Often times the Haitian Revolution is described as the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the western Hemisphere. It was the result of a long struggle by the slaves in the French colony of St. Dominique, but was also propelled by the free Mulattos who had long faced problems of being second-class citizens. They initiated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1803 they had accomplished ending slavery, and French control over the colony. However, the Haitian Revolution was way more complex, consisting of many revolutions going on at the same time. They were all influence by the French revolution of 1789, which represented a whole new concept of human rights, universal citizenship, and participation in government. The slave revolution that …show more content…
While they enjoyed some freedom, they were still second-class, and repressed by the white power structure that recognized them as merely being black. They were despised by poor whites because many Mulattoes were rich plantation owners themselves. With one of their parents most likely being French, they chose to identify themselves with that aspect of their race rather than the black. To them they were French and wanted the same rights as their white neighbors. Free people of color were held down by white elites at any chance given, and on September 1789, when planters rejected their proposed reforms, they appealed to the National Assembly. The Address to the National Assembly states “Born citizens and free, they live as foreigners in their own fatherland, Excluded from all positions, from honors and professions, they are even forbidden to practice some of the mechanical trades. Set apart in the most degrading fashion, they find themselves enslaved even in their liberty”. (Document 5) This is saying that even in the midst of them being free, free people of color were still held down and bonded in their freedom. There were several limits to their freedom. They were not allowed to vote or hold office in government. They also wanted representation in France. Despite the arguments made by the free men of color and their white Parisian supporters that they were capable of being citizens, …show more content…
Saint-Domingue had become the largest and most brutal slave society of the region after Brazil. The death rates for the slaves in Saint-Domingue were higher than their birth rates. There were many causes for the high death rates, but the main one was overwork and malnutrition. The slaves on this island worked from sun up to sun down. All the while they are working, they were doing so in very harsh conditions. Their masters treated them as machines, only caring about their revenues. They were very demanding and gave the slaves little to no medical care. The slaves had very bad living conditions and often times contracted diseases. Sugar, the main product being shipped from Saint-Domingue, was very hard to harvest. Some scholars refer to the sugar cane plantation as a factory in a field. At the same time the demand for sugar was steadily increasing. This treatment was the driving force behind the slaves during the revolt. They did not want to go back to slavery. Pierre Mossut described the slave uprising in his letter to one of his employers who was away. It stated in the Letter to the Marquis de Gallifet “There is a motor that powers them and that keeps powering them and that we cannot come to know”. The slave revolt in Saint-Domingue occurred just before the most violent years of the French Revolution. All they needed was inspiration to spark the revolt. A leader was
My taught of the Haitian/French revolution is that was a great thing because Haitians was one of the first to gain their freedom by killing the ones that had enslaved them and led by a great leader Toussaint louver Ture that fought with the former slaves to gain their freedoms. Toussaint tried to argue to stop the slaughtering by negotiating with them but they did not agree with them so Toussaint decided to keep fighting to white until all formers slaves was created equal and that made Toussaint a great leader and during all of them years of fighting Toussaint became the official know leader that lead. In my opinion I think Toussaint is one of the greatest leader to lead a slave rebellion because his ideas were to negotiate with the whites so that they both
The Haitian Revolution was one of the most important slave revolts in Latin American history. It started a succession of other revolutionary wars in Latin America and ended both colonialism and imperialism in the Americas. The Haitian Revolution affected people from all social castes in Haiti including the indigenous natives, mestizos, mulattos and the Afro-Latin. The idea of starting a rebellion against France began with the colony’s white elite class seeking a capitalist market. These elites in the richest mining and plantation economies felt that the European governments were limiting their growth and restricting free trades. However, the Afro-Latin, mestizos and mulattos turned the Haitian Revolution into a war for equality and built a new state. The Haitian Revolution, with the support of it large slave population and lower class citizens, eliminated slavery and founded the Republic of Haiti. Tin this essay I will discuss how mestizos, mulattos and the Afro-Latin Americans population in Haiti participate in the fight for independence and how they creation of new republics.
Throughout the 16th century, as there was a demographic collapse of the indigenous population, there was now a new demand for slave labor in Latin America. In Brazil, the Portuguese needed a large workforce to cultivate sugar plantations. As a result, numerous slaves from Africa were imported to work on large plantation fields. In various plantations, rural slaves experienced harsh working and living conditions. Few slaves had a high life expectancy. Robert Edgar Conrad in “Children of God’s Fire,” shares some primary sources that dealt with the types of environments and conditions many slaves faced and encountered in Brazil. The sources also gave insight into the regulations and economics/business of the slave trade. Conrad states that rural Brazil was “a hell for blacks” (Conrad 54). Many slaves dealt with extremely harsh conditions just to keep the European market in Latin American growing and profitable. This paper will analyze how rural slaves lived and worked on Brazilian sugar plantations.
Furthermore, the population of Saint-Domingue around this time was approximately 500,000, and of that total population ninety-percent of it was slaves. With the abolishment of slavery in Haiti’s constitution, the commodities produced, especially the sugar economy, took a massive hit. As a result, the sugar produced in Saint-Domingue was drastically reduced; for example: in 1801, its
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
In 1789, locations across the globe were affected by the French Revolution. This was a revolt initiated by the people that would change France forevermore, but it also changed Haiti. Unexpectedly, the French Revolution had a significant influence on the Haitian Revolution, a major slave revolt where slaves forcefully took their freedom for the first time in history. The French Revolution impacted the Haitian Revolution by changing the mindsets of the people, inspiring the Haitian Constitution, and initiating the final phase.
Similar to the American Revolution, the Haitians too seeked to create a republic founded on the values of the Enlightenment - but unlike the Americans, Haiti took this a step further, by outlawing slavery and becoming the first modern nation ruled by Africans. As the French Revolution began, there was a political crisis in St. Domingue, France’s wealthiest colony, and supplier of nearly 40% of Europe’s sugar imports. Planters were threatened by the Revolution, which aimed to remove many of the privileges enjoyed by the aristocracy (who made up the planter class). Wealthy free blacks, some of who owned plantations themselves, began to demand equal rights to whites. Poor whites, felt that the Revolution did not include blacks, and imagined a new society where they had enough to own slaves themselves. Out of the chaos of this political struggle, the slave population of St. Domingue, which made up nearly 90% of the colony’s population, revolted and seized power for themselves. By 1794, Haiti had seen one of the largest, and successful, slave rebellions in the course of human
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.
The system was incredibly brutal and non-lenient to the slaves, and all the while, disease was capable of ravaging them. Many various types of grievous torture were a regular occurrence in Haiti.
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.
Besides slave uprising, another stimuli for the Haitian Revolution was the political and social conditions of France. Around 1787 an anti-slavery sentiment developed in France after being heavily influenced by the English abolitionists movements, which included among others the Quakers. Furthermore, the political instability of France during the late eighteenth century forced the small community of
Finally, Haiti got quite a bit of their motivation and reason for revolt from some of the Eighteenth century Enlightenment philosophers. These philosophers played a very big role in the development of many revolutions across the globe, including Haiti’s. “Throughout history, revolutions have started because of new ideas that change thinking and disrupt the status quo. The Haitian Revolution of 1789-1804 is no exception.”(Nicholson). The main philosopher that the Haitians took their ideas from is John Locke. Some of Locke’s ideas were previously unheard of, and started quite a debate when he published his books. These ideas gave people a new view on the way that things were seen all across the world, and gave people ideas they would have never had before. (“The Enlightenment”) “A government, he said, has an obligation to the people it governs. If a government fails its obligations or violates
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.
Resistance is commonly known as a fight or the opposition of the system of slavery, whereas, revolt is the refusal to obey or confirm to a certain order. One of the main resistance and revolt that occurred in the Caribbean was the Haitian Revolution. This School Based Assessment (SBA) is aimed at identifying the main causes and effects of the Haitian Revolution.
The Haitian Revolution of 1791 proved to be huge success for the slaves and revolters.