English football as well as spells in Lithuania and Wales. Following a short but successful time at Doncaster, Akinfenwa moved to his seventh club, Torquay United. He proved to be a goal threat, but left the struggling team the following season to join Swansea City. After spending two seasons with the Welsh club, he joined League One side Millwall and later moved to Northampton Town. Akinfenwa spent six years switching from Northampton to Gillingham, where his goal-scoring ability was still apparent. In June 2014, he signed for League Two side AFC Wimbledon, and two years later Wycombe Wanderers, where he remained until his retirement.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: Akinfenwa was born in Islington, North London and is of Nigerian descent. His father is a Muslim and his mother is a Christian, and while Akinfenwa observed Ramadan as a child, he is now a Christian. He is a close friend of Clarke Carlisle, his former teammate at Northampton Town. As a child, he supported Liverpool and his favourite player was John Barnes.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: Akinfenwa has been ranked as the strongest footballer in the world in various editions of the "FIFA" videogame series. In September 2014 he was invited to attend the launch party for "FIFA 15" alongside various celebrities and Premier League players, including Rio Ferdinand, George Groves and Lethal Bizzle. Akinfenwa reportedly weighs around and can bench press . He runs a clothing label called "Beast Mode On" which plays on his strong man reputation. His autobiography "The Beast: My Story" was published by Headline Publishing in 2017.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: As a teenager, Akinfenwa joined the Lithuanian club FK Atlantas on the advice of his agent, whose Lithuanian wife's brother knew a member of the coaching staff there. While with the club Akinfenwa scored the winning goal in the 2001 Lithuanian Football Cup final and played in the UEFA Cup qualifying rounds for two successive seasons. He received racial abuse from fans in the country, later saying "Coming from London, where nobody would disrespect me, this was just brazen". He spent two years at the club before returning to the UK early in 2003, where he joined Welsh Premier League champions Barry Town. Akinfenwa helped Barry to Welsh Cup and Welsh Premier League silverware during his time at Jenner Park. However, just a handful of matches into his stint, the club suffered a financial crisis and released its professional playing staff. Akinfenwa quickly joined Boston United in October 2003, scoring a last minute winner on his debut against Swindon Town in the Football League Trophy. Unable to settle, he moved to Leyton Orient the following month, but was released after one month. In December 2003 he moved to Rushden & Diamonds and in February 2004 joined Doncaster Rovers, his fifth club of the season.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: In July 2004, Akinfenwa changed clubs again, signing for Torquay United, as a replacement for David Graham. He scored 14 league goals during the 2004–05 season and was named the supporter's Player of the Season but was unable to help the club avoid relegation to League Two. He declined to sign a new contract with Torquay at the end of the season.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: In July 2005, Akinfenwa moved to Swansea City, who were ordered to pay an £85,000 fee as compensation, significantly below the £300,000 asking price Torquay had set for his signature. He scored on his debut against Tranmere Rovers, and this was also the first competitive goal scored at Swansea's new Liberty Stadium. He scored the winning goal in the 2006 Football League Trophy Final, in which Swansea beat Carlisle United 2–1. He also helped Swansea reach the League One promotion play-off final in his first season. After a 2–2 draw, the match went to a penalty shoot-out but Akinfenwa was one of two Swansea players to miss with their penalties, granting promotion to Barnsley. He was a regular the following season, until a broken right leg in the 2–0 defeat at home to Scunthorpe United ended his season. This followed a fractured left shin the previous October.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: At the end of the 2006–07 season, he rejected a new contract with Swansea, and agreed to sign for Swindon Town on 29 June 2007. However, he failed a medical.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: After a period of rehabilitation and training at Gillingham, he joined League One team Millwall on a month-to-month contract in November 2007. However he failed to score any goals in seven appearances.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: On 18 January 2008 Akinfenwa signed a deal with Northampton Town until the end of the 2007–08 season. He made his debut against Swindon Town, where he came off the bench to score a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw. He then had the same impact in his home debut, scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw against Leeds United. Despite not featuring in the following game against Yeovil Town, he started the next home match against Gillingham, and scored two goals in a 4–0 win. He scored three further goals that season.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: On 30 May 2008, Akinfenwa signed a new one-year contract at Northampton despite declared interest from Leyton Orient and Grimsby Town. He started the 2008–09 season well, scoring twice in three matches by the end of September.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: Akinfenwa ended his stay at Northampton in May 2010. He had been offered a new deal but Northampton could not agree a deal with him within an agreed timeframe.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: On 29 July 2010, he signed for Gillingham on a one-year contract, and scored on his debut with a header against Cheltenham Town. Whilst at the Gills, Akinfenwa was able to form a strong partnership with Cody McDonald and the pair were able to score 36 goals between them that season.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: Akinfenwa was offered a new contract by Gillingham at the conclusion of 2010–11 season, but chose instead to return to Sixfields on 25 May 2011, after new Cobblers manager Gary Johnson brought him in to "capture the imagination of the supporters". He scored his first goal against Bristol Rovers on 16 August. On 10 November 2012 in a match against Accrington Stanley, Akinfenwa scored his first, and to date only, professional hat-trick. Three years later, with Northampton struggling financially, Akinfenwa auctioned off the shirt he wore in this match and donated the proceeds to a supporters' trust, raising £440.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: Akinfenwa re-signed for Gillingham on a free transfer on 2 July 2013. After reigniting his successful partnership with Cody McDonald, scoring 10 goals over the course of the 2013–14 season and coming third in their Supporters Player of the Year awards, Akinfenwa left the club on expiry of his one-year contract.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: On 20 June 2014, he signed for League Two side AFC Wimbledon, who had pursued his signature for 14 months. In the third round of the FA Cup on 5 January 2015, in which AFC Wimbledon hosted Liverpool at Kingsmeadow, Akinfenwa equalised against the club he supports, albeit in a 1–2 defeat. On 8 June 2015, Akinfenwa extended his contract with Wimbledon, spurning interests from clubs in League One and Major League Soccer. On 30 May 2016, after scoring a penalty in a 2–0 win against Plymouth Argyle in the League Two Play-off Final, Akinfenwa was released from his contract. He told Sky Sports in his post-match interview: "I think I'm technically unemployed, so any managers hit me up on the WhatsApp and get me a job."


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: Following his departure from AFC Wimbledon, Akinfenwa signed for Wycombe Wanderers. In April 2018, he was nominated for the EFL League Two Player of the Season award. With his strike against Doncaster Rovers on 29 February 2020, Akinfenwa became Wycombe's record goal scorer in the English Football League with 54 goals. On 13 July 2020, Akinfenwa and Wycombe won the 2020 League One play-off Final over Oxford gaining promotion to the Championship for the first time in both the player's career and the club's history. Akinfenwa finished the season as the club's joint-top league goal scorer with 10 goals.


title: Adebayo Akinfenwa

text: On 8 July 2021, Akinfenwa signed a new one-year contract with the club. He confirmed that it would be his last season in professional football, and indicated that after football he was considering moving into acting or professional wrestling. Akinfenwa's last game for Wycombe was the 2022 League One play-off Final, where he featured as a 75th minute substitute but could not prevent a 2–0 loss to Sunderland.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture first fought against the French, then for them, and then finally against France again for the cause of Haitian independence. As a revolutionary leader, Louverture displayed military and political acumen that helped transform the fledgling slave rebellion into a revolutionary movement. Louverture is now known as the "Father of Haiti".


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Louverture was born enslaved on the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now known as Haiti. He was a devout Catholic who became a freeman before the revolution and, once freed, identified as a Frenchman for the greater part of his life. During his time as a freeman he attempted to climb the highly stratified social ladder on the island, gaining and losing much wealth while working as a planter, slave owner, coachman, muleteer and miller across several plantations. At the start of the Haitian revolution he was nearly 50 years old and began his military career as a lieutenant to Biassou, an early leader of the 1791 War for Freedom in Saint-Domingue. Initially allied with the Spaniards of neighboring Santo Domingo, Louverture switched his allegiance to the French when the new Republican government abolished slavery. Louverture gradually established control over the whole island and used his political and military influence to gain dominance over his rivals.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Throughout his years in power, he worked to balance the economy and security of Saint-Domingue. Worried about the economy, which had stalled, he restored the plantation system using paid labor; negotiated trade agreements with the United Kingdom and the United States and maintained a large and well-trained army. Although Louverture did not sever ties with France in 1800 after defeating rival leaders among the Haitian revolutionary population, he promulgated an autonomous constitution for the colony in 1801 that named him as Governor-General for Life, even against Napoleon Bonaparte's wishes.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In 1802, he was invited to a parley by French Divisional General Jean-Baptiste Brunet, but was arrested upon his arrival. He was deported to France and jailed at the Fort de Joux. He died in 1803. Although Louverture died before the final and most violent stage of the Haitian Revolution, his achievements set the grounds for the Haitian army's final victory. Suffering massive losses in multiple battles at the hands of the Haitian army and losing thousands of men to yellow fever, the French capitulated and withdrew permanently from Saint-Domingue the very same year. The Haitian Revolution continued under Louverture's lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who declared independence on 1 January 1804, thereby establishing the sovereign state of Haiti.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Louverture was born into slavery, the eldest son of Hyppolite, an Allada slave from the slave coast of West Africa, and his second wife Pauline, a slave from the Aja ethnic group, and given the name Toussaint at birth. Louverture's son Issac would later name his great-grandfather, Hyppolite's father, as Gaou Guinou and a son of the King of Allada, however there is little extant evidence of this. The name Gaou possibly originated in the title Deguenon, meaning "old man" or "wise man" in the Allada kingdom, making Gaou Guinou and his son Hyppolite members of the bureaucracy or nobility, but not members of the royal family. In Africa, Hyppolite and his first wife, Catherine, were forced into slavery due to a series of imperialist wars of expansion by the Kingdom of Dahomey into the Allada territory. In order to remove their political rivals and obtain European trade goods Dahomean slavers separated the couple and sold them to the crew of the French slave ship the "Hermione", which then headed to the sugar plantations of the Caribbean. The original names of Toussaint's parents are unknown as French colonial law mandated that slaves brought to their colonies be made into Catholics, stripped of their African names, and be given more European names in order to assimilate them into the French plantation system. Toussaint's father received the name Hyppolite upon his baptism on Saint-Domingue as Latin and Greek names were the most fashionable for slaves at this time, followed by French, and Biblical Christian names.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Louverture is thought to have been born on the plantation of Bréda at Haut de Cap in Saint-Domingue, where his parents were enslaved and where he would spend the majority of his life before the revolution. His parents would go on to have several children after him, with five going on to surviving infancy; Marie-Jean, Paul, Pierre, Jean, and Gaou, named for his grandfather. Louverture would grow closest to his younger brother Paul, who along with his other siblings were baptized into the Catholic Church by the local Jesuit Order. Pierre-Baptiste Simon, a carpenter and gatekeeper on the Bréda plantation, is considered to have been Louverture's godfather and would go on to become a parental figure to Louverture's family along with his foster mother Pelage after the passing of Toussaint's parents. Growing up, Toussaint would first learn to speak the African Fon language of the Allada slaves on the plantation, then the Haitian Kreyòl of the greater colony, and eventually the Standard French of the French elite during the revolution.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Although he would later become known for his stamina and riding prowess, Louverture earned the nickname "Fatras-Bâton" ("sickly stick"), in reference to his small thin stature in his youth. Toussaint and his siblings would go on to be trained as domestic servants with Louverture being trained as an equestrian and coachmen after showing a talent for handling the horses and oxen on the plantation. This allowed the siblings to work in the manor house and stables, away from the grueling physical labor and deadly corporal punishment meted out in the sugar cane fields. In spite of this relative privilege, there is evidence that even in his youth Louverture's pride pushed him to engage in fights with members of the "Petits-blancs" (white commoner) community, who worked on the plantation as hired help. There is a record that Louverture beat a young "petit blanc" named Ferere, but was able to escape punishment after being protected by the new plantation overseer, François Antoine Bayon de Libertat. De Libertat had become steward of the Bréda property after it was inherited by Pantaléon de Bréda Jr., a "grand blanc" (white noblemen), and managed by Bréda's nephew the Count of Noah. In spite or perhaps because of this protection, Louverture went on to engage in other fights. One time he threw the plantation attorney Bergé off a horse, belonging to the Bréda plantation, when he attempted to take it outside the bounds of the property without permission.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Until 1938, historians believed that Louverture had been a slave until the start of the revolution. In the later twentieth century, discovery of a personal marriage certificate and baptismal record dated between 1776 and 1777 documented that Louverture was a freeman, meaning that he had been manumitted sometime between 1772 and 1776, the time de Libertat had become overseer. This finding retrospectively clarified a private letter Louverture sent to the French government in 1797, where he mentioned he had been free for more than twenty years. Upon being freed Toussaint took up the name of Toussaint de Bréda (Toussaint of Bréda) or more simply Toussaint Bréda in reference to the plantation he grew up on. Toussaint now went from being a slave of the Bréda plantation to becoming a member of the greater community of the "gens de couleur libres" (free people of color). This was a diverse group of "Affranchis" (freed slaves), free blacks of full or majority African ancestry, and "Mulattos" (mixed-race peoples), which included the children of French planters and their African slaves as well as distinct multiracial families who had multi-generational mixed ancestries from the varying different populations on the island. The "gens de couleur libres" strongly identified with Saint-Domingue, with a popular slogan being that while the French felt home in France, and the slaves felt home in Africa, they felt home on the island. Now enjoying a greater degree of relative freedom, Louverture dedicated himself to building wealth and gaining further social mobility through emulating the model of the "grands blancs" and rich "gens de couleur libres" by becoming a planter. He began by renting a small coffee plantation along with its thirteen slaves from his future son-in-law. One of the slaves Louverture owned at this time is believed to have been Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who would go onto become one of Louverture's most loyal lieutenants and a member of his personal guard during the Haitian revolution.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Between 1761 and 1777, Louverture met and married his first wife Cécile in a Catholic ceremony. The couple would go on to have two sons, Toussaint Jr. and Gabrielle-Toussaint, and a daughter, Marie-Marthe. During this time Louverture would go on to buy several slaves. Although this was a means to grow a greater pool of exploitable labor, this was one of the few legal methods available to free the remaining members of a former slave's extended family and social circle. Louverture eventually bought the freedom of Cécile, their children, his sister Marie-Jean, his wife's siblings, and a slave named Jean-Baptist, freeing him so that he could legally get married. Louverture's own marriage however would soon become strained and eventually break down as his coffee plantation failed to make adequate returns. A few years later, the newly freed Cécile would leave Louverture for a wealthy "Creole" planter, while Louverture had begun a relationship with a woman named Suzanne, who is believed to have gone on to become his second wife. There is little evidence that any formal divorce occurred as it was illegal at the time. Louverture in fact would go on to completely exorcise his first marriage from his recollections of his pre-revolutionary life to the extent that, until recent documents uncovered the marriage, few researchers were aware of the existence of Cécile and her children with Louverture.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In 1782, Louverture married his second wife, Suzanne Simone-Baptiste, who is thought to have been his cousin or the daughter of his godfather Pierre-Baptiste. Toward the end of his life, he told General Caffarelli that he had fathered at least 16 children, of whom 11 had predeceased him, between his two wives and a series of mistresses. In 1785 Toussaint's eldest child, the 24-year-old Toussaint Jr., died from a fever and the family organized a formal Catholic funeral for him. This was officiated by a local priest as a favor for the devout Toussaint. Gabrielle-Toussaint disappeared from the historical record at this time and is presumed to have also died, possibly from the same illness that took Toussaint Jr. Not all of Louverture's children can be identified for certain, but the three children from his first marriage and his three sons from his second marriage are well known. Suzanne's eldest child, Placide, is generally thought to have been fathered by Seraphim Le Clerc, a "Creole" planter. In spite of this, Placide was adopted by Louverture and raised as his own. Louverture would go onto have at least two sons with Suzanne named Isaac, born in 1784, and Saint-Jean, born in 1791. They would remain enslaved until the start of the revolution as Louverture spent the 1780s attempting to regain the wealth he had lost with the failure of his coffee plantation in the 1770's.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: It appears that during this time Louverture returned to play an important role on the Bréda plantation to remain closer to old friends and his family. Toussaint remained there until the outbreak of the revolution as a salaried employee and contributed to the daily functions of the plantation. He took up his old responsibilities of looking after the livestock and care of the horses. By 1789, his responsibilities expanded to include acting as a muleteer, master miller, and possibly a slave-driver, charged with organizing the workforce. During this time the Bréda family attempted to divide the plantation and the slaves on it among a new series of four heirs. In an attempt to protect his foster mother, Pelage, Louverture bought a young 22-year-old female slave and traded her to the Brédas to prevent Pelage from being sold to a new owner. By the start of the revolution, Louverture began to accumulate a moderate fortune and was able to buy a small plot of land adjacent to the Bréda property to build a house for his family. He was nearly 48 years old at this time.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Louverture gained some education from his godfather Pierre-Baptiste on the Bréda plantation. His extant letters demonstrate a moderate familiarity with Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher who had lived as a slave, while his public speeches showed a familiarity with Machiavelli. Some cite Enlightenment thinker Abbé Raynal, a French critic of slavery, and his publication "Histoire des deux Indes" predicting a slave revolt in the West Indies as a possible influence.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Louverture received a degree of theological education from the Jesuit and Capuchin missionaries through his church attendance and devout Catholicism. His medical knowledge is attributed to a familiarity with the folk medicine of the African plantation slaves and Creole communities, as well as more formal techniques found in the hospitals founded by the Jesuits and the free people of color. Legal documents signed on Louverture's behalf between 1778–1781 suggest that he could not yet write at that time. Throughout his military and political career during the revolution, he was known to have verbally dictated his letters to his secretaries, who prepared most of his correspondences. A few surviving documents from the end of his life in his own hand confirm that he eventually learned to write, although his Standard French spelling was "strictly phonetic" and closer to the Haitian Kreyòl he spoke for the majority of his life.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Beginning in 1789, the black and mixed-race population of Saint-Domingue became inspired by a multitude of factors that converged on the island in the late 1780s and early 1790s leading to them organize a series of rebellions against the central white colonial assembly in Le Cap. In 1789 two mix-race "Creole" merchants, Vincent Ogé and Julien Raimond, happened to be in France during the early stages of the French Revolution. Here they began lobbying the French National Assembly to expand voting rights and legal protections from the "grands blancs" to the wealthy slaving owning "gens de couleur," such as themselves. Being of majority white descent and with Ogé having been educated in France, the two were incensed that their black African ancestry prevented them from having the same legal rights as their fathers, who were both "grand blanc" planters. Rebuffed by the assembly they return to the colony where Ogé met up with Jean-Baptiste Chavannes, a wealthy mixed-race veteran of the American Revolution and an abolitionist. Here the two organized a small scale revolt in 1790 composed of a few hundred "gens de couleur," who engaged in several battles against the colonial militias on the island. However, after the movement failed to gain traction Ogé and Chavannes were quickly captured and publicly broken on the wheel in the public square in Le Cap in February 1791. For the slaves on the island worsening conditions due to the neglect of legal protections afforded them by the "Code Noir" stirred animosities and made a revolt more attractive compared to the continued exploitation by the "grands" and "petits blancs". Then the political and social disability caused by the French Revolution's attempt to expand the rights to all men, inspired a series of revolts across several neighboring French possessions in the Caribbean, which upset much of the established trade between the colonies. Many of the devout Catholic slaves and freedmen, including Toussaint, identified as free Frenchmen and royalists, who desired to protect a series of progressive legal protections afforded to the black citizenry by King Louis XVI and his predecessors.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: On August 14, 1791, two hundred members of the black and mixed-race population made up of slave foremen, "Creoles", and freed slaves gathered in secret at a plantation in Morne-Rouge in the north of Saint-Domingue to plan their revolt. Here prominent early figures of the revolution such as Dutty François Boukman, Jean-François Papillon, Georges Biassou, Jeannot Bullet, and Toussaint gathered to nominate a single leader to guide the revolt. Toussaint, wary of the dangers of taking on such a public role, especially after hearing about what happened to Ogé and Chavannes, went on to nominate Georges Biassou as leader. He would later join his forces as a secretary and lieutenant, and be in command of a small detachment of soldiers. During this time Toussaint took up the name of "Monsieur" Toussaint, a title that was once been reserved for the white population of Saint-Domingue. Surviving documents show him participating in the leadership of the rebellion, discussing strategy, and negotiating with the Spanish supporters of the rebellion for supplies. Wanting to identify with the royalist cause Louverture and other rebels wore white cockades upon their sleeves and crosses of St. Louis.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: A few days after this gathering, a Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman marked the public start of the major slave rebellion in the north, which had the largest plantations and enslaved population. Louverture did not openly take part in the earliest stages of the rebellion, as he spent the next few weeks sending his family to safety in Santo Domingo and helping his old overseer Bayon de Libertat. Louverture hid him and his family in a nearby wood, and brought them food from a nearby rebel camp. He eventually helped Bayon de Libertat's family escape the island and in the coming years supported them financially as they resettled in the United States and mainland France.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In 1791, Louverture was involved in negotiations between rebel leaders and the French Governor, Blanchelande, for the release of their white prisoners and a return to work, in exchange for a ban on the use of whips, an extra non-working day per week, and the freedom of imprisoned leaders. When the offer was rejected, he was instrumental in preventing the massacre of Biassou's white prisoners. The prisoners were released after further negotiations and escorted to Le Cap by Louverture. He hoped to use the occasion to present the rebellion's demands to the colonial assembly, but they refused to meet.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Throughout 1792, as a leader in an increasingly formal alliance between the black rebellion and the Spanish, Louverture ran the fortified post of La Tannerie and maintained the "Cordon de l'Ouest", a line of posts between rebel and colonial territory. He gained a reputation for his discipline, training his men in guerrilla tactics and "the European style of war". After hard fighting, he lost La Tannerie in January 1793 to the French General Étienne Maynaud de Bizefranc de Laveaux, but it was in these battles that the French first recognized him as a significant military leader.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Some time in 1792–93, Toussaint adopted the surname Louverture, from the French word for "opening" or "the one who opened the way". Although some modern writers spell his adopted surname with an apostrophe, as in "L'Ouverture", he did not. The most common explanation is that it refers to his ability to create openings in battle. The name is sometimes attributed to French commissioner Polverel's exclamation: "That man makes an opening everywhere". Some writers think the name referred to a gap between his front teeth.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Despite adhering to royalist views, Louverture began to use the language of freedom and equality associated with the French Revolution. From being willing to bargain for better conditions of slavery late in 1791, he had become committed to its complete abolition. After an offer of land, privileges, and recognizing the freedom of slave soldiers and their families, Jean-François and Biassou formally allied with the Spanish in May 1793; Louverture likely did so in early June. He had made covert overtures to General Laveaux prior but was rebuffed as Louverture's conditions for alliance were deemed unacceptable. At this time the republicans were yet to make any formal offer to the slaves in arms and conditions for the blacks under the Spanish looked better than that of the French. In response to the civil commissioners' radical 20 June proclamation (not a general emancipation, but an offer of freedom to male slaves who agreed to fight for them) Louverture stated that "the blacks wanted to serve under a king and the Spanish king offered his protection."


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: On 29 August 1793 he made his famous declaration of Camp Turel to the black population of St. Domingue:


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Brothers and friends, I am Toussaint Louverture; perhaps my name has made itself known to you. I have undertaken vengeance. I want Liberty and Equality to reign in St. Domingue. I am working to make that happen. Unite yourselves to us, brothers and fight with us for the same cause.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: On the same day, the beleaguered French commissioner, Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, proclaimed emancipation for all slaves in French Saint-Domingue, hoping to bring the black troops over to his side. Initially, this failed, perhaps because Louverture and the other leaders knew that Sonthonax was exceeding his authority.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: However, on 4 February 1794, the French revolutionary government in France proclaimed the abolition of slavery. For months, Louverture had been in diplomatic contact with the French general Étienne Maynaud de Bizefranc de Laveaux. During this time, his competition with the other rebel leaders was growing, and the Spanish had started to look with disfavor on his near-autonomous control of a large and strategically important region.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Louverture's auxiliary force was employed to great success, with his army responsible for half of all Spanish gains north of the Artibonite in the West in addition to capturing the port town of Gonaïves in December 1793. However, tensions had emerged between Louverture and the Spanish higher-ups. His superior with whom he enjoyed good relations, Matías de Armona, was replaced with Juan de Lleonartwho was disliked by the black auxiliaries. Lleonart failed to support Louverture in March 1794 during his feud with Biassou, who had been stealing supplies for Louverture's men and selling their families as slaves. Unlike Jean-François and Bissaou, Louverture refused to round up enslaved women and children to sell to the Spanish. This feud also emphasized Louverture's inferior position in the trio of black generals in the minds of the Spanisha check upon any ambitions for further promotion.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: On 29 April 1794 the Spanish garrison at Gonaïves was suddenly attacked by black troops fighting in the name of "the King of the French", who demanded that the garrison surrender. Approximately 150 men were killed and much of the populace forced to flee. White guardsmen in the surrounding area had been murdered, and Spanish patrols sent into the area never returned. Louverture is suspected to have been behind this attack, although was not present. He wrote to the Spanish 5 May protesting his innocencesupported by the Spanish commander of the Gonaïves garrison, who noted that his signature was absent from the rebels' ultimatum. It was not until 18 May that Louverture would claim responsibility for the attack, when he was fighting under the banner of the French.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: The events at Gonaïves made Lleonart increasingly suspicious of Louverture. When they had met at his camp 23 April, the black general had shown up with 150 armed and mounted men, as opposed to the usual 25, choosing not to announce his arrival or waiting for permission to enter. Lleonart found him lacking his usual modesty or submission, and after accepting an invitation to dinner 29 April, Louverture afterward failed to show. The limp that had confined him to his bed during the Gonaïves attack was thought to be feigned and Lleonart suspected him of treachery. Remaining distrustful of the black commander, Lleonart housed his wife and children whilst Louverture led an attack on Dondon in early May, an act which Lleonart later believed confirmed Louverture's decision to turn against the Spanish.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: The timing of and motivation behind Louverture's volte-face against Spain remains debated amongst historians. James claimed that upon learning of the emancipation decree in May 1794, Louverture decided to join the French in June. It is argued by Ardouin that Toussaint was indifferent toward black freedom, concerned primarily for his own safety and resentful over his treatment by the Spanishleading him to officially join the French 4 May 1794 when he raised the republican flag over Gonaïves. Ott sees Louverture as "both a power-seeker and sincere abolitionist" who was working with Laveaux since January 1794 and switched sides 6 May.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Afterward, Louverture claimed to have switched sides after emancipation was proclaimed and the commissioners Sonthonax and Polverel had returned to France in June 1794. However, a letter from Toussaint to General Laveaux confirms that he was already fighting officially on the behalf of the French by 18 May 1794.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In the first weeks, Louverture eradicated all Spanish supporters from the "Cordon de l'Ouest", which he had held on their behalf. He faced attack from multiple sides. His former colleagues in the slave rebellion were now fighting against him for the Spanish. As a French commander, he was faced with British troops who had landed on Saint-Domingue in September, as the British hoped to take advantage of the ongoing instability to capture the prosperous island. Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, who was Secretary of State for War for British prime minister William Pitt the Younger, instructed Sir Adam Williamson, the lieutenant-governor of Jamaica, to sign an agreement with representatives of the French colonists that promised to restore the ancien regime, slavery and discrimination against mixed-race colonists, a move that drew criticism from abolitionists William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: On the other hand, Louverture was able to pool his 4,000 men with Laveaux's troops in joint actions. By now his officers included men who were to remain important throughout the revolution: his brother Paul, his nephew Moïse, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Henri Christophe.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Before long, Louverture had put an end to the Spanish threat to French Saint-Domingue. In any case, the Treaty of Basel of July 1795 marked a formal end to hostilities between the two countries. Black leaders Jean-François and Biassou continued to fight against Louverture until November, when they left for Spain and Florida, respectively. At that point, most of their men joined Louverture's forces. Louverture also made inroads against the British presence, but was unable to oust them from Saint-Marc. He contained them by resorting to guerilla tactics.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Throughout 1795 and 1796, Louverture was also concerned with re-establishing agriculture and exports, and keeping the peace in areas under his control. In speeches and policy he revealed his belief that the long-term freedom of the people of Saint-Domingue depended on the economic viability of the colony. He was held in general respect, and resorted to a mixture of diplomacy and force to return the field hands to the plantations as emancipated and paid workers. Workers regularly staged small rebellions, protesting poor working conditions, their lack of real freedom, or their fear of a return to slavery. They wanted to establish their own small holdings and work for themselves, rather than on plantations.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Another of Louverture's concerns was to manage potential rivals for power within the French part of the colony. The most serious of these was the mulatto commander Jean-Louis Villatte, based in Cap-Français. Louverture and Villate had competed over the command of some sections of troops and territory since 1794. Villatte was thought to be somewhat racist toward black soldiers such as Louverture and planned to ally with André Rigaud, a free man of color, after overthrowing French General Étienne Laveaux. In 1796 Villate drummed up popular support by accusing the French authorities of plotting a return to slavery.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: On 20 March, he succeeded in capturing the French Governor Laveaux, and appointed himself Governor. Louverture's troops soon arrived at Cap-Français to rescue the captured governor and to drive Villatte out of town. Louverture was noted for opening the warehouses to the public, proving that they were empty of the chains that residents feared had been imported to prepare for a return to slavery. He was promoted to commander of the West Province two months later, and in 1797 was appointed as Saint-Domingue's top-ranking officer. Laveaux proclaimed Louverture as Lieutenant Governor, announcing at the same time that he would do nothing without his approval, to which Louverture replied: "After God, Laveaux."


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: A few weeks after Louverture's triumph over the Villate insurrection, France's representatives of the third commission arrived in Saint-Domingue. Among them was Sonthonax, the commissioner who had previously declared abolition of slavery on the same day as Louverture's proclamation of Camp Turel. At first the relationship between the two men was positive. Sonthonax promoted Louverture to general and arranged for his sons, Placide and Isaac, who were eleven and fourteen respectively to attend a school in mainland France for the children of colonial officials . This was done to provide them with a formal education in the French language and culture, one that Louverture highly desired for his children, but to also use them as political hostages against Louverture should he act against the will of the central French authority in Paris. In spite of this Placide and Isaac ran away enough times from the school that they were moved to the Collège de la Marche, a division of the old University of Paris. Here in Paris they would regularly dine with members of the French nobility such as Joséphine de Beauharnais, who would go on to become Empress of France as the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In September 1796, elections were held to choose colonial representatives for the French national assembly. Louverture's letters show that he encouraged Laveaux to stand, and historians have speculated as to whether he was seeking to place a firm supporter in France or to remove a rival in power. Sonthonax was also elected, either at Louverture's instigation or on his own initiative. While Laveaux left Saint-Domingue in October, Sonthonax remained.Sonthonax, a fervent revolutionary and fierce supporter of racial equality, soon rivaled Louverture in popularity. Although their goals were similar, they had several points of conflict. While Louverture was quoted as saying that ""I am black, but I have the soul of a white man"" in reference to his self-identification as a Frenchman, loyalty to the French nation, and Catholicism. Sonthonax, who had married a free black woman by this time, countered with ""I am white, but I have the soul of a black man"" in reference to his strong abolitionist and secular republican sentiments. They strongly disagreed about accepting the return of the white planters who had fled Saint-Domingue at the start of the revolution. To the ideologically motivated Sonthonax, they were potential counter-revolutionaries who had fled the liberating force of the French Revolution and were forbidden from returning to the colony under pain of death. Louverture on the other hand saw them as wealth generators who could restore the commercial viability of the colony. The planters political and familial connections to Metropolitan France could also foster better diplomatic and economic ties to Europe.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In summer 1797, Louverture authorized the return of Bayon de Libertat, the former overseer of the Bréda plantation, with whom he had shared a close relationship with ever since he was enslaved. Sonthonax wrote to Louverture threatening him with prosecution and ordering him to get de Libertat off the island. Louverture went over his head and wrote to the French Directoire directly for permission for de Libertat to stay. Only a few weeks later, he began arranging for Sonthonax's return to France that summer. Louverture had several reasons to want to get rid of Sonthonax; officially he said that Sonthonax had tried to involve him in a plot to make Saint-Domingue independent, starting with a massacre of the whites of the island. The accusation played on Sonthonax's political radicalism and known hatred of the aristocratic "grands blancs", but historians have varied as to how credible they consider it.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: On reaching France, Sonthonax countered by accusing Louverture of royalist, counter-revolutionary, and pro-independence tendencies. Louverture knew that he had asserted his authority to such an extent that the French government might well suspect him of seeking independence. At the same time, the French Directoire government was considerably less revolutionary than it had been. Suspicions began to brew that it might reconsider the abolition of slavery. In November 1797, Louverture wrote again to the Directoire, assuring them of his loyalty, but reminding them firmly that abolition must be maintained.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: For months, Louverture was in sole command of French Saint-Domingue, except for a semi-autonomous state in the south, where general André Rigaud had rejected the authority of the third commission. Both generals continued harassing the British, whose position on Saint-Domingue was increasingly weak. Louverture was negotiating their withdrawal when France's latest commissioner, Gabriel Hédouville, arrived in March 1798, with orders to undermine his authority. Nearing the end of the revolution Louverture grew substantially wealthy; owning numerous slaves at Ennery, obtaining thirty-one properties, and earning almost 300,000 colonial livre per year from these properties. As leader of the revolution, this accumulated wealth made Louverture the richest person on Saint-Domingue. Louverture's actions evoked a collective sense of worry among the European powers and the US, who feared that the success of the revolution would inspire slave revolts across the Caribbean, the South American colonies, and the southern United States.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: On 30 April 1798, Louverture signed a treaty with the British general Thomas Maitland, exchanging the withdrawal of British troops from western Saint-Domingue in return for a general amnesty for the French counter-revolutionaries in those areas. In May, Port-au-Prince was returned to French rule in an atmosphere of order and celebration.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In July, Louverture and Rigaud met commissioner Hédouville together. Hoping to create a rivalry that would diminish Louverture's power, Hédouville displayed a strong preference for Rigaud, and an aversion to Louverture. However, General Maitland was also playing on French rivalries and evaded Hédouville's authority to deal with Louverture directly. In August, Louverture and Maitland signed treaties for the evacuation of the remaining British troops. On 31 August, they signed a secret treaty that lifted the British blockade on Saint-Domingue in exchange for a promise that Louverture would not attempt to cause unrest in British colonies in the West Indies.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: As Louverture's relationship with Hédouville reached the breaking point, an uprising began among the troops of his adopted nephew, Hyacinthe Moïse. Attempts by Hédouville to manage the situation made matters worse and Louverture declined to help him. As the rebellion grew to a full-scale insurrection, Hédouville prepared to leave the island, while Louverture and Dessalines threatened to arrest him as a troublemaker. Hédouville sailed for France in October 1798, nominally transferring his authority to Rigaud. Louverture decided instead to work with Phillipe Roume, a member of the third commission who had been posted to the Spanish parts of the colony. Although Louverture continued to protest his loyalty to the French government, he had expelled a second government representative from the territory and was about to negotiate another autonomous agreement with one of France's enemies.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: The United States had suspended trade with France in 1798 because of increasing tensions between the American and French governments over the issue of privateering. The two countries entered into the so-called "Quasi"-War, but trade between Saint-Domingue and the United States was desirable to both Louverture and the United States. With Hédouville gone, Louverture sent diplomat Joseph Bunel, a "grand blanc" former planter married to a Black Haitian wife, to negotiate with the administration of John Adams. Adams as a New Englander who was openly hostile to slavery was much more sympathetic to the Haitian cause than the Washington administration before and Jefferson after, both of whom came from Southern slaving owning planter backgrounds. The terms of the treaty were similar to those already established with the British, but Louverture continually rebuffed suggestions from either power that he should declare independence. As long as France maintained the abolition of slavery, he appeared to be content to have the colony remain French, at least in name.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In 1799, the tensions between Louverture and Rigaud came to a head. Louverture accused Rigaud of trying to assassinate him to gain power over Saint-Domingue. Rigaud claimed Louverture was conspiring with the British to restore slavery. The conflict was complicated by racial overtones that escalated tensions between full blacks and mulattoes. Louverture had other political reasons for eliminating Rigaud; only by controlling every port could he hope to prevent a landing of French troops if necessary.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: After Rigaud sent troops to seize the border towns of Petit-Goave and Grand-Goave in June 1799, Louverture persuaded Roume to declare Rigaud a traitor and attacked the southern state. The resulting civil war, known as the War of Knives, lasted more than a year, with the defeated Rigaud fleeing to Guadeloupe, then France, in August 1800. Louverture delegated most of the campaign to his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who became infamous, during and after the war, for massacring mulatto captives and civilians. The number of deaths is contested: the contemporary French general François Joseph Pamphile de Lacroix suggested 10,000 deaths, while the 20th-century Trinidadian historian C. L. R. James claimed there were only a few hundred deaths.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In November 1799, during the civil war, Napoleon Bonaparte gained power in France and passed a new constitution declaring that the colonies would be subject to special laws. Although the colonies suspected this meant the re-introduction of slavery, Napoleon began by confirming Louverture's position and promising to maintain abolition. But he also forbade Louverture to invade Spanish Santo Domingo, an action that would put Louverture in a powerful defensive position. Louverture was determined to proceed anyway and coerced Roume into supplying the necessary permission. At the same time, in order to improve the political relationships with the other European powers, Louverture looked to further stabilize the political landscape of the Caribbean. When Isaac Yeshurun Sasportas, a member of a prominent Sephardic Jewish family from Saint-Domingue, attempted to foment another slave revolt in neighboring British Jamaica, Louverture leaked the plot to the British. As a result Sasportas was captured and executed by the colonial authorities on December 23, 1799.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In January 1801, Louverture and his nephew, General Hyacinthe Moïse invaded the Spanish territory, taking possession of it from the governor, Don Garcia, with few difficulties. The area had been less developed and populated than the French section. Louverture brought it under French law, abolishing slavery and embarking on a program of modernization. He now controlled the entire island.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Napoleon had informed the inhabitants of Saint-Domingue that France would draw up a new constitution for its colonies, in which they would be subjected to special laws. Despite his protestations to the contrary, the former slaves feared that he might restore slavery. In March 1801, Louverture appointed a constitutional assembly, composed chiefly of white planters, to draft a constitution for Saint-Domingue. He promulgated the Constitution on 7 July 1801, officially establishing his authority over the entire island of Hispaniola. It made him governor-general for life with near absolute powers and the possibility of choosing his successor. However, Louverture had not explicitly declared Saint-Domingue's independence, acknowledging in Article 1 that it was a single colony of the French Empire.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Article 3 of the constitution states: "There cannot exist slaves [in Saint-Domingue], servitude is therein forever abolished. All men are born, live and die free and French." The constitution guaranteed equal opportunity and equal treatment under the law for all races, but confirmed Louverture's policies of forced labor and the importation of workers through the slave trade. Identifying as a loyal Christian Frenchman, Louverture was not willing to compromise Catholicism for Vodou, the dominant faith among former slaves. Article 6 states that "the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman faith shall be the only publicly professed faith." This strong preference for Catholicism went hand in hand with Louverture's self-identification of being a Frenchman, and his movement away from associating with Vodou and its origins in the practices of the plantation slaves from Africa.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Louverture charged Colonel Charles Humbert Marie Vincent, who personally opposed the drafted constitution, with the task of delivering it to Napoleon. Several aspects of the constitution were damaging to France: the absence of provision for French government officials, the lack of trade advantages, and Louverture's breach of protocol in publishing the constitution before submitting it to the French government. Despite his disapproval, Vincent attempted to submit the constitution to Napoleon but was briefly exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba for his pains.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Louverture identified as a Frenchman and strove to convince Bonaparte of his loyalty. He wrote to Napoleon, but received no reply. Napoleon eventually decided to send an expedition of 20,000 men to Saint-Domingue to restore French authority, and possibly, to restore slavery as well. Given the fact that France had signed a temporary truce with Great Britain in the Treaty of Amiens, Napoleon was able to plan this operation without the risk of his ships being intercepted by the Royal Navy.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Napoleon's troops, under the command of his brother-in-law, General Charles Emmanuel Leclerc, were directed to seize control of the island by diplomatic means, proclaiming peaceful intentions, and keep secret his orders to deport all black officers. Meanwhile, Louverture was preparing for defense and ensuring discipline. This may have contributed to a rebellion against forced labor led by his nephew and top general, Moïse, in October 1801. Because the activism was violently repressed, when the French ships arrived, not all of Saint-Domingue supported Louverture. In late January 1802, while Leclerc sought permission to land at Cap-Français and Christophe held him off, the Vicomte de Rochambeau suddenly attacked Fort-Liberté, effectively quashing the diplomatic option. Christophe had written to Leclerc: "you will only enter the city of Cap, after having watched it reduced to ashes. And even upon these ashes, I will fight you."


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Louverture's plan in case of war was to burn the coastal cities and as much of the plains as possible, retreat with his troops into the inaccessible mountains, and wait for yellow fever to decimate the French. The biggest impediment to this plan proved to be difficulty in internal communications. Christophe burned Cap-Français and retreated, but Paul Louverture was tricked by a false letter into allowing the French to occupy Santo Domingo. Other officers believed Napoleon's diplomatic proclamation, while some attempted resistance instead of burning and retreating.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: With both sides shocked by the violence of the initial fighting, Leclerc tried belatedly to revert to the diplomatic solution. Louverture's sons and their tutor had been sent from France to accompany the expedition with this end in mind and were now sent to present Napoleon's proclamation to Louverture. When these talks broke down, months of inconclusive fighting followed.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: This ended when Christophe, ostensibly convinced that Leclerc would not re-institute slavery, switched sides in return for retaining his generalship in the French military. General Jean-Jacques Dessalines did the same shortly later. On 6 May 1802, Louverture rode into Cap-Français and negotiated an acknowledgement of Leclerc's authority in return for an amnesty for him and his remaining generals. Louverture was then forced to capitulate and placed under house arrest on his property in Ennery.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Jean-Jacques Dessalines was at least partially responsible for Louverture's arrest, as asserted by several authors, including Louverture's son, Isaac. On 22 May 1802, after Dessalines learned that Louverture had failed to instruct a local rebel leader to lay down his arms per the recent ceasefire agreement, he immediately wrote to Leclerc to denounce Louverture's conduct as "extraordinary". For this action, Dessalines and his spouse received gifts from Jean Baptiste Brunet.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Leclerc originally asked Dessalines to arrest Louverture, but he declined. Jean Baptiste Brunet was ordered to do so, but accounts differ as to how he accomplished this. One version said that Brunet pretended that he planned to settle in Saint-Domingue and was asking Louverture's advice about plantation management. Louverture's memoirs, however, suggest that Brunet's troops had been provocative, leading Louverture to seek a discussion with him. Either way, Louverture had a letter, in which Brunet described himself as a "sincere friend", to take with him to France. Embarrassed about his trickery, Brunet absented himself during the arrest.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Finally on June 7, 1802, despite the promises made in exchange for his surrender, Toussaint Louverture – as well as a hundred members of his inner circle – were captured and deported to France. Brunet transported Louverture and his companions on the frigate "Créole" and the 74-gun "Héros", claiming that he suspected the former leader of plotting another uprising. Upon boarding "the Créole", Toussaint Louverture warned his captors that the rebels would not repeat his mistake, "In overthrowing me you have cut down in Saint Domingue only the trunk of the tree of liberty; it will spring up again from the roots, for they are numerous and they are deep."


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: The ships reached France on 2 July 1802 and, on 25 August, Louverture was imprisoned at Fort-de-Joux in Doubs. During this time, Louverture wrote a memoir. He died in prison on 7 April 1803 at the age of 59. Suggested causes of death include exhaustion, malnutrition, apoplexy, pneumonia, and possibly tuberculosis.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Throughout his life, Louverture was known as a devout Roman Catholic. Having been baptized into the church as a slave by the Jesuits Louverture would go on to be one of the few slaves on the Bréda plantation to be labeled devout. He celebrated Mass every day when possible, regularly served as godfather at multiple slave baptisms, and constantly quizzed others on the catechism of the church. In 1763 the Jesuits were expelled for spreading Catholicism among the slaves and undermining planter propaganda that slaves were mentally inferior. Toussaint would grow closer to the Capuchin Order that succeeded them in 1768, especially as they did not own plantations like the Jesuits. Louverture would also go on to have two formal Catholic weddings to both of his wives once freed. In his memoirs he fondly recounted the weekly ritual his family had on Sundays of going to church and enjoying a communal meal.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: After defeating forces led by Andre Rigaud in the War of the Knives, Louverture consolidated his power by decreeing a new constitution for the colony in 1801. It established Catholicism as the official religion. Although Vodou was generally practiced on Saint-Domingue in combination with Catholicism, little is known for certain if Louverture had any connection with it. Officially as ruler of Saint-Domingue, he discouraged its practice and eventually persecuted its followers.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: Historians have suggested that he was a member of high degree of the Masonic Lodge of Saint-Domingue, mostly based on a Masonic symbol he used in his signature. The membership of several free blacks and white men close to him have been confirmed. His membership is, considering his status as a devout Catholic, nonetheless unlikely due to the papal ban on Catholics holding membership in Masonic organizations introduced by Pope Clement XII having gone into effect in 1738.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: In his absence, Jean-Jacques Dessalines led the Haitian rebellion until its completion, finally defeating the French forces in 1803, after they were seriously weakened by yellow fever; two-thirds of the men had died when Napoleon withdrew his forces.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: John Brown claimed influence by Louverture in his plans to invade Harpers Ferry. During the 19th century, African Americans referred to Louverture as an example of how to reach freedom.


title: Toussaint Louverture

text: On 29 August 1954, the Haitian ambassador to France, Léon Thébaud, inaugurated a stone cross memorial for Toussaint Louverture at the foot of Fort-de-Joux. Years afterward, the French government ceremoniously presented a shovelful of soil from the grounds of Fort-de-Joux to the Haitian government as a symbolic transfer of Louverture's remains. An inscription in his memory was installed in 1998 on the wall of the Panthéon in Paris.


title: He-Man

text: He-Man is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the sword and planet "Masters of the Universe" franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by his superhuman strength and in most variations, is the alter ego of Prince Adam. He-Man and his friends attempt to defend the secrets of Castle Grayskull, the planet Eternia, and the rest of the universe from the evil forces of his archenemy Skeletor.


title: He-Man

text: The character was created by designer Roger Sweet, who intentionally created the character in such a way for him to be abstract and generic enough to be applied into any context and genre; Sweet also chose the name "He-Man" for being generic. Presenting three different versions of the figure to Mattel—including a soldier and a spaceman—the barbarian version of the character was chosen and developed into the character's current form.


title: He-Man

text: He-Man has achieved gay icon status and amassed an LGBT following—specifically amongst gay men. According to various insiders and employees, Mattel is aware of He-Man's gay icon status and following, which the company is receptive of.


title: He-Man

text: In 1976, Mattel's CEO Ray Wagner declined a deal to produce a toyline of action figures based on the characters from "Star Wars", due to the $750,000 license ($3,645,724.96 in 2021 dollars) required up front. Following the commercial success of the original "Star Wars" trilogy and its related merchandise, Mattel launched several successful competing toylines which captured the public's imagination and significantly influenced the toy market. In the race to design the next popular action figure, Roger Sweet—a lead designer for Mattel's Preliminary Design Department—realized that simplicity was the key to success. According to his 2005 book "Mastering the Universe: He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea", Sweet knew that if he gave the marketing department something it could sell, he had won 90 percent of the battle. Sweet stated that "to sell this [to Wagner]", he glued a Big Jim figure—another Mattel toy line—into a battle action pose, added clay to its body, and had plaster casts made. These three prototypes would later go on to become He-Man. Furthermore, to sell this toy, Sweet stated that as a powerful figure, it could be applied into any context because the character had the generic name of He-Man.


title: He-Man

text: In the illustrated books released with the first series of toys, He-Man is a barbarian from an Eternian tribe. The planet's inhabitants were dealing with the aftermath of the Great Wars, which devastated the civilizations which once ruled supreme. The wars left behind advanced machinery and weaponry, known only to select people. The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull gave He-Man some of these weapons, and he set out to defend the secrets of Castle Grayskull from the evil Skeletor. He-Man possessed one-half of the Power Sword; Skeletor had the second half, and used it as his main weapon. When joined, the two halves provide the key to Castle Grayskull. In one early illustrated story, He-Man and Skeletor united their two Power Sword halves to form the true Power Sword, defeating Trap Jaw.


title: He-Man

text: In June 2012, DC Comics began publishing a six-issue limited series, "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe", alongside the weekly digital first series "Masters of the Universe". In "He-Man: The Eternity War", He-Man is shown as married to Teela.


title: He-Man

text: In more than a few comic book and animated series He-Man's (and She Ra's) origins had been revised: his true identity was Prince Adam of Eternia, son of King Randor and Queen Marlena (an earthling), who gave birth to twins Prince Adam/He-Man and Princess Adora/She Ra (Adora was abducted by the Evil Horde led by Hordak) and ruled the Kingdom of Eternia on the planet of the same name. The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull endowed Prince Adam with the power to transform into He-Man, which he did by raising his Power Sword and proclaiming, "By the power of Grayskull..." Once the transformation was complete, he would continue, "...I have the power!" The differences between Prince Adam and He-Man were minimal; He-Man had a slightly deeper voice, a different wardrobe, and slightly darker skin and hair.


title: He-Man

text: Prince Adam's pet was a cowardly green tiger named Cringer. When Adam became He-Man, he transformed Cringer into a brave armored green tiger named Battle Cat by pointing his sword at him – an ability Adam discovered accidentally during one of his transformations into He-Man. Cringer cowered in fear at seeing what Adam had become; while reassuring him that nothing had really changed, Adam pointed the sword of power at Cringer, which sent a bolt of energy toward the tiger and transformed him. Battle Cat served as He-Man's steed and fierce fighting companion ever since. in a couple of versions of He-Man, he can use his sword to change into different versions of He-Man depending on the type of battles he is in, and can also use his sword to give friends, allies (as seen in "Revelation" and the new CGI version of "Masters of the Universe"), and animals besides Cringer power and enhanced abilities.


title: He-Man

text: Adam was friendly with Teela who, unbeknownst to her, was the daughter of the Sorceress and was adopted by Prince Adam's mentor Duncan/Man-At-Arms. Teela is Duncan's real daughter in the "Revelation" version, Fisto's daughter in the 2002 version; Sorceress is her mother. Fisto and Duncan are brothers in the 2002 version, which means he adopted his niece in the 2002 version.


title: He-Man

text: Adam and Teela grew up together and now, as Captain of the Guard, she was entrusted to protect him. Unaware of his identity as He-Man, she saw Adam as lazy and cowardly, an act he keeps up to prevent people from discovering his secret identity. Teela later learns his secret in a couple of depictions.


title: He-Man

text: Man-At-Arms was He-Man's closest companion and the Eternian royal family's innovator of technology and weapons. He often unveiled new weapons or devices to help He-Man. Castle Grayskull was the source of He-Man's powers, where the Sorceress lived, who granted Adam his transformative abilities and communicated telepathically with him. To protect his family He-Man kept his double identity a secret, sharing it only with Orko, Man-At-Arms, Cringer and the Sorceress. He-Man's archenemy was Skeletor, a blue-skinned sorcerer with a yellow skull for a head. He was skilled in black magic and all forms of combat, being extremely cunning and intelligent. Skeletor was accompanied by a group of henchmen who aided his evil schemes.


title: He-Man

text: The spin-off series "" revealed that Adam had a twin sister: Princess Adora, a leader of the Great Rebellion against Hordak on the planet Etheria. Adora, like Adam, was given the gift of the power of Grayskull and had her own sword which she used to transform into She-Ra, Princess of Power. He-Man made a number of appearances in the series.


title: He-Man

text: Filmation's Lou Schiemer pitched a sequel series called "He-Ro: Son of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" in which He-Man was King of Eternia, married to Teela, and had a son. The show was ultimately not picked up.


title: He-Man

text: After the end of the Masters of the Universe toy line, Mattel attempted to revive interest in He-Man by producing a new toy line, entitled "He-Man". The storyline in the minicomics packaged with the figures explained that He-Man had left Eternia and pursued Skeletor into the depths of space, who had set his sights on conquering the distant world of Primus, a planet with great technological resources. He-Man was shown to have relinquished the identity of Prince Adam altogether, basing himself on Primus where he led a team of defenders known as the Galactic Guardians. He-Man's appearance was retooled for the new toy line, with a space helmet and golden armor added to his attire to give him a more futuristic appearance; his sword was also redesigned.


title: He-Man

text: A cartoon series was produced by Jetlag Productions to accompany the toy line, entitled "The New Adventures of He-Man". Although generally following the story line from the minicomics, this series maintained the double identity of Prince Adam and He-Man. On the planet Primus, Prince Adam posed as a traveling merchant and the nephew of Master Sebrian to disguise his secret identity. His transformation oath was altered slightly, to become "By the power of Eternia..."


title: He-Man

text: To tie in with a new line of action figures based upon the original toyline, a new "He-Man" cartoon series was produced in 2002-03 by Mike Young Productions, titled "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" and given the marketing subtitle "vs. the Snake Men" in its second season. This series retold the Masters of the Universe story from the beginning. He-Man's origin was told in a 90-minute series premiere, in which the 16-year-old Prince Adam was summoned to Castle Grayskull by the Sorceress to assume the identity of He-Man and his role as Eternia's defender.


title: He-Man

text: The portrayal of his character in this series was consistent with Filmation's portrayal, although the character of Prince Adam was brasher and more youthfully energetic than his 1980s counterpart (conveying the image of a teenage boy saddled with the responsibility of defending a planet from evil). The Adam/He-Man character was redesigned, to make the character's secret identity more credible.


title: He-Man

text: In December 2019, it was announced that in addition to their other series, Netflix would also be developing a new "Masters of the Universe" series using CGI animation. With Rob David developing the series, producing it alongside Adam Bonnett, Christopher Keenan, Jeff Matsuda and Susan Corbin. Bryan Q. Miller serves as story editor on the series. Animation services are being provided by House of Cool and CGCG Inc.


title: He-Man

text: On April 29, 2019, actor Noah Centineo confirmed in an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" that he would be playing He-Man in the "Masters of the Universe" film, which was due to begin production in July 2019 and set for a 2020 release. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic he pulled out of casting two years later. In January 2022, it was announced that Kyle Allen had been cast in the role, with filming to begin that summer.


title: He-Man

text: This action-figure line combined elements from the He-Man universe into a cohesive storyline with biographies on the figures' packaging. These biographies suggested that several "He-Men" have come into existence – such as Vikor (based on an early concept design for the vintage He-Man), Oo-Larr (based on the jungle He-Man from the first minicomic. Adam takes over as King of Eternia as King He-Man, marries Teela, and they have a son named Dare.


title: He-Man

text: According to canon, the "main storyline" of He-Man concludes with He-Man (now King He-Man) ending up marrying his longtime sweetheart "Teela" and they have a son together named Dare, who later becomes He-Ro. The storyline was after defeating Skeletor, the couple ruled Eternia and their son's alter ego of He-Ro defeated the character called "The Unnamed One".


title: He-Man

text: He-Man was characterized as possessing super speed, heightened agility, superhuman strength, increased stamina and endurance. The extent of his strength was unknown, but on one occasion he was able to hoist Castle Grayskull and throw it through an interdimensional portal. He-Man also demonstrated his strength by lifting mountains and icebergs and hurling them toward a desired target. On one occasion, he welded a broken metal chain together simply by pushing the links together. In the episode "She-Demon of Phantos", he was shown to be the only person to break Photanium (claimed by Man-At-Arms to be the strongest metal in the universe). In the comics, he was shown as being able to go one-on-one with pre-Crisis Superman. On the original action figure's packaging and in the introductory sequence of the 1980s cartoon series, He-Man is claimed to be "the most powerful man in the universe". His strength was derived from magical powers within Castle Grayskull. In the Episode of the original series "Eternal Darkness", He-Man was shown pushing a moon of Eternia into a specific orbit, and then later returning it to its original position by hand.


title: He-Man

text: He can remain as He-Man for as long as he wants but if he takes too much damage or uses too much raw force, he will revert to his original form of Adam. In the 2002 series, He-Man is shown enduring the brunt of at least two large explosions, which he survives, but reverts to Adam in the process, suggesting that even He-Man has a limit as to how much abuse he can endure before his superhuman strength and stamina are exhausted. For He-Man to change back to Prince Adam he holds out his power sword, says "Let the power return!", and then He-Man and Battle Cat would change back into Prince Adam and Cringer. In the 2002 series, He-Man was shown enduring the brunt of the Ram Stone of Zalasia (a gem whose mystic force could pierce any barrier or topple any obstruction). He survived, but reverted to Adam in the process. In combat against the snake-god Serpos, He-Man was struck by the giant snake's tail and sent crashing into a mountain. When he fell to the ground, he was again in Adam's form; this suggested that there was a limit to He-Man's strength and stamina.


title: He-Man

text: He-Man's prowess is not limited to strength; he is also depicted as being extremely quick and acrobatic. His speed has been demonstrated by running fast enough to escape massive explosions and moving his arms fast enough to counteract the winds of a tornado. He-Man is also shown leaping great heights, usually flipping through the air several times before landing safely on his feet.


title: He-Man

text: It is also suggested that He-Man possesses some form of telepathic powers as well. There were several instances in the original TV series where He-Man was able to communicate and sense the presence of the Sorceress by telepathy. It was also shown that he has the ability to communicate with his sister She-Ra across great distances.


title: He-Man

text: He-Man as a character is largely non-violent, only resorting to combat as a last resort. He used his intellect more often, preferring to outsmart his adversaries; most violent actions typically consisted of body-throws. In accordance with broadcast standards of the period, in the Filmation cartoon, He-Man could not use his sword as an offensive weapon or punch or kick anyone. He was only allowed to destroy robotic enemies. The 1987 film and 2002 series, however, showed him fighting more aggressively. He-Man was depicted as a leader – most noticeably in the film adaptation, where he is referred to as the "leader" of the resistance. Skeletor intended to force him into submission, rather than killing him – fearing that doing the latter would turn He-Man into a martyr who would inspire others to fight.


title: He-Man

text: He-Man's primary weapon was his sword, but he also used other weapons (such as a laser-gun in the film and the mini-comics, a battle axe, a shield, and other equipment - including vehicles) while battling his foes. His sword, apparently indestructible, could deflect bolts of energy. His sister Adora's Sword of Protection was not entirely indestructible; the stone in the hilt was once damaged, preventing her from transforming. In addition, the sword gave him the ability to transform from Prince Adam into He-Man (and back) by utilizing the powers of Castle Grayskull. He also uses his sword to transform Cringer into Battle Cat. In the earliest versions of the story (for example, the first four minicomics) He-Man's primary weapon was an axe, because the sword was intended to serve as a plot device that would only be used in order to gain entry into Castle Grayskull. The breastplate on his power harness was made of an Eternian mineral (corodite) which helped add to his physical strength. The origin of the power harness was explained in the episode "Evil-Lyn's Plot" (written by Paul Dini).


title: He-Man

text: According to a book by Michael G. Cornelius, He-Man is considered a narrow definition of masculinity. Cornelius cited He-Man as the literal "strongest man in the universe" and says that his chief adversary Skeletor's primary weapon is his intellect, mirroring a Superman/Lex Luthor dichotomy.


title: He-Man

text: According to Erika Scheimer, Filmation welcomed gay artists, and many members of the studio "long[ed] to see themselves onscreen". In an interview with gay lifestyle online magazine "Queerty", Rob David and Tim Sheridan, who work on the "Masters of the Universe: Revelation", discussed the character's homoeroticism and gay fanbase. According to David, who is an executive producer of "Revelation" and Mattel's Vice President of Creative Content, Mattel is "very comfortable" with He-Man's gay audience and their perception of the character as a gay man.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: The flag of Hawaii (Hawaiian: ""), in addition to the current state design, previously had been used by the kingdom, protectorate, republic, and territory of Hawaii. It is the only U.S. state flag to include a foreign country's national flag. The inclusion of the Union Jack of the United Kingdom is a mark of the Royal Navy's historical relations with the Hawaiian Kingdom, particularly with King Kamehameha I. The flag continued to be used after the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: In 1793, Captain George Vancouver, of the British Royal Navy, having previously visited the islands in 1778–1779 with Captain James Cook, returned in command of HMS "Discovery". During the visit, Vancouver met with Kamehameha I and presented him with a Red Ensign, used by the Royal Navy at the time. The Kingdom of Ireland was not a formal part of the United Kingdom before 1801, which meant that, at this time, the British flag did not contain the Saint Patrick's Cross of Ireland. This version of the Red Ensign, as well as the current version which added the cross in 1801, served as the unofficial flag of the Kingdom of Hawaii until 1816.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: Scottish Captain Alexander Adams' journals mention the British East India Company flag when Kamehameha had originally purchased Adams' brig named the "Forester" and renamed "Kaahumanu". As part of the ship's transfer, the ensign of the East India Company, which consisted of the Union Jack on a field of red-and-white stripes, was taken by Adams during a ceremony with an 11-gun salute. Many older Native Hawaiians prior to 1921 believed that the current flag of Hawaii was created by Adams during his trip to China in 1817. At that time Adams was Commander of the Hawaiian Kingdom Navy, captaining the "Kaahumanu" under Kamehameha I. While there is no indication that the flag was either made or flown during that period, Adams did note that on his way to China, while stopping at Waimea, Kauai for supplies, he did give Kaumualiʻi his own ensign to raise at the port, as the king only had a Russian flag left from the Russian colony in Hawaii.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: There may have been different versions of the flag with different numbers of stripes and colors. The number of stripes also changed: originally, the flag was designed with either seven or nine horizontal stripes, and in 1845 it was officially changed to eight stripes. The latter arrangement is used today.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: The canton of the flag of Hawaii contains the Union Flag of the United Kingdom, prominent over the top quarter closest to the flag mast. The field of the flag is composed of eight horizontal stripes, symbolizing the eight major islands (Hawaii, Maui, Kahoolawe, Lānai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau). Other versions of the flag have only seven stripes, probably representing the islands with the exception of Kahoolawe or Niihau. The color of the stripes, from the top down, follows the sequence: white, red, blue, white, red, blue, white, red. The colors were standardized in 1843, although other combinations have been seen and are occasionally still used.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: In 2001, a survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) placed Hawaii's flag 11th in design quality out of the 72 U.S. and Canadian provincial, state, and territorial flags ranked.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: Despite superficially resembling the flags of British Overseas Territories, the Hawaiian flag is proportioned differently – the Union Jack in the canton is in a 4:7 ratio, and a differing standard is used to define the colors.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: In 1990, Governor of Hawaii John Waihee proclaimed July 31 to be , the Hawaiian Flag Day. It has been celebrated each year since then. It is the same date as , Sovereignty Restoration Day, a holiday of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi that is celebrated by proponents of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: The flag used by the governor of Hawaii is a red and blue bi-color. In the middle of the eight white stars appears the name of the state in all capital letters. During the time Hawaii was a United States territory, the letters in the middle of the flag were "TH", which stood for "Territory of Hawaii".


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: The ("true people" in the Hawaiian language) design is purported by some to be the original flag of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, though this claim is unverified and widely disputed. It has nine alternating stripes of green, red, and yellow defaced with a green shield with a (ceremonial feather standard) crossed by two paddles.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: Gene Simeona claims to have unearthed the Kanaka Maoli flag in 1999. Simeona said he encountered a descendent of Lord George Paulet who told him about an earlier flag. Simeona claims to have found evidence of the "" flag in the state archives, though any sources he may have used have not been identified. Subsequent efforts to verify Simeona's claim have been unsuccessful. Critics of the claim have pointed to evidence of the widely accepted Hawaiian flag being in existence before the Kanaka Maoli flag. Louis "Buzzy" Agard had proposed a Hawaiian flag design in 1993 which featured nine alternating stripes and the same charge as on the flag, leading many to believe it is where Simeona drew his inspiration.


title: Flag of Hawaii

text: Despite the lack of verification about its historic use, the design has gained popularity among people who prefer its lack of colonial imagery.


title: I Am Groot

text: I Am Groot is an American series of animated shorts created by Kirsten Lepore for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics featuring the character Groot. It features characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), following Baby Groot on various adventures that get him into trouble between the events of "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014) and one of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017) mid-credits scenes. The series is produced by Marvel Studios, with Lepore serving as head writer and director.


title: I Am Groot

text: Vin Diesel reprises his role as the voice of Baby Groot from the MCU films, with Bradley Cooper also starring. "I Am Groot" was announced in December 2020, and Luma Pictures began work on the series' photorealistic animation by August 2021. The involvement of Lepore was revealed that November.


title: I Am Groot

text: "I Am Groot" premiered with five shorts on Disney+ on August 10, 2022, as part of of the MCU. Five additional shorts are in development.


title: I Am Groot

text: Each short follows Baby Groot as he grows up in the galaxy, going on adventures with new and unusual characters that get him into trouble.


title: I Am Groot

text: Additionally, James Gunn voices a wrist watch and Trevor Devall voices Iwua, a shapeshifting alien who mimics Groot.


title: I Am Groot

text: In December 2020, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced "I Am Groot", a series of short films starring Baby Groot. Around then, Marvel Studios' head of streaming, television and animation Brad Winderbaum chose Kirsten Lepore to direct the shorts, which would have "little-to-no dialogue". Marvel Studios was looking for a way to return to the Baby Groot character after his appearance in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017) since they felt there was "a whole universe of stories to tell" with him as a toddler. They also were drawn to early Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck short films as a way to "go back to that early Disney animation short-form style of storytelling". Lepore was announced as director of the shorts during the Disney+ Day event in November 2021; she is also the series' head writer.


title: I Am Groot

text: "I Am Groot" consists of five shorts, totaling approximately 15 minutes. The shorts are executive produced by Marvel Studios' Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Winderbaum, as well as James Gunn, the writer and director of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, and Lepore. Production on five additional shorts was underway by July 2022, described as a second season. Lepore said this second collection of shorts would be "in the same spirit" as the first, and features ideas she had that did not make the first collection of shorts.


title: I Am Groot

text: Lepore drew inspiration from her son, and said the series uses science fiction elements to explore Groot's regular childhood moments. She met with Gunn throughout the process to ensure that she was accurately portraying Baby Groot, who Gunn described to her as a "bad baby". Lepore was also inspired by "Looney Tunes" as well as a Buster Keaton style of smart, physical comedy, which Feige and Winderbaum were also excited to explore. Marvel Studios was able to create animatics more easily given "I Am Groot" is shorts, allowing them to "play with bits and... concepts" to see what worked and find the identity of the series.


title: I Am Groot

text: For the first short, "Groot's First Steps", Lepore wanted to explore Groot growing out of his pot, and was able to incorporate that with another idea of Groot, a sentient tree, going up against a non-sentient tree, which allowed her to explore Keaton physical comedy "in which the inanimate object always wins". "Groot's Pursuit" was conceived thinking about how children can mimic one another, resulting in one getting frustrated by it. Lepore was also interested in exploring Groot's physical abilities, which led to the short "Groot Takes a Bath". She described Groot as becoming a Chia Pet, which resulted in "a very fun arena to play in".


title: I Am Groot

text: Gunn said the series was not necessarily connected to his "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, and described them as being "canon to themselves" in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Joshua Meyer from "/Film" likened this to the "Team Thor" mockumentary shorts which he called a "funny bit of apocrypha that isn't essential to MCU continuity". Winderbaum said the shorts were set between the end of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and that film's mid-credits scene which featured a teenage Groot, with Lepore adding that it also showed events between the end of "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014) and the start of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2". Gunn later stated he found it hard to see how they were "canonically MCU" despite Marvel saying they were. Other members of the Guardians of the Galaxy do not appear in the series, outside of Rocket, as the creatives were interested in focusing on Groot and "getting to know his character better" while also exploring the fun of seeing "what he does when nobody's looking" since "that's where he gets into the most trouble".


title: I Am Groot

text: Vin Diesel was confirmed to be reprising his role as the voice of Baby Groot in June 2022. Diesel recorded new lines for the shorts, after it was initially discussed to reuse existing recordings of him saying "I am Groot" for the series. The next month, Bradley Cooper was revealed to be reprising his MCU role as the voice of Rocket, as well as Gunn voicing a wrist watch. Trevor Devall voices Iwua. Bob Bergen, Terri Douglas, Scott Menville, Kaitlyn Robrock, Fred Tatasciore, Kari Wahlgren, and Matthew Wood provide additional voices.


title: I Am Groot

text: Baby Groot is the same model designed by Luma Pictures for "Vol. 2". Lepore enjoyed designing the Grunds, seen in "Little Guys", and finding the way to make them be expressive with "just black dots and a mouth". Other original designs for the series included Iwua, the shapeshifting alien, and Snoot Pin Bongo, a squirrel-like creature inspired by the "Star Wars" character Salacious Crumb. Perception created the titles for "I Am Groot". The series presents the Marvel Studios opening and fanfare fast-forwarding. Lepore was looking to get "really irreverent" with the opening, with Winderbaum adding the studio was always looking for ways to shorten the opening. The creatives liked this since it helped balance the runtime of the shorts without having "a minute-and-a-half opening" along with "a five-minute credit sequence", with Lepore calling it the perfect design for Groot.