Haitian Revolution Ideals

It was during the late half of the eighteenth century that would experience a series of turbulence across the Atlantic World. In a time that can be called an era of revolution, the Atlantic World faced a multitude of uprisings. The American Revolution in 1765 would be the start of the age of revolutions, and would later inspire the revolutions of other countries across the Atlantic, such as the French Revolution in 1789, the Haitian Revolution in 1791, and later the Latin American Revolutions during the early nineteenth century. The events of these revolutions created shockwaves across the Atlantic that would bring new developments that had a lasting impact on the world. However, since slavery was an integral part to what had transpired in

The Haitian and French Revolutions both aimed to overthrow the unjust influences of the French monarchy and ultimately succeeded in positively obtaining more social equality for the majority of their people, with differing impacts on their political and economic structures. The Haitian slaves in Haiti and the Third Estate in French were both large social classes that had very little power and influence in their countries. By ignoring the welfare of these populations, the ruling classes were eventually overthrown with significant impacts on the political, social, and economic futures of both France and Haiti

The Haitian Revolution is recorded as the only known completely successful slave revolt in world history. Taking place from 1791 to 1804, the rebellion ended slavery in Saint Domingue, and rebirthed the area into the Republic of Haiti. The Revolution carried effects on a grand scale. Globally, other countries began to become fearful due to the rebellions, and this rage was voiced by citizens around the world. The French government’s political role in the lives of Haitians during the rebellion was expressed in numerous governing documents. The social impact of the revolution can be seen through the perspectives of slaves during the time period.

As the revolutionary time period continued to surge, the Haitian revolted against the French as giving way for political independence and the freedom of the inhabitants, however the economy diminished for many countries did not want to trade with the Haitians. With the success in the Haitian revolution, the Haitians gained political freedom from the French and created their own government in 1804. Not only did the Haitians gain political freedom, but they also abolished slavery for the citizens and gained the right to be a free man and a citizen. Since the slave revolution succeed, many countries blocked communication and economic trade with the Haitians in fear of their slaves revolting which dwindled the economic success that previously occurred with the French.

The ideas of the Enlightenment inspired both the American and French Revolution. The Revolution was based on the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Philosophers of the Enlightenment, known as philosophes, favored limited monarchy, freedom of speech, and equality. The Enlightenment was based on the ideas of John Locke who said that all men are born with natural rights of life, liberty, and property. He believed that human nature was basically good and that in a state of nature, without any government, people would be reasonable and cooperative and could both learn from their experiences and improve themselves. France’s government and society on the eve of the Revolution went against everything the Enlightenment philosophers favored.

That’s why the French Revolution, along with Haiti, exhibited new and unconventional ideas[Kaiser Encyclopedia]. The ideas of “liberty, equality, and fraternity”[Chapter 10, Brittanica] were supposedly though valid for all peoples, but that was considered troublesome for those who wished to control the social hierarchy. King Louis XVI was unable to adequately reform the french fiscal system, which laid the foundation for the revolution[Voyages 495-496]. When he showed reluctance to rule as a constitutional monarch, he was beheaded by french revolutionaries. Later, the National Assembly had to force their ruler to sign the Assembly’s constitution. In Haiti, the prosperity of the colony was based upon slavery. This was an issue because the majority of the population were slaves, and had no say in the government. Both the Haitians and the French had to fight for what they wanted and were strongly opposed. The political changes taking place in France at the time of the French Revolution brought change for the

The precepts of the Enlightenment did not concentrate simply on religious liberty. It concentrated on universal ideas such as limited government, popular sovereignty, private property and yet others. And in order to secure these civil liberties, it was first necessary to establish a government predicated on limited authority. As Jean-Jacques Rousseau said, “What, then, is the government? An intermediary body established between the subjects and the sovereign for their mutual communication, a body charged with the execution of the laws and the maintenance of freedom, both civil and political.”

The French Revolution had many contributions to its cause. One of these many causes was financial crisis and economic conflicts. There was an injustice in the amount each person must pay (document 1). The people of nobility were taxed very little and the commoners were taxed heavily. Also, the poor people were extremely poor.

Throughout the years of 1750-1914, an age of revolutions broke out, causing a global change in politics. The Enlightenment Ideals influenced this worldwide change, from the social contract, separation of power, and natural rights. The social contract influenced the revolutions when all middle/lower class people wanted equality in their country. Natural rights take place in the worldwide revolutions because everyone wants to live with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Some documents that influence these revolutions are the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and The Saint-Domingue Constitution of 1801.

The cause and effects of the Haitian Revolution have played, and continue to play, a major role in the history of the Caribbean. During the time of this rebellion, slavery was a large institution throughout the Caribbean. The success of the sugar and other plantations was based on the large slave labor forces. Without these forces, Saint Domingue, the island with the largest sugar production, and the rest of the Caribbean, would face the threat of losing a profitable industry.

The Revolution started in 1789 and Europe had been recently influenced by the Seven Years’ War, American Revolution, as well as the Enlightenment, which was prior to both of these events. The Seven Years’ War was a war that involved France and Britain, in which Britain defeated France leaving them in an economic crisis. In addition, France continued to participate in the American Revolution, in order to get revenge on Britain, this conclusively backfired, as it brought liberal ideas to France and also pushed them further into their economic catastrophe. Ultimately, the Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution led France to a position of being susceptible to revolution, due to their plundering economic status and the new ideals brought forward. The Enlightenment also altered France’s way of thinking, as it introduced revolutionary beliefs. Socially, Enlightenment ideas heavily impacted the French Revolution in the sense that views of liberty reflected in Montesquieu’s “The Spirit of the Laws” as well as beliefs pertaining to revolution, mentioned in John Locke’s “Two Treaties of Government” can be directly linked to the Third Estate’s desire to be represented in an equal manner and the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.” Religiously, Enlightenment ideas weren’t as impactful as social ideas. Although, the concept of rationalism was a major cause for the Catholic Church’s property to be nationalized and sold with hopes of financing the state. In addition, the National Assembly granted Jews and French-Protestants the right to practice their religion, which corresponds with the Enlightenment idea of religious toleration. The social ideas of the Enlightenment heavily impacted policies of the French Revolution through the concepts of liberty and revolution, whereas religious ideas can be observed through rationalism and religious

The Haitian Revolution is based on the political purpose that France had when they fought to possess Saint-Domingue (now called Haiti). France, like other empires at the time, was trying to extend its wealth and power. Therefore, possessing Haiti, having a lot of gold, sugar, coffee, indigo and others were one way to be strong and powerful. Being driven by the profits that Haiti were emanating, African slaves were continuously brought to Haiti, first to replace the Aboriginals that had died previously, but also to increase their profits. This led to the slaves outnumbering the French colonizers. Later on, the free people of color were demanding more right to the French government and after their refusal, the slaves and the free people of color revolted which led to the Haitian revolution (Simpsons 1942, 487). The French colonizers were already struggling about the equality between themselves because there was a hierarchy present within the White community. Moreover, what created a reaction to help slaves to revolt was the “religious ceremony performed at Bois Caïman by the Maroon voodoo priest Dutty Boukman, which was attended by representative slaves from several plantations” (Laguerre 1989, 1). Boukman called the help of the spirits to revolt against the white colonists. The revolution of Haiti in 1804 was a social and political uprising in the French Colony of Saint-Domingue. Voodoo rapidly became Haiti’s way out of slavery, as it helped them reunite together and gain the

The Haitian revolution took place in Saint-Domingue, a French colony and one of the richest of all European colonies in the Caribbean, on the western part of the island of Hispaniola, a major center of sugar production with hundreds of prosperous plantations. The population of the colony comprised of three groups, the white colonials, the gens de couleur, and the slaves. Many slaves ran away and established maroon communities that were self-sustained. As more and more slaves ran away, more and more slaves were being imported from Africa and other Caribbean islands, which resulted in the high prices of slaves. Since the French aided the North American colonists in their war for independence, they sent several hundreds of gens de couleur to the colonies. Once they returned to Saint-Domingue, they wanted independence themselves from the French.

Prior to the French Revolution enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire had been writing about equality and individual freedoms. These ideas began to catch hold with the populous of France, who were almost all living in very poor conditions. Perhaps the most important of these authors, in regards to the French Revolution, was John Locke who talked about the idea of a decentralized government, a system where the people represented the people; a democracy.1 The people of France began to make a push for such equality, and in August of

The Enlightenment era was a heavy influence on the French Revolution to find ways to govern people in society after the absolute monarchy of King Louis XVI. The beliefs of the Enlightenment, including Locke’s “natural rights”, Voltaire’s free society; and Rousseau’s social contract and general will, ultimately swayed ideas towards to understanding aspects of life and