The Haitian Revolution (1791 – 1804)

I. Background: The French Colony of Saint Domingue A. Location : Island of Hispanola (the Eastern half of which was the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo) B. Relation to France and its Economy 1. by the 1700s Saint Domingue was France’s top producing and wealthiest colony 2. Plantation agricultural system *. Slavery practiced – due to the harsh climate and terrain, the lifestyles and treatment of slaves in Saint Domingue were much worse than in most other slave-holding colonies or nations 3. Very important provider of sugar, cotton, and coffee for France

C. Demographics and social order 1. 500,000 people were black slaves 2. 40,000 white planters 3. 30,000 free or fugitive people of African ancestry D. One previous, failed slave revolt led by Francois Makandal in the 1750s in the northern part of Saint Domingue E. Influences from the French Revolution 1. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen 2. Some abolitionist sentiments among some liberal Revolutionaries

II. The Revolution A. Beginning in 1791, there were separate, sporadic uprisings by slaves and/or communities of escaped slaves (mostly guerrilla-type warfare) 1. Many were fueled by the example of the urban and working poor in France (i.e. start violent uprisings to get what they wanted) 2. An early leader/martyr – Vincent Oge a. a former slave who went to France to speak with the Revolutionary government during the early stages of the French Revolution about the atrocities in Haiti b. Returned to Saint Domingue in 1791, unsuccessful in his attempt to convince the French Revolutionary government from freeing Saint Domingue’s slaves c. He began a slave uprising, which proved to be unsuccessful d. captured and was tortured to death after a quick trial (which was fixed)

Vodoun and the Haitian Revolution Myth, fact, and creating a nation.

Ceremony at Bois Caiman “A man named Boukman, another houngan, organized on August 14, 1791, a meeting with the slaves in the mountains of the North. This meeting took the form of a Voodoo ceremony in the Bois Caiman in the northern mountains of the island. It was raining and the sky was raging with clouds; the slaves then started confessing their resentment of their condition. A woman started dancing languorously in the crowd, taken by the spirits of the loas. With a knife in her hand, she cut the throat of a pig and distributed the blood to all the participants of the meeting who swore to kill all the whites on the island. On August 22, 1791, the blacks of the North entered into a rebellion, killing all the whites they met and setting the plantations of the colony on fire. However, the French quickly captured the leader of the slaves, Boukman, and beheaded him, bringing the rebellion under control.” -- Antoine Dalmas, 1814.

What is Voodoo? Technically, it’s not “voodoo” at all– at least not in Haiti. It’s “voodoo” in Louisiana, but in Haiti it’s vodoun. Vodoun is a syncretic religion, related to West African religious practices, Christianity, and the indigenous religions of the Congo. As African slave populations mixed in the Caribbean, their religious practices also combined. This religious mixing gave slaves a common culture– something terribly important to individuals who were often isolated from everyone they had ever known.

Basic beliefs: There are spirits, often tied to natural forces, that govern the earth and intervene in the lives of man. In the West African tradition, these are called orishas. In vodoun, they are called loas. (Sometimes it’s spelled lwa. Depends on the person writing.) There is one powerful and unreachable God (Bondye). Because this God does not involve himself in human affairs, practitioners often entreat the loa for aid in everyday life.

Loas Legba Ezili Dantor Ogoun Mami Wata Sakpata

Veve for Ezurlie Dantor Veve for Ogoun Veve for Papa Legba Veve for Ezurlie Dantor

Baron Samedi

B. Under the leadership of Francois Dominique Toussaint L’Overture 1. The movement is unified into a full-scale war for independence by1792 a. The slaves and maroons are organized into an army b. Initially, Toussaint L’Overture allied himself with the Spanish rulers of the neighboring colony of Santo Domingo c. many plantations (fields and homes) are burnt by the revolutionaries d. The revolutionaries adopt the rhetoric of the French Revolution in their quest for freedom

2. The British send troops to Saint Domingue in order to a. put down this “slave rebellion” and “lend aid” to French colonists b. secondary goal of taking over Saint Domingue 3. In 1794, the National Convention (under the leadership of Robespierre) abolished slavery in all French colonies (including Haiti) a. The remaining French colonists pretty much ignore this order b. Toussaint L’Overture and the rebels ally themselves with the French government due to this law 4. By 1801, the rebellion is practically won by the rebels – Toussaint L’Overture is the de-facto leader of a mostly free Saint Domingue

C. Napoleon acts to end the revolution in Saint Domingue 1. As “First Consul” in 1799, he repealed the decree of 1794 freeing French slaves 2. In 1802, he sent thousands of French troops to end the revolt 3. Toussaint L’Overture captured and brought back to France – where he died in prison in 1803 4. The French army temporarily restored French control in Saint Domingue

D. The Final Stage of the Revolution 1. The French Army loses control again because a. of an epidemic of Yellow Fever that killed many soldiers in mid-1803 b. the still-active rebel armies, under the leadership of Jean Jacques Dessalines brutally defeated the remaining French forces 2. Dessalines totally takes control of Saint Domingue a. Expels all remaining persons of European ancestry b. Independence officially proclaimed on January 1, 1804 1. Saint Domingue is renamed Haiti 2. Dessalines becomes the Emperor of Haiti

III. Effects of the Haitian Revolution A. (The only) Successful Slave Rebellion – but it puts great fear in the hearts of slave-holding and slave trading nations *. Great Britain (in 1807) and the USA (in 1808) abolish the international slave trade (Britain outlaws slavery outright in 1833) B. Haiti becomes the second independent nation in the New World – serves as another example to the revolutions to come in nearby Latin America C. Few Western nations encourage trade with Haiti, leading to economic isolation and stagnation