Let's go to the Thought Bubble. So in 1799, Napoleon seized power in France in a coup, and his new regime, called the Consulate, because he was the first consul, a la the Roman Republic, established a new constitution that specifically pointed out its laws did not apply to France's overseas colonies. Napoleon had plans to reconstruct France's empire in North America that it had lost most of during the Seven Years' War, and to do this, he needed tons of money from France's most valuable colony, San Domingo. And the best way to maximize profits? Why, to reintroduce slavery, of course. That's certainly what the former slaves thought was the plan, when in 1802, a French expedition commanded by Napoleon's brother-in-law, Charles Victor Emmanuel I-have-too-many-names Leclerc, showed up in San Domingo. This started the second phase of the Haitian Revolution, the fight for independence.