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Often The Term “Revolution” Makes One Think Of The Revolutionary

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Often the term “revolution” makes one think of the Revolutionary War in the American colonies. However, a revolution implies monumental economic, political, and/or social change and the American colonies’ standing in all three of these categories remained relatively the same after the war was over. However, right in their ‘backyard’ Saint Domingue (present day Haiti, but it will be referred to it by its colonial name unless it is being talked about it after its revolution) was on its way to a revolution at the end of the 1700s A.D. and during the mid to late 1800s A.D. multiple wars were fought in Cuba for their independence. From a logistical perspective, both attempts at revolution had several similarities. Both areas were under colonial …show more content…

The slaves that resisted used multiple methods, including: running away, sabotage, faking sicknesses, self-mutilation, and mocking of authorities. During the Insurrection period in Saint Domingue from about 1791 to 1798 there were three different groups fighting against France: slaves, free people of mixed race, and whites. Each group had different reasons why they were unhappy under France’s rule. In the end, France made concessions to the whites and free people of mixed race to keep the two groups content and make sure their slave economy could stay in place. This, however, did not last long as both groups soon learned that France would repeatedly go back on the bargains it made with different groups. The conflict with the Spanish helped escalate problems, but eventually a black slave named Toussaint Louverture switched sides and helped France drive the Spanish out. He climbed up the political ladder and soon found himself beneath only the governor of the island, whom he had great sway with. This grab for leadership would continue to push whites to leave Saint Domingue, making it easier for the former slaves and free people of mixed race to overthrow the previous social and political structure. Under the dictatorship of Toussaint it was unclear who his loyalty was to, and thus he was unseated from power not long after he gained it. One of the biggest flaws in his leadership was when he attempted to establishing an agricultural

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