As many as six thousand whites in…
1756 CE to 1767 CE
As many as six thousand whites in Saint-Domingue have been poisoned and killed over a six-year period by the one-armed Maroon François Mackandal and his followers, who believe him to be invulnerable.
It is speculated that Mackandal lost his right arm in a farming accident when it was caught in a sugarcane press and crushed between the rollers.
Creating poisons from island herbs, Mackandal distributes the poison to slaves, who add it to the meals and refreshments they serve the French plantation owners and planters.
A charismatic guerrilla leader, he has united the different Maroon bands and created a network of secret organizations connected with enslaved people still on plantations.
He leads Maroons to raid plantations at night, torch property, and kill the owners.
Mackandal is to be publicly executed by burning, but somehow manages to escape from the flames, thereby perpetuating the legend of his invulnerability.
Nevertheless, he is eventually recaptured, and this time the French manage to burn him alive at the stake in the public square of Cap Francais (today Cap Haitien).
A colorful and varied range of myths about the man's life exist.
Various supernatural accounts of his execution, and of his escaping capture by the French authorities, are preserved in island folklore, and are widely depicted in paintings and popular art.
Locations
People
Commodities
Subjects
Regions
West Indies
View →Subregions
