Biassou was the chief early leader of the 1791 slave rising that began the Haitian Revolution. With Jean François and Jeannot, he was prophecied by Dutty Boukman to lead the revolution, and fought with the Spanish royalists against the French Revolutionary authorities in colonial Haiti. He had Jeannot put to death for excessive cruelty. Defeated by his former ally Toussaint L'Ouverture, he remained under Spanish service and withdrew in 1795 to Florida, which was then part of the Spanish colony of Cuba.