The American Revolution was the archetype for the rest of the world's major revolutions. Every major revolution is made official with some version of a declaration starting with the most famous, the Declaration of Independence. Document 2 is a section from Haities “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.” This document states their declaration for liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. The origin of the Haitian Revolution was caused by the consistent unfair and cruel treatment of the colored workers and slaves in Haiti. Document 1 is a writing called the “Black Code” listing the “French legal code for the regulation of slavery”. The list states the amount of food each slave is required to be fed and the religion they …show more content…
The Haitian Revolution has been seen as the first successful slave revolt in the western hemisphere where the slaves got rid of their oppression and created their own government. Hatie claimed to be a republic, and wrote their own declaration to rule by. In the declaration it clearly outlaws slavery and legal bias from skintone. “Men are born free and equal in rights; social distinctions may be based only upon the general usefulness.”(Document 2). The French did not make it easy for the Hatians to gain their freedom. The White President of the colonial Assembly in Saint-Domingue wrote “We have not brought half a million slaves from the coasts of Africa to make them into French citizens.”(Document 3) This quote shows the backlash the Revolution gained from the current white authority figures. Another example of struggles the Haitian Revolution faced was after Haiti gained freedom from France, Napoleon went to Haiti prepared to battle and reinstate slavery. As explained in Document 4, Napoleon's army did not win because of the battle knowledge the Hatians had gained combined with the Republican French army not understanding the disagreement with Haitians' want for freedom. The Hatians strong mentality towards their gaining independence powered them through each of the roadblocks to their governmental freedom. The sketch in Document 5 is a picture of a scene representing the Haitian army hanging and killing the white French army. The success of the Haitians Revolt is still seen as an impressive feat in
In Documents 1, 2, and 10, the Haitian Revolution was the spark
The Haitian Revolution occurred from 1791-1804.When the Revolution ended it did not just end the rebellion but it also ended the French’s control of the colony. However this revolution is not that simple. The Haitian Revolution was influenced by the French Revolution in 1789 to signify the new idea of human rights. It is most known for the biggest and most thriving slave revolt in the Western Hemisphere. There were actually more than one slave revolt before 1791 and that consisted of poisining their masters.
Image Ownership: Public Domain The Haitian Revolution has often been described as the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere. Slaves initiated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1803 they had succeeded in ending not just slavery but French control over the colony. The Haitian Revolution, however, was much more complex, consisting of several revolutions going on simultaneously.
Background Information on the Enlightenment: In the year of 1791, The French and Haitian Revolution coexisted simultaneously. France was trying to pick up the pieces of a country left in shambles, while across the hemisphere, Haiti was about to ignite the fire. In France, they were in the process of creating a new government, in which all citizens would have equal rights, as based on the Declaration of the Rights of Man. In Haiti, a shocked oppressed populace was discovering the power that was held by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and was keen to set their own revolution.
The Haitian revolution was a fight for equality and freedom from slavery. The American revolution was a fight for freedom from Britain, but not for equality within the colonies. Americans felt they deserved the same rights as the British while the Haitians wanted humane rights in general. " Thus the American Revolution did not grow out of social tensions within the colonies, but from a rather sudden and unexpected effort by the British government to tighten its control over the colonies to extract more revenue from them" (Strayer, 786). The Americans revolutionists, who wanted to fight, were more privileged colonists who were angry about being overtaxed compared to the slave revolutionists in Haiti.
The French Revolution in 1789 greatly influenced the Haitians to revolt against the government in 1791 due to the unfair rights and laws among both countries. Africans were taken from their homes and sold as slaves in Haiti in desperate need of money. Haitians were not able to trade with outside countries. Slaves also did not earn as much they worked. They were forced to work in sugar plantations and were treated poorly and malnourished.
Overall, the Haitian Revolution is a contrast to the French Revolution because the main reasons and goals of the people were different. In Haiti, the news of American Independence motivated slaves to unite and fight for equality from European nations. Meanwhile in France, the radicals hoped that by overthrowing the monarchy, a new assembly would be created and France would become a republic. Enlightenment philosophies played a role in both revolutions, yet the main reasons for the events differed from one
Fischer Keizer Kassondra Young Baccalaureate World-Themes 17 May 2023 In the summer of 1791, the enslaved people of Haiti revolted against their owners in the name of freedom. In 1804, the revolution ended with the enslaved people free at last. However, this was not possible without the spark from certain events that occurred in the French Revolution. The French Revolution was important to the cause of the Haitian Revolution because it gave slaves of Haiti the belief that a revolution would be possible.
From 1791 to 1804, the country that had the biggest impact on the Haitian Revolution was France. In fact, the French Revolution was a significant catalyst to the Haiti’s own revolution despite having started a few years prior. At this point, France’s economy was still suffering after their involvement in both the American Revolutionary War and the Seven Years’ War. To combat the huge amount of debt they owed, France issued widely unpopular taxation schemes which ultimately caused more harm than benefit. Additionally, the heightened privileges enjoyed by the aristocracy and the clergy drew popular resentment.
Despite the fact that the Enlightenment that had occurred in France around a century prior to the Revolution and that the ideas of the Haitian Revolution were largely based off of the ideas of the philosophes from the Enlightenment, all people, racial minorities and not, in France were not expecting such a large uproar to begin over enslavement. The Haitian Revolution sounded the alarm in
In 1804 the island of Haiti accomplished freedom from France. The French surrendered the island and changed the island of Saint-Domingue back to its original name Haiti after the white population on the island was removed. The Haitian Declaration of Independence, 1804 document it states that the Haitians would rather die than be controlled under the French's rule. The Haitian Revolution was a successful revolution because the Haitian people achieved their goal of abolishing slavery.
Slavery is the result of taking away one’s freedom and humanity by exploiting the individual physically and psychologically to be productive on the plantation. The maximization of profit is of essential goal. Viewed as the largest and most successful revolution of its era, Haiti became the first black Republic in the western hemisphere. The once pearl of the Caribbean consisted of large coffee and sugar plantations turned to blood and fire with its ruling class eliminated and economy ruined. Very few revolution could be compared as the slaves of Saint Dominique took charge of their fate by ruling themselves politically and economic.
Although there were attempts to improve the treatment of slaves such as the 1685 Code Noir (Black Code), the tenets rarely enforced this code. In addition to physically harming their slaves, masters would ruthlessly overwork their slaves and starve them. Instead of restoring their health, masters would let them die and purchase new slaves to replace the perished ones. News of abolitionist movements and freedom reforms to gain political enfranchisement and reassert equal status had spread throughout Saint- Domingue.
This article was an excellent source of information that depicted the global impact of the Haitian Revolution. It discusses in detail the affects the Haitian Revolution had on the United States as well as globally and does a great job at describing the uprising of the slaves and the events leading up to the Haitian Revolution. The author describes the Haitian Revolution as a “vivid example of events that produced a change in the structure of the society in the Western Hemisphere.” He also discusses the various trans-Atlantic repercussions felt globally.
INTRODUCTION The Haitian Revolution was one of the largest and most successful slave revolutions in the Western Hemisphere, because it consisted of several synchronized revolutions. St Domingue was considered to be one of the richest colonies in the West Indies. There were many conditions in the society of Haiti that contributed to the rebellion in 1791. The main points focused on are the ruthless treatment of the enslaved and the desire for Haitian blacks and multi-racial people to be treated with respect and decency