Liberalism In The Haitian Revolution

Within the period of 1750 to 1914, changes were taking place around the world. New empires and nations began growing and expanding their territory, and as a result of these actions, wars, bankruptcy, and rebellions became more common. An example is the American Revolution, in which the American colonists, who were influenced by new philosophies and the sense of nationalism, fought and gained their independence from Britain. This revolution eventually inspired others throughout the world as it was successful in gaining the colonies independence from a powerful European empire. Those revolutions include the Haitian and French Revolution. The Haitian Revolution can be compared to the French revolution in that they were both influenced by the Enlightenment

He used the ideas like freedom of speech and social equality to support his revolt on abolishing slavery (Doc 7). Many parts of the Haitian Constitution were similar to the French Constitution. This show that French Constitution's ideas have great contribution to the Haitian revolution. If the French Constitution wasn’t made, Toussaint probably won’t be successful on persuade the Haitian to

After already obtaining an uneven distribution of wealth in the nation among the three estates, the debt from the American Revolution took a toll on France’s financial stability, practically bankrupting them. Struggling from the large gap between the wealthy and the poor, it was suggested by Sieyes that the third estate, commoners (97%), were the people who made up the nation of France and that they needed to take a stand, which they did. The third estate followed Rosseau, who’s ideas were developed from Locke, on his ideas of “general will” of the nation, and that they should form a national assembly of their own since they were the nation (SMW 76). The French Revolution unfolded into three phases of constitutional monarchy, radical republicanism, and military consolidation, resulting in the issue of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, among other accomplishments. Also following the American Revolution, and the Declaration of Independence, the French used Locke’s ideas in his Second Treatise of Government as a guideline to their new constitution.

The French, not at all like the Haitian slaves, were under a legislature as nationals and were trying to overthrow their current government. In doing so, they wanted to create a new government where they had rights that could settle their social needs as well as repair the damages caused by the war and decrease France’s debt. France was going through an internal battle because for 175 years the estates general wasn’t in session and when it was in session in 1789, King Louis XVI asked for more money but locked out the third estate. The third estate had no voice, rights and were just poor peasants suffering from having to pay 40% tax. Louis XVI was the king of France and thusly was considered in charge of its monetary emergency and the disparity of the French society.

Alexis de Tocqueville penned Democracy in America after he spent month America in the 1831, where he witnessed a new democratic system. He found it’s concepts to have unique strengths and weaknesses that he believed could be the inspiration for the new government of post-revolution France. The concepts of limiting individualism, encouraging positive associations, and moderating the tyranny of the majority that Tocqueville observed during his trip in America helped maintain the new democratic republic built after the revolution. As soon as America became free from British rule, their groundwork for their new government helped cement them as a true democracy since it contended with individualism. Tocqueville noticed that after a successful

He puts forward the idea of “freedom of opinion” (Tocqueville 106) and constitutes it as “independence of mind and real freedom of discussion” (Tocqueville 104). Unlike Locke, this stretches far beyond what is done. Tocqueville is careful to differentiate this liberty from the freedom of speech, as this freedom from opinion is more meant to indicate the freedom to follow different paths of thought and not be unfairly judged for it. Once again, it is the majority who suppresses this in Tocqueville’s opinion, as scorn and persecution for unwanted opinions permeate throughout society (Tocqueville 105). Tocqueville’s entanglement of liberty and what is right means that a majority’s limitation of liberty is unjust, while Locke’s concept of liberty means it must necessarily be restrained by a majority in order to protect the principle aim of government, to protect

The period from 1780s to 1840s in Europe is named as the age of revolution because of emergences of numbers revolutions such as industrial revolution starting from Britain in between 1700s to 1800s and French revolution from 1789 to 1871.Considered as a colony of French, Saint-Domingue, whose today territory is Republic of Haiti and Dominica Republic, was the wealthiest colony in the world in 1780s. It is also known as the first and the only colony that had successful slave revolt in the age of revolution. This paper is going to discuss the causes, main events and significences of Haitian revolution.

Lastly, the economic causes of the French revolution were the high taxes for the middle class people during that time. The slaves worked day and night to earn money but because of the taxes that the nobles proposed, they could not pay for it. Therefore, there was a large economic strain on France which was not the case with Haiti since they were thriving due to free labour and surplus goods. Despite their differences, the French and Haitian revolutions are also similar because of St. Domingue which was the common link between France and Haiti.

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. The increased civil unrest culminated in the Legislative Assembly voting to abolish the monarchy in Revolutionary France. The current king, King Louis and his queen, Marie Antoinette were imprisoned in 1792 and eventually sent to the guillotine after being

Ideas that were formed by the enlightenment philosophers were used in the new government. The French, however, did not make significant progress toward ending absolutism and instead were subject to another absolute ruler immediately after the revolution. After the French revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor. In this role, Bonaparte had absolute power over France. But some traces of progress were seen, as Bonaparte created a fairer tax system, new schools and a new set of laws (some still in place over 200 years

During the Haitian Revolution through August 21, 1791, to January 1, 1804, slaves were imported from Africa and oppressed by the white, French population. The slaves were outraged at the mistreatment and decided to revolt against their masters. There were many causes that started the revolution, such as social, economic, and political inequality between the white French and everyone else. The revolution itself also had an important legacy that inspired hope for the future of those oppressed as well as more negatively, death and tragedy. The Haitian Revolution was caused by oppressive slavery and discrimination against all but the French elite and led to the death of French and Haitians alike, the French’s expulsion from the island, and the spread of hope and freedom to other oppressed people all over the world.

When trying to define a word such as Liberalism it seems difficult to find a solid definition. There are different forms of liberalism and different meanings depending on the time period it is being applied to (idea taken from Phil Badger author from philosophynow). To solve this ambiguity, I’ve decided to define liberalism based on the time period in which I will be conducting my research. Liberalism in the 1700s was the belief of freedom and equals rights generally associated with the enlightenment thinkers, John Locke and Montesquieu (as defined by wikipedia.org).

De Tocqueville doesn 't view liberty as an attribute part of the democratic era. He believes that the only character that is associated with this era is equality. He explains in his theory that people of this era prize equality over liberty, although he doesn 't deny that democratic people value liberty, because everyone can take part in it and enjoy it effortlessly, as opposed to liberty where you have to "sacrifice" to achieve it (De Tocqueville, 1835). He holds that equality creates individualism, which means people separate themselves from one another, their ancestors and the future generations, that leads to tyranny and despotism. On the contrary, he claims that during the aristocratic ages, people were not selfish and careless about others ' needs because "aristocracy links everybody, from peasant to king" (De Tocqueville, 1835).

Plantation owners loved having indentured servants because it really helped them save every bit of money they could. Indentured servants did suffer a lot especially with their working schedules but, with the laws that were later passed in Virginia throughout the years and any few freedoms black had were taken away making them feel hopeless at times because of the racial diversity in the America’s at the time. Servants were being optimistic at the time, they were hoping the laws being passed would not affect their rewards for all the hard work they had endeavored throughout the four to seven year long contracts. There was many uncertainty especially with how society would treat them because of their skin color. With all these new laws being passed, most plantation owners feared for their land, indentured servants were not needed as much anymore, plantation owners turned to slavery were they had more power of the individuals and were guaranteed no profit

He thought that the power lies in the hands of the people and their elected government officials. He also believed that there should be an elected president in place of a monarch. These thoughts helped the people have more power and can control who they think is capable to be in charge of them. This also gave the people the option to change their leader if the people find him not good enough to rule. This could help the people to have a say on taxes and other laws they oppose.