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Lesson 4&5: Haitian Revolution
Caribbean islands: Established around slave labor, slaves exported sugar canes, coffee, cotton, etc.
Most people are descendents of enslaved.
Haiti is 1/3 of an island, colonized by the french and Spanish, with Haiti being the french side.
Back in the days, Haiti was called Saint Dominigue.
Population Breakdown
20,000 - 40,000 whites (3.5% - 7% of population)
30,000 free people of color (5%)
15,000 mulattos (derogatory) (mixed white and black) 2.5%
500,000 slaves (88%)
Haiti pre-1791
France Controlled
500,000 people, mainly west African, enslaved.
Saint Dominigue (both Haiti and Dominican republic combined) richest colony in the world.
40% of world sugar, 50% of world coffee
French Plantation owners watching french revolution, in fear of change in laws.
Haiti slavery, in perspective
Worst conditions in the world
Death rate of slaves: 50%
Most died of overwork - sugar, coffee, indigo (dye)
Torture was common
Most slaves had memories of freedom in Africa
Pourquoi
Bc slaves outnumber whites 10:1, slaves were allowed to keep customs.
Vodou widely practiced.
Not Witchcraft
Religion gave slaves cultural expression + rallying point for protest&revolt
Que es Vodou?
Widely practiced religion, mix of Christianity, worship of dead & tribal religions.
Mostly in Benin
Worships a high god - Bon Dieu; ancestors, generally the dead.
Believed that when die, join high god in paradise.
Practiced in Haiti, Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago, Brazil, southern USA, especially Louisiana.
Beginning of Revolt
Upper,middle,mixed classed were infighting for power
Mixed was a result of rape, since they were a result of slave masters & slaves, but white could not marry black
Black slaves rebelled against their owners in 1791, taking advantage of the chaos
Dutty Boukman, a Vodou priest led over 100,000 slaves and outnumbered the hated French.
Called Boukman because one of the first few slaves that could read and taught reading.
1791: Guerilla Attack
Disorganized, scattered warfare.
Groups of runaway slaves (maroons/Marrons) entrenched in colony’s mountains & forests
After, they attacked white-owned plantations gathered provisions & weaponry to avenge themselves against inhabitants.
As number of ppl grew, these bands, sometimes consisting of thousands of people, would carry out hit-and-runs throughout the colony.
Lacked centralized organization & leadership
Resulted in 10,000black deaths & 2,000white deaths, and more than 1,000 plantations destroyed.
Uncle Tom - Derogatory term
people employed to watch over black slaves, mostly white people but if you kiss enough ass, a slave could be promoted to one of these positions, but these people tended to be meaner than white supervisors, as to maintain their position
Toussaint L’Ouverture
Former slave who wanted the revolution’s success
50 year old carriage driver
Began organizing slaves in military unites
Did not participate in original uprising
Organized to fight against French, Spanish, and English.
All three countries wanted to control island & ensure failure of slave revolt.
High on Power (1800)
Toussaint becomes dictator & needs money.
Reimposes plantation system, sugar = money
Used freed slaves as forced labor (basically slavery)
It doesnt work.
Aftermath
Liberated the island from slavery but still demanded sugar&coffee production
wanted to rebuilt French/Haitian economy
Napoleon sought to return Saint Domingue to French control/Reinstate Slavery
Sent French forces to overtake the island
1802, Toussaint abducted&imprisoned in France
Died of neglect & starvation in jail
Victory
Combined forces w/ Spanish army to defeat French
Rose to rank in Spanish army after victory
Post abolition of slavery in France, he switched sides to France, promoted to general in French army
Toussaint ruled over Haiti as governor-general
Forced British withdrawal
Defeated a mixed group in the south in bloody race war
Final Fight
Jean-Jacques Dessalines led a revolt following the capture of L’Ouverture
War broke & both sides resorted to mass murder
Haitians killed all Europeans & French killed all blacks
France could not re-supply their troops in time & suffered fever in camps, Haiti wins war in November 1803.
1804: Return to Normalcy
Officially declares independence, renaming “Haiti” after Arawak (Native American) name for mountain.
Land re-distribution ends plantation system, subsistence farming begins.
Haiti, the richest colony in the world, becomes one of the poorest nations on earth.
Day 2
André Rigaud
Controlled Southern Haiti during civil war