The Hidden History Of Haiti Summary

The readings and film focused on the Haitian revolution, but from the perspective of the Haitians. I agree with the claim that historians tend to frame the narrative from the perspective of the European oppressors. Also when they describe their attacks and conquerings on non-whites they describe them using words like “victories.” However, when non-whites fight off the European oppressors, the attack is described as a “massacre.” The history of the Americas overall, is widely told from the perspective of the Europeans, those who conquered and settled. Rarely do we see the perspective and experiences of the Native Americans and the African Americans who were enslaved in Americas. However, historians now are working to reverse this pattern. In the film “The Hidden History of Haiti” historians do a good job at this. Here, the perspective of the African Americans is primarily focused on. I found this film extremely interesting because it was surprisingly all knew for me to hear. While watching this I
was able to realize just how much of the Europeans side I was always learning about, and not the non-whites. This supports the argument that are too heavily focused on the Europeans side, and frankly sway biased towards them. I stand by this argument, and the fact that the information in this film was almost all knew to me, gives me evidence of this. The Haitian revolution was an inspiration for Africans.
It was one of the most organized and structured revolutions against the Europeans. This revolution is also important because the Haitians were the first Africans to overthrow their oppressors. It was the Africans who had told Columbus of the island of Haiti. Soon after, the Spanish, British, and French would all desire to conquer this land for its resources and precious metals. The island of Hispaniola was rich of gold and wealth, but the sugarcane became a great object of desire. Sugar in Europe was a mark of class when someone used sugar, and was even sometimes used as a miracle drug. It was Africans who were forced to become slaves, that harvest these resources for the Europeans. The conditions on the island were described as much worse in the Caribbean, then in the United States. This included horrific acts like crucifying pregnant woman, and burying the Africans into the ground and letting them be eaten
alive. With conditions like these, the Africans were forced to rebel against the inhumanity. I agree that they were able to do this very well, and were highly understimated for their abilties. It was Makandal, an enslved African who planted the seeds of the rebellion. He was a herbologist, and taught the other slaves how to posion the food of the white farmers and masters to kill them. A big factor in the success of the Haitan revoultion was that they used nature as their greatest weapon. They knew the terrain and they knew nature, like plants and poisons. In doing this, they were able to kill over 6,000 European French men. The Hiatians used guriella type warfare, using ambushes and sabotages as methods of attacks. This was something that the Europeans lacked in, as well as using nature to their advantage. I think one way that helps put into perspective just how well the Hiatians were able to use nature to their advantage was that the Euirpeans had weapons and cannons, and yet they defeat the Hiatians who had none of this. Another aspect that helped the Hiatians was their cultural and spirtually unity, they asked God for strength and courage Even as their leaders were repeatley killed brutally in front of them, the people of Hiati continued to fight for their rightful land, unafraid of their possible death. This is the perspective that we are so rarely shown to, and therefore remain unaware of truths and hardships that the oppressed have faced. Their part in history is just as important as the Europeans.