Alex Dumas

Alex Dumas

The French Revolution saw devastating violence and devastating political change. Alex Dumas was a French General during the French Revolution. He started as the son of a Black slave and rose up to the highest place any Black person would hold until the modern age. Alex Dumas is a story of resilience, beating the odds and the French Revolution.

Alex Dumas was the highest-ranking Black man in the white world until Barack Obama in the United States. He was born in the mid-18^th century.  He is not widely known today; however, he is known by his son’s The Count of Mount Crispo where he is a widely recognized figure in the book.

Alex Dumas is a story of resilience; he started his life as the son of a slave on a Caribbean sugar plantation. He was “bright” from a young age but faced long odds. According to Tom Reiss, he writes, “Though ubitiquous in the ancient world, slavery was not based on any sense of “race”.[1] Originally there were white slaves in the Caribbean’s sugar plantations in the 14^th century. However, by the time of Alex Dumas, slavery was mostly a Black African thing; which had started with the Muslims. He rose through the ranks of the army becoming a general. He was an extremely bright, effective and talented general as noticed by the increased organization, zeal and effectiveness of his troops.

In his last five years of his life, he was in a French prison during the time of Napolean’s reign. Napolean had reinstated slavery and put Alex Dumas in prison.

Bibliography

Dumas, Thomas-Alexandre. “Thomas-Alexandre Dumas.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Last modified February 22, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexandre-Dumas-French-general.

Reiss, Tom. The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo. New York: Crown Publishers, 2012.

Sams, Joel. “The Real Count of Monte Cristo Was Alexandre Dumas’s Father, a Trailblazing Black General.” Smithsonian Magazine, March 17, 2026. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-count-of-monte-cristo-was-alexandre-dumas-father-a-trailblazing-black-general-180988347/

[1] Reiss, Tom, The Black Count, (Random House. 2012.) Pg. 27