The Haitian Revolution

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The Haitian Revolution and the French Revolution
The revolution of almost 100,000 slaves in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) from 1797 to 1804 was the biggest revolution in the history of slavery. The Haitian Revolution led to the formation of the first ever victorious independent liberated slave state in the world, an idea that rocked the economic, socio-political, and moral basics of the Caribbean. In 1791, slaves and the free people of color (gens de couleur libres) revolted against French ruling, and by 1804 declared the country’s self-rule under new Arawak name of Haiti. Haitian Revolution together with the American Revolution was one of the dramatic and most important challenges faced by European colonialism from the New World, and it is widely regarded as a landmark in the history of Africans in Americans. One must highlight the struggles which had been happening for years before the outbreak of the 1791 full-scale revolution. Yet, the French Revolution was significant, for the divergences between whites on what precisely its legacies meant prompted a chance for Blacks. While the legacies of the French Revolution were lasting, it is clear that the Haitian Revolution greatly affected French Revolution legacies, especially on the Declaration of Rights of Man.
During the French Revolution, a historically important step was the release of the Declaration of Rights of Man (DRM) endorsed on August 226, 1789 in France. The declaration resulted into mixed-race leaders like Julien Raimond, Henri Gregoire and Vincent Oge, to appeal the French National Constituent Assembly (FNCA) for equal rights. The Assembly stated that free people of color had voting rights (Garraway 33). Although this was not applicable to slaves, the white colonists’ op...

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... order, as well as became the first successful revolt against any European empire.
The Haitian Revolution is widely considered as the significant event in Africans’ history in the new world. Indeed, the reduction of the Atlantic slave trade is conventionally accredited to the inception of Haitian Revolution. While it might have failed to inspire immediate revolutions within the Caribbean and eventually the world, the Haitian Revolution had a profound effect on the French Revolution as a case for many national emancipation movements. It is evident that the French Revolution determined the success of Haitian Revolution through the custom of racial hierarchy and subjugation in Haiti and through the spread of French Revolution’s ideals. These factors compelled the elite planters to either surrender some control or risk being subjected to violent rebellion.

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