They constructed, from the ground up, a new government based upon their own consciousness of their needs. Toussaint however, recognized the 20 Idem, p. In pursuit of this ideal, Toussaint tapped the newly created energies of his own followers. He made strenuous efforts to convince Napoleon that former slave-owners were not only welcome, but would be treated with dignity in the new regime. It was not to be. Toussaint was deported and imprisoned, and the independence was won by his barbaric lieutenant, Dessalines, under the slogan Eternal hatred to France.
For this divorce from Western civilization Haiti has paid dearly. It is in fact quite wrong to maintain that Toussaint did not take over the former colonial regime.
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It is also wrong to suggest that he inherited backwardness. Saint Domingue was far from backward at the eve of the revolution. Since the booming economy was based on slavery, the number of slaves increased spectacularly; from to in less then fifteen years before By then the number of slaves in a territory smaller than Holland equaled that of the United States. This economic expansion was based on the most modern technologies, especially in the refinery process of the sugar mills. The problem with the concept of backwardness lies in its ambivalence: On the other hand, and at the same time, it refers to 22 Idem, p?
Oxford University Press, New York, pp.
In the first meaning of the term there was no backwardness at all in the colonial economy. When James writes about the backwardness, he clearly refers to the slave economy. Toussaint knew, he writes, the backwardness of the labourers; he made them work, but he wanted to see them civilized and advanced in culture.
He established such schools as he could. The great slave revolution writes Genovese, was carried out by a slave population most of which, in the words of the rebel leaders do not know two words of French. Did the slave revolt succeed because the slaves were acquainted with and inspired by the ideals of the French revolution or was it just the opposite? Did they succeed because their leaders had read Julius Ceasar s Commentaries and Raynal s Histoire des Deux Indes, or was, on the contrary, the rebellion successful because of the fact that the slaves had been able to keep parts of their African culture, and parts of the communication networks which went with it.
Does not James himself give an ample account of the secret religious meetings which preceded the rebellion? Wasn t the bravery of the rebels directly related to their religious belief that their souls would go back to Africa if they died during combat? Contemporaries were well aware of the revolutionary dangers of African culture. Thus Baron de Wimpffen writes: From Rebellion to Revolution: Wasn t Toussaint, contrary to his fellow slaves a devoted catholic, and did he not send his sons to France to be educated in Paris? Toussaint was, according to James despite his Catholicism, a typical representative of the French revolution.
The Dutch historian Jacques Presser found it a pleasant surprise to learn that a negro chieftain considers Plutarchus, Epictetus and Raynal as his favorite literature. This is clearly illustrated in his response to the request of a white woman to be the godfather of her child: The French Revolution has enlightened Europeans, we are loved and wept over by them, but the white colonists are enemies of the blacks. Well, I give him the employment he demands. Let him be honest and let him remember that I cannot accept your offer to be godfather to your son.
You may have to bear the reproaches of the colonists and perhaps one day that of your son See A. James, The Black Jacobins, pp. And when he joined the slave-army as a physician is it not likely that he practiced the African medical tradition rather than the European one? According to Michel Laguerre he was a medicine man, and he used magic in his treatments. His openness toward Christianity was partially a clever political tactic.
However, this Manichean historiography is very common. Thus, the Westernization of Dessalines is ridiculed: This is done, for example, when Dessalines proclaims himself Emperor of Haiti. James writes about Dessalines: He made his solemn entry into Le Cap, in a six-horse carriage brought for him by the English agent, Ogden, on board the Samson. Thus the negro monarch entered into his inheritance, tailored and valeted by English and American capitalists, supported on the one side by the King of England and on the other by the President of United States.
Moreover, the problem is that the same could be said about Toussaint. In the case of Toussaint, however, the wording of James is quite different. Talking about the fiscal policy implemented by Toussaint, he writes: He lowered the tax on fixed property from 20 to 10 per cent, and on the advice of Stevens, the United States Consul, abolished it altogether soon afterwards.
James, The Black Jacobins, pp C. For the pro-slavery writers this is no problem at all: For the progressive and Marxist writers, however, the problem is very serious indeed. And it is striking how much the discussion resembles that about the Soviet Union a century later.
Of course one can point to the devastating effect of the War of Independence, in which many of the population were killed or had fled. Also one may point to the isolation of the black republic, which suffered from a trade boycott by the colonial powers. It was not until that France recognized Haitian independence and they only did so under the condition that Haiti would pay million francs as indemnities for the losses suffered by France during the War of Independence.
Poor as a rat Haiti remained in debt until the end of the 19 th century. All this explains a large part of the failure to recover economically, but it cannot be the whole story. An internal factor must be added to the list of causes of the Haitian disaster. It is often assumed that the splitting up of the plantations caused the economic decline of the Black Republic. Toussaint Louverture had opted for a system of fermage, which implied the continuation of the plantation system, with the former slaves as forced labourers.
The transaction costs to collect the surplus were lower for the old plantation system. Furthermore, sugar was the backbone of the export economy. Distributing the land in smaller plots would carry with it the danger that economic activity would be redirected towards local markets.
Also, the maintenance of the plantation system made it possible to distribute the large Estates among the leaders of the slave army. And finally, the work on the plantation could easily be militarized. It is generally acknowledged that this system worked economically well under Toussaint, who was able to revitalize the economy between and to such an extend that exports reached two thirds of the level. His successor, however, did not succeed in continuing the economic miracle, mainly, so it seems, due to the downturn in world market prices for sugar after Added to that was the commercial boycott in which after even the USA was forced to participate.
At the same time, the massacre of the remaining colonists left many plantations ownerless, and these were nationalized under Dessalines. Not a small amount of profits in this state sector was added to the private wealth of Dessalines. Against this policy the Mullatoes rebelled, partly with the argument that the confiscated properties had belonged to their fathers. And against this claim Dessalines argued: Before we took up arms against Leclerc, the men of color [mullatoes, mf] did not receive any inheritance at all from their fathers. How come, then, that after we have chased away all the planters, their children claim their properties; the black whose fathers are 34 Lundahl, Mats, , Defense and distribution: Agricultural policy in Haiti during the reign of Jean- Jacques Dessalines, in: The Scandinavian Economic History Review, vol 32, no 2, pp.
It is generally assumed that this policy eventually would lead the country s economy to the brink of disaster. But again, all this is very difficult to attribute to lack of modernizing policies. In fact Condorcet, when writing in favour of the abolition of slavery, had suggested that the division of the large Estates would stimulate a more efficient use of the soil.
It seems that neither modernization nor Africanization can properly explain what has happened to the first Black Republic. Toussaint Louverture in French historiography Even though we have argued that the outbreak of a slave rebellion in itself was not instigated by the French Revolution, it is evident that the French and the Haitian Revolution are closely connected. Not only did the revolutionary momentum in Paris create a window of opportunity for the slaves to turn the rebellion into a revolution, the war between England and France also gave 35 Idem, pp.
Yet the French historians have been silent about the slave rebellion, silent about the war of liberation in Saint Domingue and silent about Toussaint Louverture. If they mention the slave rebellion at all it tends to be seen as an unfortunate side effect of the occurrences in Paris. About the slave rebellion he writes: One night negroes revolt, it is a butchery with arson, the most terrible war of savages one has ever seen.
According to Michelet it must have been the grands blancs that instigated the rebellion, while Lamartine blames the Mulattoes. Yet, Lamartine writes in admiration about Toussaint Louverture: The genius of black independence grows in the person of a poor and old slave. Such a vision on Toussaint fitted well into the 19 th century romantic historiography. Yet it is remarkable that both historians, who see the French revolution as a heroic act of le peuple, cannot image that the slaves revolted on its own.
Louis Blanc describes the revolt of Boukman but the description ends with his death. The abolition of slavery is never mentioned. Most remarkable, because Louis Blanc has played an active role in the second abolition of slavery, in Alexis de Tocqueville, who wrote his magnificent The Old Regime and the Revolution in the same period does not mention the colonies at all. He would have found even more of his liking in the archives in Porte au Prince.
Why doesn t he seem to consider these as a relevant source? He mentions how one of their leaders, the Mulatto planter Julien Raimond, goes out of his way to argue that the emancipation of the Mulattoes is the best recipe to suppress the slave rebellion. He also mentions that Robespierre supports the argument of Raimond and he concludes: Tome III, p See also: They don t want to illuminate the contradiction within the revolutionary ideology when it comes to colonial policy. His internationalist perspective allowed him to do so. Their neglect is as obvious as that of their 19 th century predecessors.
This is not so much due to their support for French colonial expansion, but more so to their apologetic vision of Jacobinism. But there is more to it. Most of the Marxian historians in France and elsewhere have copied the theoretical model of Georges Lefebvre, who distinguishes for collective actors on the stage of the French Revolution. The event in turns causes a revolt of the French peasantry in the form of several anti-feudal jacqueries. These social upheavals precipitate a revolution of the bourgeoisie that leads a constitutional monarchy.
In turn this revolution of the bourgeoisie stirs part of the working class that appears on the historic 41 Georges Lefebvre, , Quatre-Vingt-Neuf translated in by R. Trenslated into English in. The sans-culotte force the bourgeoisie to abolish the monarchy and to create the French Republic September This constructed chain of events becomes a paradigmatic truth about the French Revolution.
Thus, Albert Soboul writes in the Encyclopedia Universalis: The French Revolution was anti-feudal and anti-aristocratic, subsequently bourgeois and capitalist and finally nationalist. In this left-right line of thought, the Jacobins form the radical left of the bourgeois revolutionaries, the Girondins form the moderate left, while the Feuillants sit on the right of the president of the of the National Assemblee and form the moderate right. The old monarchists form the far right that are from not represented any longer.
If the Jacobins made any mistakes at all it was that they did not follow the path of the sans-culotte leaders like Jean Marat and Pierre Roux. In this historical narrative that became dominant during the sixties and seventies, the colonial question is an awkward anomaly.
Because in the debates on the colonies in the National Assemblee it is not Robespierre or Saint-Just who take the most liberal and anti-colonial position, but the moderate Mirabeau and Brissot. This is difficult to reconcile with the assumption that de Girondins act on behalf of the commercial and colonial interests.
The Marxist assumption that ideology and interest fully coincide, 42 See H. In this sense, Jean Jaures finds it easier to discuss the colonial question because he does not assume that ideology follows economic interests in such a direct way. His theoretical position is for this very reason criticised by Marxist scholars. According to Jaures men was capable to make moral judgements independent from their class position.
One would expect that the colonial question would attract more attention by the socalled revisionist historians of the French Revolution, such as Francois Furet. Thus silence seems to be characteristic of all mainstream French historians. They consider the birth of the French nation as the hallmark of modern history. The French Revolution is at the same time a national revolution and therefore has to take place in France. What happens elsewhere is in French nationalist necessarily of secondary importance.
Histoire du Marxisme Contemporai8n. Table of Contents Part One: Social Studies Curriculum Chapter I: Western Political Thought 1 2. The Age of Revolution 6 3. The Age of Napoleon. The British Empire 1. The Victorian era 2. How appealing is the idea of packing up all of your belongings and moving to a new area? Colonialism and Foundations of America Use the following map and your knowledge of Social Studies to answer question 1. What key activity does this map depict?
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Haitian Revolution
Thomas Jefferson was elected to be the 3 rd President. No Taxation Without Representation!! They decided to keep a standing.
- LInternationale. Décryptage (Les grands textes politiques décryptés t. 13) (French Edition)!
- Vie de Toussaint Louverture.
- Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution.
- Listen for the Rain!
- Place Victor Schoelcher et Toussaint Louverture (Massy).
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Haiti is the western third of the island of Hispaniola, bordering the Dominican Republic on the east. He was deported to France, where he died in The earliest records of his life are his recorded remarks and the reminiscences of his second legitimate son Isaac Louverture.
Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution – theranchhands.com
The couple had several children, of whom Toussaint was the eldest son. Pierre Baptiste is usually considered to have been his godfather. He was probably about 50 at the start of the revolution in Various sources have given birth dates between and Because of the lack of written records, Toussaint himself may not have known his exact birth date. In childhood, he earned the nickname Fatras Baton, suggesting he was small and weak, though he was to become known for his stamina and riding prowess.
Toussaint is believed to have been well educated by his godfather Pierre Baptiste. His medical knowledge is attributed to familiarity with African herbal-medical techniques as well those techniques commonly found in Jesuit-administered hospitals. Throughout his military and political career, he made use of secretaries for most of his correspondence.
Toussaint Louverture: Black Jacobin or African leader?
Towards the end of his life, he told General Cafarelli that he had fathered 16 children, of whom 11 had predeceased him. Not all his children can be identified for certain, but his three legitimate sons are well known. The two sons born of his marriage with Suzanne were Isaac and Saint-Jean. I was born a slave, but nature gave me the soul of a free man.
Until recently, historians believed that Toussaint had been a slave until the start of the revolution. The discovery of a marriage certificate dated shows that he was freed in at the age of This find retrospectively clarified a letter of , in which he said he had been free for twenty years. It seems he still maintained an important role on the Breda plantation until the outbreak of the revolution, presumably as a salaried employee. As a free man, Toussaint began to accumulate wealth and property. Surviving legal documents show him briefly renting a small coffee plantation worked by a dozen slaves.
He would later say that by the start of the revolution, he had acquired a reasonable fortune, and was the owner of a number of properties at Ennery. Officially as ruler of Saint-Domingue, he discouraged it. The membership of several free blacks and white men close to him has been confirmed. Initially, the slave population did not become involved in the conflict. Surviving documents show him participating in the leadership of the rebellion, discussing strategy, and negotiating with the Spanish supporters of the rebellion for supplies. However, some writers think it was more prosaically due to a gap between his front teeth.
Despite adhering to royalist political views, Louverture had begun to use the language of freedom and equality associated with the French revolution. From being willing to bargain for better conditions of slavery late in , he had become committed to its complete abolition. Brothers and friends, I am Toussaint Louverture; perhaps my name has made itself known to you.
I have undertaken vengeance. I want Liberty and Equality to reign in St Domingue. I am working to make that happen. Unite yourselves to us, brothers, and fight with us for the same cause. Initially, this failed, perhaps because Toussaint and the other leaders knew that Sonthonax was exceeding his authority.
However, on 4 February , the French revolutionary government proclaimed the abolition of slavery.
During this time, competition between him and other rebel leaders was growing, and the Spanish had started to look with disfavor on his near-autonomous control of a large and strategically important region. In May , when the decision of the French government became known in Saint-Domingue, Louverture switched allegiance from the Spanish to the French and rallied his troops to Lavaux. He faced attack from multiple sides. For emotional reasons, we will approach only the poetic work of Aime Cesaire, which, already very studied by critic 3, pushes us to visit it only on the psychological level of the melancholy.
We will thus be contented to analyze his poetry only through a published retrospective of all his poems 5. From his first till his last work published, Me, Laminar , Moi, Laminaire , in , the melancholy which is a source of suffering not of environment, of regrets and not of adjustments, of sobs and not of laughs, is found in the claims of the poet in his timetable and memory, in the field of the possibilities of a better world. May one judge some:. A whole melancholy which is displayed, of course, in the indifference and the whole incomprehension of those who are concerned.
Freud would say, differentiating the mourning of melancholy, that the latter is latent, multiform and chronic, whereas mourning is sanguinary but momentary. It is from this definition that one may understand the burning sob of Cesaire, the poet, for his people and for humanity. This voice which expressed in the most beautiful and strongest way the sufferings, not only of the black people, but also of all the oppressed people on earth, of all those that colonization, then the imperialism threw in the hecatomb of despair and oblivion, of self-denial, this voice has not always been understood by his own brothers, the poets.
All this therefore explains the need and the importance of the Negritude movement at the last century. The poems of Cesaire and a good number of other poets of this era have obviously caused a true psychoanalysis of the neuroses or psychological disorders that colonization and its attributes had generated and perpetuated in the Caribbean writers and the whole colored persons.
The melancholy of Cesaire is an expressive reaction of which it is important to consider polysemy, meaning, the source of the approximations and interrogations, i. This is certain when we think of the existential adventures of the black people at the time of slavery, and especially, of the crossings generated in the marginality of the cultures in filiations with the protagonists. More than the melancholy, the language used is livable, inhabited by the violence of the Verb, and by disputes of all kinds. This process of cultural assignment needs to be sincere insofar as the sum of the admonishments of the Negro requires a statute of a free writer and indissoluble to his pairs.
One must question this statute insofar as the difference between the black and the white man is developed, between two races of society cohabitation, two entities which made humanity progress. Because we want all the demons Those of yesterday, those of today Those of the yoke, those of the hoe Those of banning, prohibition, marronnage and we do not have the right to forget those of the slave trader… Thus we sing. Again, because of this melancholy, this wounded man was in search of an imaginary fatherland, it seems. He wanted to install in each West-Indian the conscience of Africa, the knowledge and the recognition of this continent in the interstices of the black Man and the Third World.
Fanon 1 wanted that it goes further in spite of the disagreements of this period of time by denying the occult forces which could act, leading for example to the death of Patrice Lumumba. But what does it mean for him, for Cesaire, the act of indicating the words against the existence of an infallible system at that time? Without him, Senghor, Dubois 7 and consorts, there would not be this America which one currently knows, the America of Mr.
Let us listen to him describing a part of this continent:. One could not help to dislike his geographic origin, his place of belonging, his native tongue, his morphological difference, his birthplace, and even his cultural and pathetic cartography. Cesaire insists, with reason, on the active part which the writing a poem consists of, and to some extent, the engagement of the poem and the poet to a cause. Our hell will make your thin skeleton bend. Yet, the melancholy of disengagement? Yet an organized sadness, but denounced by the creative activity. Yet, God who shines by his absence.