Also known as: Mackandal conspiracy, Mackandal's rebellion
Last updated: April 26, 2026
François Mackandal, a One-armed Haitian Vodouisant and maroon leader, organized a network across the Northern Plain from approximately 1751 to 1758, distributing poisons to enslaved people to kill slaveholders, livestock, and other colonists. He operated through a clandestine network of plant-medicine practitioners and leveraged Vodou spirituality to organize and bind his conspirators. French colonial authorities estimated hundreds of deaths before they captured Mackandal in January 1758. He was burned at the stake at Cap-Français on January 20, 1758. Mackandal became a central figure in Haitian revolutionary memory, regarded as the first major leader of armed resistance against slavery in Saint-Domingue.
Mackandal was burned at the stake at Cap-Français in January 1758
The poisoning campaign was centered on the plantation districts of the Northern Plain
Mackandal's campaign was the most famous use of poison as organized resistance in Saint-Domingue.
Mackandal organized his network through Vodou ritual and spiritual authority
If you use rasin.ai data or findings in your research, please cite us:
Chicago
"Mackandal's Poisoning Campaign." 1751. Rasin.ai, 2026. https://rasin.ai/connections/events/mackandal-poisoning-campaign. Accessed 2026-05-05.