Preview

Haitian Revolution Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1103 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Haitian Revolution Analysis
The Haitian revolution occurred in the colony of Saint Domingue at the time of the French Revolution, whose causes were serious economic problems. The failure of the expansionism of Louis XIV had multiple consequences for the whole society in France. For 1789, which marks the beginning of the revolutionary process in France, the economic crisis had worsened greatly, reflecting a crisis of state finances. The French Revolution clearing all obstacles to the development of capitalism in France, being the fundamental factor of the predominance of this mode of production in that country. This put in crisis the model of colonial domination hitherto existing since had a decisive influence on the appearance of independence movements in Latin America. …show more content…
The capitalist world system was challenged by a slave group who rejected the imperial logic. This is a break with a system. One of the prominent Haitian historians, Leslie Francois Manigat, argues that the break with the system was so unprecedented and unexpected in his victorious radicalism, that this revolution was seen as immature, which explains its cyclical uniqueness, its initial uniqueness and isolation (Manigat , L. 2001, 200). This historian speaks of revolution-mother and a "large regional first" to show that represented a radical change in the history of the continent. Despite the different permanent revolts in colonial times, there was never as successful as the movement of Haitians. Haitian slaves were not afraid to risk his life for their freedom. The driving force of history is the struggle for recognition, a struggle that is made from risk and endangerment of his life. The slave can achieve freedom if not afraid of death, struggle and confrontation. In Haiti, this dialectic leads and leads to the creation of the first truly free State of …show more content…
He began to study architecture, but did not finish the race. He began working as a journalist and to participate in leftist political movements. He was imprisoned and his departure into exile in France. He returned to Cuba where he worked in radio and carried out important research on Cuban popular music. He traveled to Mexico and Haiti where he was interested in the slave revolts of the eighteenth century. Alejo Carpentier was obsessed with the theatrical dimension of history, as his work offers this wonderful metaphor of revolution as a theater in this representation of the impact of the revolution in Guadeloupe. That magical image of the collision between history and fantasy, the real and the surreal, can offer a useful picture to examine the events that occurred in Haiti. The scenario of the bicentenary of the Haitian revolution gives us a platform of a tragic scene that leads back to the events that led to the declaration of independence of Haiti in 1804. Haiti is invariably the static space of racial agony in Caribbean literature. Alejo Carpentier uses images of pure blackness and religious rites to evoke mythical Haiti in The Kingdom of this World. Toussaint is never mentioned in this novel of revolutionary Haiti, in which a decadent France faces a vigorous Haiti. Evoking the nightmare of history, others see the Haitian revolution in terms of a fatal arrogance. The

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    “Haiti, had gained its independence through a twelve-year slave uprising” (Danticat 97). Jean Dominique Haiti’s most famous radio commentator managed to make it through several exiles. “We had all come to think of him as heroically invincible” (Danticat 42). “Jean had expressed his opinions freely, seemingly without fear, criticizing groups as well as individuals, organizations, and institutions who’d proven themselves to be inhumane ,unethical or simply unjust” (Danticat 42). Dominique was assassinated on his way to his radio studio when he had come back from…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sheller, Mimi. Democrary After Slavery: Black Publics and Peasant Radicalism in Haiti and Jamaica. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006. In the quest to learn more about these two nations after emancipation,The author Mimi Sheller’s main goal of the entire book is to highlight both Haiti and Jamaica as they “developed a shared radical vision of democracy based on the post-slavery ideology of freedom”.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Haitians, like the colonists of the America wanted to be independent from Britain. The Haitians wanted become independent of France and the white settlers that shared their Island and those of Saint-Domingue who sought to control the colonist. The white settlers of Saint-Domingue sought to govern the colonist and thought of themselves as superior to their native counterparts who were freed slaves. The Haitian Revolution went down in history as the only successful slave rebellions. The freed slave leader was Toussaint Louverture. Louverture was smart enough to have the Spanish, French, and British, forces fight each other and while they were fighting the freed slaves gained power. Enlightenment ideas were…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Haitian Revolution DBQ

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The concepts of equality and liberty drove revolutionaries to expel their colonial overlords to abolish slavery and create an equal and just society. The idea of equality appealed to lower class Americans such as mestizos, mulattoes and natives, but especially inspired black slaves. Lower class Americans believed a revolution would move them up in society to the level of creoles while slaves saw revolutions as a way to gain freedom. Haiti’s declaration of independence in 1904, showed slaves’ motivations by stating that they would rather die than be forced back into in slavery and that they must create a government that protects the Haitians’ freedom. As former slaves, the Haitians were extremely worried the French would try to invade them again, as Napoleon had tried to do to fund his wars in Europe. Thus,…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Finding Haiti, Finding History in Zora Neale Hurtson’s Their Eyes Were Watching God” , Stuelke examines damaging affects of imperialism on the black population in Haiti and how it directly correlates with mistreatment and institutionalized regression of African Americans in the United States. This article is relevant to Their Eyes Are watching God because it portrays the dual control that the U.S government holds over both Haitians and African Americans, which Hurston depicts through the various encounters that , the main character, Janie faces. Historically, Haiti was an island conquered by the French that was used for the production of sugar cane , which of course involved slave labor. The slaves eventually gained their freedom when they…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Peguero, V. (1998). Teaching the Haitian revolution: its place in western and modern world history. The History Teacher, 32(1), 33-41.…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Haitians were influenced by the French Revolution occurred before. It was the first revolution ruled by slaves, and it was a anti-slavery revolution. Haitian Revolution took place in San Domingo, where was a colonial city ruled by the French government. The revolution happened between 1790 and 1804. At that time, there were around 500,000 people were slaves and worked for the plantation owners. Influenced by the idea of ‘everyone should be equal and free’ from the French Revolution, Haitian Revolution started in 1790 to strike for the country independence and human rights. The revolution was leaded by Toussaint Louverture, who was a domestic slave. In 1804, the Haitians won, that brought to the end of the revolution. At January 1804, Haitians published ‘Déclaration d'indépendance d’Haïti’ and announced the separation from the French Empire, then the Empire of Haiti was…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Occupying the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola, modern Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, yet is it also has a rich history and culture. When Haiti won its independence in 1804, France had recently beheaded their century old monarchy, replaced the feudalist system of old with new enlightenment ideals, guillotined their entire aristocratic class, and then out of the chaos, through the strong hand of Napoleon Bonaparte, became the most powerful empire in the world. Across the Atlantic ocean, in France’s small colony of Haiti, then known as Saint Domingue, racial tensions were brewing; the minority white french colonists held power over the “people of color” or mixed race class, free blacks, and the lowest class: the slaves. However, this racially unstable caribbean island provided financial stability to the French mainland being one of France’s most profitable colonies. These racial tensions and extreme inequalities in conjunction with the French revolution’s new enlightenment ideas provided the perfect…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The article "The making of Haiti" by Carolyn E Fick consists of three chapters to talk about the Haiti and the Saint Domingue Revolution. The Haitian Revolution basically was a anti-slavery and anti-colonial rebellion that happened in the former French of Saint Domingue in 1791. The was such a successful slave rebellion in history. It helped the slaves for getting freedom, and set in motion the colony's struggle for independence as the black republic of Haiti.…

    • 1235 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    2004 Haitian

    • 1908 Words
    • 8 Pages

    On February 2004, the violent coup Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office was orchestrated by military force. This paper wants to identify and describe the reasons for this Haitian revolt. There are many interpretations and concerning this event; therefore, I want to assess different perspectives about the ousting of President Aristide. Finally, this paper will discuss the positive and negative results from this 2004 Haitian coup d’état.…

    • 1908 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slavery In Saint Domingue

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages

    It led to numerous abolitionist movements in other countries and was an inspiration to those of the African Diaspora across the “New World”, from Rio de Janeiro to Cuba. Even in the United States of America, one can make direct connections from the Haitian Revolution and the Civil War, which resulted in the abolishment of slavery in 1865. Dubois shares, “stories of the Haitian Revolution provided ‘fuel’ for ‘both sides’ in public debates on race and slavery. Many writers emphasized the barbarity of the slave insurgents and saw the main result of their emancipation as a descent into laziness and lawlessness”, using these reasons to defend slavery where it still existed” (Dubois 305). Striking fear that a similar revolt would occur in the Southern States of the U.S., it caused slave owners to be more harsh and strict with their slaves and promoted growing tensions with the slave owners and White abolitionists. Haiti truly is a representation of people mobilizing to change their individual situation, but result in changing…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Haitian Revolution Essay

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages

    During the Haitian Revolution, slaves went from total submission to personal and political liberation due to the weakening of the colonial power (French Revolution), the economic wealths of Haiti, and the aspirations brought by the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers that all men were born free and equal. The slave rebellion lead by Toussaint L’Ouverture, is a turning point as it is the first successful one. It took ten years (1794 - 1804) for Haiti to go from a French colony to a Free Independent Republic, making the most important effect of the Haitian Revolution to be, liberation from slavery to the many enjoyments of freedom. Slaves went from being brutally abused creatures, to being…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since history does not exist as a separate, unconnected entity, Hispaniola’s past European interactions has had lasting effects on the racial identification of The Dominican Republic and Haiti. Instead of focusing on 20th century history, such as the rule of the brutal Dominican dictator Rafael Truijo, European imperialism established the foundation for European affluence in Hispaniola, shaping the 20th and 21st century society. The mulatto population, mix race, was a result of Spanish and African interactions, creating a pigmentocracy in Hispaniola. After the Haitian slave revolt in 1804, social barriers between Europeans and Africans began to dissolve, leading to a rise in interracial relationships between the Spanish and Africans (Torres-Saillant…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution made significant changes politically, economically, and socially. They both shared common characteristics of how the revolution began with a common precursor and method to achieve the end state. The pursuit of equality and liberty was the driving force that had awakened the French citizens and the Saint Domingue slaves to challenge and take action. While the two revolutions were similar, there were some differences. The French Revolution was an internal rebellion with the rise of the peasants and middle classes that fought to overthrow the monarch government, whereas the Haitian Revolution was a slave rebellion that revolted against an external threat, the French colonial government. The French Revolution occurred in 1789 and did not end until 1799. The Haitian revolution started in 1792 and ended in 1802.1 Both revolutions were fueled by the success of the American Revolution that ended in 1783. In addition, the Declaration of Man…

    • 2865 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Even after the independence, the fear of being invaded by foreign forces remained in Haitians. After Toussaint L’ouverture’s captivation and death, Dessalines became the sole leader of the army of slaves. Although “French troops remain in the eastern part of Hispaniola and France is actively lobbying England, Spain and the United States to isolate Haiti commercially and diplomatically (History of Haiti)”, Dessalines was determined that slavery would never return on the island. He, along with other generals, swore to “renounce France forever, to die rather than live under its domination, and to combat with their last breath for Independence” (Brown 229). Yes, the revolution was complex and several revolts during these thirteen years led to the largest and most successful emancipation of slavery in the Western hemisphere.…

    • 2237 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays