The secret history of Leonora Sansay; or, The Horrors of Santo Domingo was a novel written as a series of letters from an American woman in Haiti to Aaron Burr which provided a historical narrative surrounding the Haitian Revolution. Written in an “unknown-known” mode, the novel offers a voice of the Haitian revolution that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. Sansay offers a number of stories that depict the political unconsciousness of Haiti's first republic and the dominant but repressed problem of the republic – a problem that had been founded on freedom that kept segments of the population enslaved. In the novel's early letters, Sansay speaks of the unfathomable events and conditions of the republic following the revolution, specifically highlighting the internal tensions that existed in the republic in relation to racial politics and French colonial power. Sansay also gives a number of examples describing the barbaric methods of the revolutionaries and the horrible scenes of war that took place during his stay in Santo Domingo. Specifically demonstrated through Clara's relationship with her husband Saint-Louis and General Rochambeu, Sansay also depicts the oppression that women endured during their time in Haiti and the tyranny they were subjected to at the hands of their counterparts masculine. Sansay's novel also shows the similarities between the Haitian Revolution and the American Revolution, whose ultimate goal is to ensure the freedom and equality of their people. In the very first page of Letter I, Leonora Sansay gives an overview of the reason for her arrival in Haiti. “The company of my traveling companions was so pleasant that I often forgot the inconveniences to which I was exposed. He...... middle of paper ......ction with other men (notably Rochambeu), he attacks Clara with violence and imprisons her in the house, threatening to kill her. The marriage between Clara and Saint-Louis is a perfect example of how marriage was a tyrannical institution and how domestic life was viewed in a private and closed sphere. Clara's relationship with General Rochambeu also demonstrates how these male-female relationships had a direct impact on colonial policy. Instead of focusing on the task at hand (defeating the revolutionaries), Rochambeu spent an enormous amount of time, energy, and money trying to lure In Clara out and destroy Saint-Louis. Through his extravagant displays of wealth, Sansay shows how Rochambeau's tactics were executed in an effort to maintain European supremacy and as a way for the French to convince themselves of their ability to reconquer their colonial possessions..