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The effect of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution
Similarities and differences between the french and haitian revolutions
Haitian revolution and how it motivated social change
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The French Revolution vs The Haitian Revolution
Both very influential revolutions, the French and Haitian revolutions drew similarities, like using violence in order to gain freedom and being inspired by The Age of Enlightenment and its ideals to form new rights. The two revolutions were similar in some ways but they also differed quite a bit, like to resist the French rejected religion and took power away from the church, while the Haitians embraced Vodou as a way to take control and resist their oppressors. Another big difference was the The French Revolution happened internally, the French people overthrew their own government but, the Haitian revolution was external, as they were trying to gain freedom from the French. The Haitian Revolution ended up being the more significant of the two, since it was the first successful slave revolt.
Similarity 1
Both the French and Haitian revolutions resulted in lots of bloodshed in order to achieve their goal. During The French Revolution, The Reign of Terror was perhaps the greatest example of violence. During this time anyone found guilty of being an enemy of the revolution was executed by guillotine, causing many unnecessary deaths and chaos. The
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The colony of Haiti was created to use slave labor to increase France’s economy by growing crops. I think this was a big factor in The Haitian Revolution because the French needed the Haitians to work a lot more then the Haitians needed the French for housing or food (The Haitians had even started to run their own small farms and grow their own food.) Differing from the Haitians, The French Revolution was the French people taking over their own government, by overthrowing the long reigning monarchy and creating a new set of Rights (The Declaration of the Rights of
The Haitian Revolution was time of hectic blood shed war. Toussaint Louverture was the leader of the Haitians out of slavery and free from the Spanish. The colony of St. Domingue was a slave island, where slaves would work to make goods to be sent to Spain in return for nothing. The people were treated harsh and done wrong but by the efforts of Louverture they will become free. Louverture was the leader of the revolution but failed to complete his duties because of capture Jean- Jacques Dessalines took over in 1802. He was captured before the war before the end of the war. The Revolution lasted from 1789-1803 until everything was settled and St. Domingue was a free land called Haiti.
They were both inspired by previous revolutions. France was inspired by England and America, and Latin America was inspired by them as well as France. Another similarity is that both revolutions were lead by the middle class. In France the bourgeoisie led the third estate, and the creoles led Latin America. Although the bourgeoisie and creoles did not have natural born political power, they were still wealthy and educated enough to successfully lead a revolution. However, France and Latin America do share their differences. France is known for their revolution being very violent and terrifying. Not to say that the Latin American revolution wasn’t violent, but it wasn’t to a savage extent. King of Brazil, Pedro I even declared Brazil independent from Portugal. This was done with very little bloodshed. Also, the revolutions ended completely different. In France the push for democracy wasn’t quite met. They ended up with an absolute monarchy again, however this time around the people's needs were actually met. In Latin America they did fulfill their goal to become independent. Again, these two revolutions are different, but also share some
In September 1791, France achieved the movement of freeing and outlawing slavery. In turn, Haitian slaves were inspired to do the same by revolting against French plantation owners. This transformative movement of 100,000 slaves was led by Toussaint L’Ouverture; unfortunately, he died before experiencing Haiti’s separation from France in 1804. However, along the way of success of both revolutions, a toll occurred on the numerous lives lost. The Reign of Terror in France was created as a way to protect the republic from its internal enemies, but instead 16,000 people were guillotined. Many documents were shown to be describing the execution of the Reign of Terror to be gruesome and wrongful such that J.G. Milligen stated, “The process of execution was also a sad and heartrending spectacle”, in The Revolutionary Tribunal. Milligen continued to describe the vivid scene of the execution, but this was only one event and many others have died in the fall of the Bastille and the attack on the royal palace. Haiti has also lost many lives as an outcome of the revolutions especially in the slave revolts and battles with French soldiers sent by Napoleon. In addition, the Haitian Revolution leader L’Ouverture died in captivity in France. Both of these revolutions were known to have successfully achieved its goals, but it was chaotic and
Both France and Haiti had so many similarities between their revolutions. Both France and Haiti had an oppression for both social and political systems, because they wanted equality among people. “ The injustices of the social system in Saint Dominique stood in stark contrast to the ideals of the French Republic espoused in France during the French revolution, when on August 26,1789, the Claritin of the rights of man was adopted”. (Stock). This quote means that the french republic wanted good in their social system but they got the opposite.“Among the whites, political upheaval had started in the french colonies which had started in 1789 and ended in 1799, which came into conflict, which also divided the French at home” (stock). So basically
The American Revolution and French Revolution were two long lasting uprisings that had great value to those battling for their rights and want they wanted to change. Yet there are a few distinctions details set them apart in a small way. The Americans wanted a change in their government, but the French wanted a huge change in everything including their government, religion, social structure (whereas American’s social system stayed the same) and economy. Other than the few differences they had, they two Revolutions were much alike, basically twin revolutions.
The French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution were very significant in the course of human history. They were significant because they changed governments and the human rights in their respective nations. The people in France and Haiti wanted a new government in the form of a democracy. Both revolutions had many similarities and differences. The causes for both revolutions were similar because the poorest citizens of each country drove the need for the revolutions as those in higher power treated them with no dignity.
This particular revolution was meant to rid the country of its dependency upon slavery; however, it did very little to procure the exact solution that the natives of this country wanted. It’s stated more than once in this story that a true and honest living is not easily come by for any native of Haiti and they earn very little money when a job is available. People are paid an insubstantial wage, live in shantytowns, and often times go to bed with their stomachs distended from a voracious and unforgiving hunger. In The Norton Mix Introduction to Literature, Danticat shows these significant consequences of the Revolution by stating that when it got really bad for the family, they would boil ground sugar cane so that it would get rid of the hunger pangs that often tormented the children of the poor (p. 229).
African Haitians completely did away with the social control that kept the racial hierarchy in place in Haiti. The institutions that the French held to control the slaves were attacked the very French army that was sent was defeated and the former slaves took control of the island and forever changed the colonial society they lived in. African slaves began to notice during the French revolution the ideals of liberty, citizenship, and voting come up but they were excluded due to the racial hierarchy that existed in the colony. Even the slave owners that were not white were not given access to the newfound rights of the French citizens. This revolution had a great impact on the rest of Spanish America, The United States and specifically the islands of Cuba and Jamaica. It grounded the growing abolitionist movements because of the drastic outcome of the slaves’ revolution and tightened the colonial control in the islands in the Caribbean who feared a similar revolution could occur. The Haitian revolution was not an eruption of recent discontent, it had been building as slaves frequently ran away and established Maroon
The American and the French revolutions had many similarities and differences. One similarity being is that they both wanted to escape the rule of their King. Second, they both started by an uprising of people against unfair taxation by the monarchy. The French peasants were not represented by the Parliament. It was mainly composed of middle and upper class people. Now, the American colonists were not represented in England because of their lack of presence. Both wanted to set up a Republic, which provided liberty and justice to all classes of citizens. Just like France, the American colonists were composed up mainly middle and lower class citizens. The American Revolution started out by not wanting bloodshed and violence. France started out with violence and bloodshed. (American Revolution)
On January 1, 1804, the country of Haiti formally declared independence from the French colonial powers. This newfound state of freedom was born as a result of the Haitian revolution (1791–1804), a movement that was primarily lead by the former slave and prominent leader, Toussaint L’Overture. Due to the successful nature of this slave revolt, the nation of Haiti became a huge inspiration for surrounding colonies – becoming the second former European colony in the New World that was able to achieve independence. Despite the hard-won efforts of the oppressed, political stability within the country quickly unravelled as the national identity formed during the revolution deteriorated under rising conflict between mulattoes and blacks.
Although, after the revolution, both France and Haiti’s economy was negatively impacted, as a result of the violent rebellions that occurred in order to acquire independence. France was required to overthrow their own government, which was an internal force, however Haiti was required to overthrow an external force, which was France. Nevertheless, both applied violence in their movements and were influenced by significant leaders who enabled the success of the revolution, as they desired political equality within society. Plus, each possessed the same government after the revolutions took place. Thus, even though the French Revolution and Haitian Revolution occurred chronologically in this era of changing society, they both possess distinct aspects, as well as certain similarities.
...] and the Haitians shall hence foward be known only by the generic application of Blacks” (Dessalines, Haiti Const.). However, the American and Latin American Revolution were conservative movements. While they did overthrow the government by force and implement a new system, they were less revolutionary because there was less bloodshed. This can be seen as the American Revolution gained independence from Britain and set up a new system set forth by the Enlightenment ideals and English liberties in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Likewise, the Latin American Revolution created less of a change in the political and social structures of Latin America such as not becoming democratic. Each revolution differed greatly in terms of effects, violence, being a conservative or radical movement, and the revolution being categorized as political, social, or both.
Haiti, previously known as Saint-Domingue, was a slave island and one of the wealthiest of France’s colonies. Up until this point in time, slavery was still common and, as mentioned above, continued throughout the world even after such freedom declarations such as, the Declaration of Independence in the newly formed United States, and the Declaration of Rights of Man in the Republic of France. The Haitian Revolution was brought on by the want for liberation of slaves, and was largely inspired by the French Revolution and the Declaration of Rights of Man. “Even though the early leaders of the French Revolution had no intention of exporting the upheaval, it spread to the colonies, especially to Saint-Domingue” (Ott 1973). This revolution proved to be a major event as it was the most successful slave revolution in history. The slavery population in Haiti, vastly outnumbered the white colonists in Haiti, and therefore, when the slave population banded together, led to a full-scaled rebellion. Revolts would continue to occur until finally in 1793, the slaves got their freedom, with slavery officially being abolished in all French territories in 1794. From this point until 1802, small rebellions continued to occur as not much changed in the daily lives of slaves, despite technically having their freedom. After the French Revolution and with Napoleon taking power in 1799; Napoleon reinstated slavery in all French colonies, including Haiti. Napoleon also sent an army to Haiti to enforce these new slavery laws and Haiti returned to a slave economy in 1802 (Doyle 1943). The Haitian Revolutionaries finally get their win after defeating the French soldiers in the Battle of Vertieres in 1803; the final part of the revolution. The revolution officially ended in 1804, with Haiti gaining its independence from France and permanently abolishing slavery
My thoughts on the events that led to the Haitian Revolution are that those events were a successful anti-slavery and anti-colonial rebellion that took place in the former French colony of Saint-Domingue. It is significant to the Haitian people as they all not just end slavery but French took control over the colony. It took them a lot of uncontrollable anger from being slaves and being treated as if they weren’t humans like them to rebel against all slave masters. The self-liberated slaves destroyed slavery at home, fought to preserve their freedom and more. In my opinion, without Toussaint L'ouverture being their leader, they wouldn’t learn those plans that help them to fight back and getting them to be free.
In the late Eighteenth century, African slaves on the French colony of Saint-Domingue threw a coup d’etat against their masters, causing one of the most influential revolts in the history of the Americas. This event, known as the Haitian Revolution, was an inspiring moment in history that gave slaves in the Americas the hope of overthrowing oppressive governments and instituting a constitution created by and for the common man. While Haiti was the only nation in which a successful slave revolt triggered a change of government, it was not isolated in having violent slave uprisings. This paper will discuss how the Revolution was influenced by enlightenment ideals and the opposing viewpoints of violent revolution in the Motherland of France.