The first step in Napoleon's failed attempt was to recapture the French colony of Sainte-Domingue, which was ruled by Toussaint L'Ouveture, a leader of the the rebel army. Bonaparte's motivation to recover the island of Sainte-Domingue stemmed from two key factors. The main reason he wanted to save the island was to restore the sugar industry and slave labor in the region. If Napoleon had been successful in this goal, he could have successfully launched the Louisiana Territory as his North American empire. The rebellion in Saint-Domingue is essential to the Louisiana Purchase because every step of Napoleon's plan met with resistance from natives and generals. Furthermore, a correlation exists as a result of Bonaparte's failure to achieve his goal of returning Saint-Domingue to its days under French rule, where slavery was a cornerstone; the defeat of the French during this revolt was the turning point where Napoleon realized that he needed money more than an empire in America. These objectives can be supported by an excerpt from “Louisiana: European Explorations and the Louisiana Purchase: A Special Presentation from the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress” which