Universally revered as a political, military and social luminary of the late 18th and early 19th century, Toussaint is reexamined herein not in legendary terms but in the context of his pursuit of simple human dignity. Phillips illustrates Toussaint's best qualities through the colloquial English of a 19th Century abolitionist to a vast lay audience. The persistence of this landmark work lies firmly in the oration's power to humanize Toussaint. The human perspective is often lost in other works examining Toussaint due to their propensity to alternately deify or cast this remarkable man in tragic, almost Shakespearian terms. Eschewing the "noble savage" logic of his contemporaries, Phillips instead paints a broad image of Toussaint L'Ouverture the man, his place in history and his importance not just to negroes but to the whole of mankind regardless of sex, class or ethnic origin.
