The Making of Haiti The Haitian Revolution makes for the most fascinating revolt in history. The black race, after many years of oppression, overcame the dominant white race, without the assistance of guns, and other technological warfare at that time. In its own words, the author states that the book makes clear that the roots of the revolution of Haiti consist of movements involving the "wisdom and common sense of the masses". Hordes of blacks reached a consensus that human sacrifice is a small price to pay for freedom. In the view of Carolyn E. Fick, no organization or political entity involved can be attributed as much credit than the masses for the popular revolution that unseated one of the longest dictatorships of mankind. In Haiti existed a system of degradation and denial of humanity itself towards human beings only because they were born with a black skin. While emphasis is made on the fact that the blacks were the majority of the population at the time of the revolution, it is brought up that at the outset the white indentured or contracted servants "worked and lived side by side in near equal numbers with black slaves" (Fick 15). This suggests that if we consider an indentured worker or worker under contract to be a financial slave living in the same condition as a black slave, that slaves did not necessarily have to be black. Slavery began because there was the need for labor to work on plantations of sugar and tobacco. Once the black slave took the place of the white indentured worker, a system of classes emerged. The middle class white man was the absentee planter enjoying the amassed fortune in France. The middle class were also the agents or managers of the absentee planter striving and sometimes at... ... middle of paper ... ...d all other minor affiliations who were engaged in the war. However this revolution would have never began had it not been for the decisive tactics set forth by the blacks in the beginning which triggered the entire revolution. Both the oppressed blacks and the nations which were after different aspirations kept them fighting for over a decade. The white were after money, power, and land while the blacks were merely attempting to restore peace, freedom, and their ability to practice voodoo. All the havoc ended in the indigenous blacks victorious with their ultimate destiny manifested by ways in which a maroon defended " his own freedom against the onslaughts of established regimes". (Fick 236). The author makes the point that this marked the only spot in history, where a slave revolt resulted in the foundation of a new nation, under the rule of the ex-slaves.
The Nation of Haiti has been plagued with excessive bad luck when it comes to external invasion. Whether it be larger countries taking control, or outsiders brought in as slaves, Haiti has endured many hardships. These issues, while very common in a lot of countries, are exposed in a short story by a native Haitian. In “A Wall of Fire Rising”, Edwidge Danticat illustrates a myriad of historical issues in Haiti from the 17th to the 20th century through a series of events in one family’s life. One such issue would be the Haitian Revolution and the consequences that came of it.
A fifty-thousand French force of experienced soldiers arrives on the shores of Saint-Domingue. Not ready to give up their freedom and return to their previous servitude, the Africans of the colony defend themselves. Assisted by yellow fever and other diseases, they are a force to be trifled with. By November of the following year, the French surrender and within three months Jean-Jacques Dessalines declares independence from France and the new nation of Haiti is created. Frederick Douglass attributes their great success to the Negros themselves and their manhood, courage, and military skill in his Lecture on Haiti in 1893. He even solidifies these claims by pointing out how their intelligence and bravery has conserved their independence since 1804, almost ninety years prior to his lecture. By this time, Haiti has been around for almost a century and her supporters and opponents debate whether the Haitian revolution was a success or not. The citizens are labeled as lazy and superstitious, stereotyped in that neat little box with no room for movement. Douglass agrees that they can be a bit lazy and are ignorant, but they are not simple idle at all times. By this time, Haiti prospers on a coffee economy and continue to import and export goods from within her borders. Its important to recognize that this nation and its citizens were the first to fight and win their emancipation. The slave revolution in the former French colony of Saint-Domingue was a historic event that brought about universal liberties as other nations followed suit. In solidarity the slaves took up arms and fought until their chains broken. This should vindicate Haiti, at least in the eyes of Douglass. He believes that even though she has not yet met her full potential, she will become a
In the Dominican Republic, I would not place an emphasis on slave heritage as slavery is associated with blackness, blackness with being Haitian, and being Haitian with being savage and backwards. This conflation of Haiti, blackness, and savagery is the handiwork of numerous 19th century travel narratives that claimed to provide “unbiased” accounts of the island of Hispaniola. In fact, Candelario includes an account that consistently contrasted the two countries and their inhabitants, “One was white, Spanish, and Catholic; the other was black, French, and irreligious. One was “civilized” because it courted the United States and Americans; the other was barbaric because it jealously defended its political and economic sovereignty” (Candelario 47). Travel narratives such as this one that positioned the Dominicans as “the whites of the land” were adopted by Dominicans and used as part of the foundation in the nation’s construction of race, and can be used to explain its affinity for
The Haitian government’s lack of preparedness for earthquakes despite the fact that earthquakes are common to the region is indicative of the governments inability and lack of resources to properly plan and protect it’s population against natural disasters. This lack of preparedness is not an isolated incident. Prior to the disaster, the World Bank and others were working with the Haitian government to incorporate disaster risk management into Haiti’s development strategy and to develop its capacity for disaster response. This capacity building was in its early stages of development when the earthquake hit, on January 12, 2010, and was mainly focused on hurricanes, which are the most common cause of natural disaster on the island (Margesson, 2010, p. 4).
“the Haitian Revolution forever transformed the world. It was a central part of the destruction of slavery in the Americas, and therefore a crucial moment in the history of democracy, one that laid the foundation for the continuing struggles for human rights everywhere. In this sense we are all descendants of the Haitian Revolution, and responsible to these ancestors.” (Dubois,
Edwidge Danticat’s short story, “A Wall of Fire Rising” is about a woman whose family lives in Haiti and follows some Voodoo principles. An article by A to Z World Culture lists some of the denominations commonly found in Haiti, “Roman Catholics comprise 55 percent of the population, Baptists 8 percent, Pentecostals 3 percent, Adventists 2 percent, and Methodists a little over 1 percent” (Religion). Voodoo is the most practiced religion in haiti, with Christianity at a close second. While some people think of voodoo as just dolls, spirits, and witches, the Columbian Encyclopedia defines it this way, “Voodoo contends that all of nature is controlled
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
Early in the nineteenth century rebellion against European authority broke out in Latin America. First, slaves on the island of Haiti revolted against their French masters. Led by former slave Toussaint L'Overture the Haitians defeated France making Haiti the...
The island of Saint-Domingue was made up of a mixture of people including whites from France, creoles, free people of color, and slaves. Once sugar became a major cash crop on the island, an estimated half-million African slaves were brought in to work the land. These slaves outnumbered their white masters more than ten to one and made up the majority of the island inhabitants. Even so, the island had the most secure slave regime in the Caribbean because of the cooperation between masters and free men of color. Due to the difficult policing jobs given to the freed men with little reward, the communication between them and the white masters broke down. Now that the white slaveholders were on their own, it was only a matter of time before their brutal treatment of slaves would lead to an uprising. Once enslaved Africans received word of the revolution in France they too began demanding freedom. After years of civil unrest and vicious fighting, Haiti declared its freedom from France in January of 1804. What makes the Haitian Revolution more radical than the two before it is the fact that it was led by slaves. Throughout the previous revolutions, the main goal was for white men, essentially, to be free from oppressive government rule. There were few thoughts regarding the rights of slaves, even though they too were men. The fact that this group of people were able to remove the colonial authority and establish their own country during this period of time was particularly radical and unheard
In the book, From Dessalines to Duvalier, author David Nicholls focused his attention on the two biggest elements that shaped Haiti’s history: class and race. He used the timeline between the Haitian Revolution of 1804 and the fall of the Duvaliers between 1970 and 1980. The author uses class and race as his biggest themes in order to show how these elements affected the lives of both the elite mulattoes and the black peasants. While the mulattoes had used the influence of French whiteness as their reasoning to separate themselves from the peasant class, blacks hated them for using the very same European influences that had lead to the famous revolution in Haiti. The author uses
Haiti is the unequivocally the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, indeed, the country is so poor that its citizen cannot even afford eating foods and Haitian children need to eat dirts to stay alive. [1] Nevertheless, Haiti is the home to the only successful slave rebellion; Toussaint Louverture, last governor of French Saint-Domingue, was born a slave.
The effects caused by earthquakes are devastating. They cause loss of human life and have effects on infrastructure and economy. Earthquakes can happen at any time anywhere. In January 12, 2010 an earthquake of a magnitude of 7.0 hit the nation of Haiti. An estimation of 316,000 people were killed, and more than 1.3 million Haitians were left homeless (Earthquake Information for 2010). Haiti was in a terrified chaos. After the earthquake, families were separated because many of the members were killed. Homes, schools, and hospitals were demolished. People lost their most valuable belongings. It will take time for the country to recover from this terrible disaster. The long damages are economic issues, health-state, and environmental issues that effect in the beautiful island of Haiti.
The late 18th century and early 19th century was a prominent time period in which the French Revolution and Haitian revolution occurred. Both revolutions were connected to each other such that they shared similar causes and consequences. Together, France and Haiti were angered by the inequality and unfair privileges that continued to appear in their societies. At the same time, they were inspired and hopeful of bringing the Enlightenment ideas into reality. Although they were able to accomplish most of what they fought for, such as the abolition of slavery, they still took part in bloody revolutions. However, one of the greatest differences in their outcomes was that France emerged as a new, firm government as Haiti staggered with its new independence.
The San Domingo revolution led to the abolition of slavery, independence of Haiti from France and the proclamation of a black republic. However, unlike many historians, CLR James in his work, The Black Jacobins, does not depict the struggle for independence as merely a slave revolt which happened to come after the French Revolution. He goes beyond providing only a recount of historical events and offers an intimate look at those who primarily precipitated the fall of French rule, namely the black slaves themselves. In doing so, James offers a perspective of black history which empowers the black people, for they are shown to actually have done something, and not merely be the subject of actions and attitudes of others.
In the night of August 22, 1791, which initiated the Haitian Revolution, Dutty Boukman, a slave and religious leader gathered a gang of slaves and uttered one of the most important prayers in the Black Atlantic religious thought.1 The prayer embodies the historical tyranny of oppression and suffering, and the collective cry for justice, freedom, and human dignity of the enslaved Africans at Saint-Domingue. The Guy who is not happy with the situation tha...