Haitian Revolution Essay
The Effect of the Haitian Revolution on The Slaves
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 …show more content…
After the Declaration of Human Rights, a great wave of hope spread through the island of Saint Domingue, and the planters encouraged the slaves to engage in the rebellion but soon regretted it, as they were later overthrown by them. As the slaves gained the upper hand, under the military command of former slave Toussaint L’Ouverture, in 1794 the National Convention in Paris abolished slavery but a few years later the Directory (1795-1799) re-established it in 1804 with the help of Napoleon Bonaparte (Bulliet 540). All the ideas of the philosophers of the enlightenment seemed to have been simply suspended. Undeniably, the ideas and ideals advocated by the French philosophers like Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau, played an important role because everyone whether or not they were literate, could understand their thinking. For example, the majority of people agreed that everybody was born free and equal in front of the law. They also understood that it is better for the sovereignty to be given to the people by choosing their own government, as advocated by Hobbes, Locke and Jean Jaques Rousseau. The ideal of freedom and liberty was powerful enough to fire the hearts and the courage of the slaves and give them the determination to build a better world for themselves and their
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 …show more content…
After the Declaration of Human Rights, a great wave of hope spread through the island of Saint Domingue, and the planters encouraged the slaves to engage in the rebellion but soon regretted it, as they were later overthrown by them. As the slaves gained the upper hand, under the military command of former slave Toussaint L’Ouverture, in 1794 the National Convention in Paris abolished slavery but a few years later the Directory (1795-1799) re-established it in 1804 with the help of Napoleon Bonaparte (Bulliet 540). All the ideas of the philosophers of the enlightenment seemed to have been simply suspended. Undeniably, the ideas and ideals advocated by the French philosophers like Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau, played an important role because everyone whether or not they were literate, could understand their thinking. For example, the majority of people agreed that everybody was born free and equal in front of the law. They also understood that it is better for the sovereignty to be given to the people by choosing their own government, as advocated by Hobbes, Locke and Jean Jaques Rousseau. The ideal of freedom and liberty was powerful enough to fire the hearts and the courage of the slaves and give them the determination to build a better world for themselves and their