In 1789, locations across the globe were affected by the French Revolution. This was a revolt initiated by the people that would change France forevermore, but it also changed Haiti. Unexpectedly, the French Revolution had a significant influence on the Haitian Revolution, a major slave revolt where slaves forcefully took their freedom for the first time in history. The French Revolution impacted the Haitian Revolution by changing the mindsets of the people, inspiring the Haitian Constitution, and initiating the final phase. Before analyzing the significance of the Haitian Revolution, one should understand the background and history of the island. Saint-Domingue–also known as Haiti–is the western half of the Caribbean island Hispaniola. …show more content…
Despite living and looking like grand blancs, they were mistreated. Last came slaves. Now that the social classes have been explained, the Haitian Revolution and its relationship with the French one can be better understood. One way the French Revolution impacted the Haitian Revolution was by changing the mindsets of the Haitians in all social classes. The events occurring in France opened the Haitians’ eyes to a point where slaves weren’t the only ones in Haiti who wanted a change, but thanks to the French Revolution, everyone was angry. To begin with, the grand blancs wanted to terminate their trade agreement with France so they could sell to the highest bidder and keep the money they earned. Like the members of the Third Estate, they didn’t want to be controlled by the weak and tyrannical French monarchy. Speaking of the Third Estate, they might have been located in France, but the petit blancs still associated themselves with them, which is logical, as they were poor working classmen. These blancs were inspired by the citizens in France and their determination, as well as their desire for acquiring the rights they felt they deserved. Nevertheless, they turned to violent measures and began attacking the grand blancs. The petit blancs weren’t the only ones who wanted to be treated equally to the grand blancs; the gens de couleur had a yearning for this as well. Although they had
The Haitian revolution was from 1791 to 1804 and it happened when Saint-Domingue(Haiti) was under French rule therefore making it a French colony. Saint-Domingue was a very important colony for France due to its production of sugar as well as coffee. It was also a strategic point due to it being close to North America (Source C). This is why Napoleon Bonaparte’s plans to conquer North America as well as the West Indies and establish France and himself as dominant powers in Europe were centralised around Saint-Domingue (Source E).
The success and vigorous pursuit of freedom from oppression in the French Revolution inspired the Haitians to believe that they were capable of doing the same; the Haitians, being treated like animals, wanted their inherent rights. The overbearing French governing body had collapsed and the Third Estate was likely to receive a brighter future. The Haitians were still locked down as property and animals, but they craved to have the inherent rights that all men are privileged to. The French got their rights while the Haitians did not; this was quite the volatile scenario ready to fall off the self and spark revolution.
The critical explanation behind the Haitian Revolution was the slave resistance, due to France's brutal and coldblooded
The Haitian Revolution is recorded as the only known completely successful slave revolt in world history. Taking place from 1791 to 1804, the rebellion ended slavery in Saint Domingue, and rebirthed the area into the Republic of Haiti. The Revolution carried effects on a grand scale. Globally, other countries began to become fearful due to the rebellions, and this rage was voiced by citizens around the world. The French government’s political role in the lives of Haitians during the rebellion was expressed in numerous governing documents. The social impact of the revolution can be seen through the perspectives of slaves during the time period.
As the revolutionary time period continued to surge, the Haitian revolted against the French as giving way for political independence and the freedom of the inhabitants, however the economy diminished for many countries did not want to trade with the Haitians. With the success in the Haitian revolution, the Haitians gained political freedom from the French and created their own government in 1804. Not only did the Haitians gain political freedom, but they also abolished slavery for the citizens and gained the right to be a free man and a citizen. Since the slave revolution succeed, many countries blocked communication and economic trade with the Haitians in fear of their slaves revolting which dwindled the economic success that previously occurred with the French.
The Haitian Revolution took place from 1791 to 1804 on the island of Saint Domingue. On this island, an unfair hierarchy took place where Grand-blancs who were at the top of the hierarchy were extremely wealthy while ninety percent of the population were enslaved and abused. Life was set up so that enslaved blacks and wealthy whites were not created equal. The political structure of Saint Domingue was the exact type of political system that Enlightenment Philosophers like Thomas Jefferson and Emmanual Kant advocate against. The Haitian revolution that uprooted this hierarchy therefore did fulfill Enlightenment values because of how Toussaint L’Overture abolished slavery and initiated paid labor and how the Haitian Declaration of Independence
The Haitian Revolution did not just start and end in one day. Instead, the entire revolution took place over a very event filled thirteen years. The start of the revolution was influenced by many other incidents. Including slave revolts throughout Saint Domingue
Besides slave uprising, another stimuli for the Haitian Revolution was the political and social conditions of France. Around 1787 an anti-slavery sentiment developed in France after being heavily influenced by the English abolitionists movements, which included among others the Quakers. Furthermore, the political instability of France during the late eighteenth century forced the small community of
That’s why the French Revolution, along with Haiti, exhibited new and unconventional ideas[Kaiser Encyclopedia]. The ideas of “liberty, equality, and fraternity”[Chapter 10, Brittanica] were supposedly though valid for all peoples, but that was considered troublesome for those who wished to control the social hierarchy. King Louis XVI was unable to adequately reform the french fiscal system, which laid the foundation for the revolution[Voyages 495-496]. When he showed reluctance to rule as a constitutional monarch, he was beheaded by french revolutionaries. Later, the National Assembly had to force their ruler to sign the Assembly’s constitution. In Haiti, the prosperity of the colony was based upon slavery. This was an issue because the majority of the population were slaves, and had no say in the government. Both the Haitians and the French had to fight for what they wanted and were strongly opposed. The political changes taking place in France at the time of the French Revolution brought change for the
Finally, Haiti got quite a bit of their motivation and reason for revolt from some of the Eighteenth century Enlightenment philosophers. These philosophers played a very big role in the development of many revolutions across the globe, including Haiti’s. “Throughout history, revolutions have started because of new ideas that change thinking and disrupt the status quo. The Haitian Revolution of 1789-1804 is no exception.”(Nicholson). The main philosopher that the Haitians took their ideas from is John Locke. Some of Locke’s ideas were previously unheard of, and started quite a debate when he published his books. These ideas gave people a new view on the way that things were seen all across the world, and gave people ideas they would have never had before. (“The Enlightenment”) “A government, he said, has an obligation to the people it governs. If a government fails its obligations or violates
If the story of the Haitian revolution is told in a completely factual way, the story would be about how the Slaves revolted and started a nation on their own. To the neighboring Americans this was not a good thing. At the time in America there was a large population of slaves, in fact the American agricultural industry relied totally on slave labor. So the Haitian rebellion was talked down so to not give the slaves in America any ideas.
The Haitian revolution took place in Saint-Domingue, a French colony and one of the richest of all European colonies in the Caribbean, on the western part of the island of Hispaniola, a major center of sugar production with hundreds of prosperous plantations. The population of the colony comprised of three groups, the white colonials, the gens de couleur, and the slaves. Many slaves ran away and established maroon communities that were self-sustained. As more and more slaves ran away, more and more slaves were being imported from Africa and other Caribbean islands, which resulted in the high prices of slaves. Since the French aided the North American colonists in their war for independence, they sent several hundreds of gens de couleur to the colonies. Once they returned to Saint-Domingue, they wanted independence themselves from the French.
The Haitian Revolution is based on the political purpose that France had when they fought to possess Saint-Domingue (now called Haiti). France, like other empires at the time, was trying to extend its wealth and power. Therefore, possessing Haiti, having a lot of gold, sugar, coffee, indigo and others were one way to be strong and powerful. Being driven by the profits that Haiti were emanating, African slaves were continuously brought to Haiti, first to replace the Aboriginals that had died previously, but also to increase their profits. This led to the slaves outnumbering the French colonizers. Later on, the free people of color were demanding more right to the French government and after their refusal, the slaves and the free people of color revolted which led to the Haitian revolution (Simpsons 1942, 487). The French colonizers were already struggling about the equality between themselves because there was a hierarchy present within the White community. Moreover, what created a reaction to help slaves to revolt was the “religious ceremony performed at Bois Caïman by the Maroon voodoo priest Dutty Boukman, which was attended by representative slaves from several plantations” (Laguerre 1989, 1). Boukman called the help of the spirits to revolt against the white colonists. The revolution of Haiti in 1804 was a social and political uprising in the French Colony of Saint-Domingue. Voodoo rapidly became Haiti’s way out of slavery, as it helped them reunite together and gain the
The Haitian and French Revolutions both aimed to overthrow the unjust influences of the French monarchy and ultimately succeeded in positively obtaining more social equality for the majority of their people, with differing impacts on their political and economic structures. The Haitian slaves in Haiti and the Third Estate in French were both large social classes that had very little power and influence in their countries. By ignoring the welfare of these populations, the ruling classes were eventually overthrown with significant impacts on the political, social, and economic futures of both France and Haiti
The Haitian Revolution was one of the most important slave revolts in Latin American history. It started a succession of other revolutionary wars in Latin America and ended both colonialism and imperialism in the Americas. The Haitian Revolution affected people from all social castes in Haiti including the indigenous natives, mestizos, mulattos and the Afro-Latin. The idea of starting a rebellion against France began with the colony’s white elite class seeking a capitalist market. These elites in the richest mining and plantation economies felt that the European governments were limiting their growth and restricting free trades. However, the Afro-Latin, mestizos and mulattos turned the Haitian Revolution into a war for equality and built a new state. The Haitian Revolution, with the support of it large slave population and lower class citizens, eliminated slavery and founded the Republic of Haiti. Tin this essay I will discuss how mestizos, mulattos and the Afro-Latin Americans population in Haiti participate in the fight for independence and how they creation of new republics.