However, this isolation of the western region allowed trade between freed blacks and Jamaica to flourish, allowing blacks haitian revolution essay gain wealth and power in this region. During the spilled-over revolutions, St. It would be a [ In turn, haitian revolution essay, the mulattoes despised the black slaves, same as the whites. The island was protected by 13, military men who served to protect the island from revolt and prevent sabotage to the sugar plantation and factories. Domingue and North America; merchants from England supplied the island with horses, food and equipment in exchange for sugar processing by-products such as molasses which was converted into rum.
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The Haitian Revolution started as a massive slave uprising on August, A massive slave uprising erupted in the French colony Saint-Domingue which is now called Haiti, haitian revolution essay. The rebellion was fueled by a Vodou service that was organized by Boukman, a Voudou hougan or High Priest. Most historians view this revolt as the most celebrated event that began the year revolution that culminated in the independence of Haiti in the year A plantation system that was ran by slaves, imported from Africa brought the wealth of men who were mainly French planters from Africa and France.
The third and fourth positions of the stratified class system were filled by a few middle class of white men, but the majority of men were black. The colony was in a melee with several revolutionary movements, at the time of the uprising from the slaves. The planters were moving toward independence from France and the free colored people wanted a full citizenship, while the slaves wanted their haitian revolution essay. All were inspired by the French Revolution of that wanted equality and freedom. Napoleon Bonaparte insent out General Leclerc and thousands of troops to arrest Toussaint and to reinstate slavery and to restore the French rule was described by Carolyn Fick,Fick Toussaint was sent to France after being captured, after being deceived. He died in prison in Dessalines declared the nation as independent on January 1,haitian revolution essay, when it became known as Haiti, the country that was the first black republic in the world and the first independent nation in Latin America.
The year will commemorate the bicentennial celebration of the Haitian Revolution where many will take part in the event, remembering the brave battle in the Haitian Revolution. They are the main people who are remembered for their bravery in Haiti, haitian revolution essay, today. Many of the freed slaves of Saint-Domingue settled in New Orleans, profoundly influencing the history of that city. Haitian revolution essay to content Home Free Essays The Haitian Revolution essay. Related essays: Haiti Haitian revolution essay Issues essay What Comprises a Revolution? CHAPTER I essay Jewish Experience During the French Revolution essay The Haitian Massacre of essay.
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The island was protected by 13, military men who served to protect the island from revolt and prevent sabotage to the sugar plantation and factories. Theses classes of population had nothing in common between then. Allied to the middle and first class whites were the mulattoes offspring of elite whites and black women , who wanted to share in the privileges of the whites. However, the mulattoes did not find it easy; they faced racial discrimination due to their parental background. In turn, the mulattoes despised the black slaves, same as the whites. To maintain divisions between the whites and blacks, the Black Code was instituted in preventing people from crossing racial boundaries, enforcing strict relations among the free racial groups.
By , the slave population in the vast Caribbean island totaled to more than , Most of the slaves were of African descent. At the time, the death rate exceeded the birth rates, and as such the importation of slaves from Africa continued. Annual decline in slave population was due to the imbalance between the sexes of the slaves: more men than women; and overwork; inadequate medical care, food, clothing and shelter. Some slaves worked for the elite class in the urban areas as personal servants, cooks and laborers around the houses in the plantations. This class of relatively privileged slaves was mainly of American descent, while the Africa-born, under-class slaves worked under abusive conditions in the plantations.
The region of Plane du Nord on the north shores of St. Domingue was the largest and most fertile of the sugar plantations. The region was economically important, particularly because most French trade went through the ports in that region. Le Cap Francias was the capital of the French St. Domingue and the busiest port. Due to the economical importance of this region it was occupied by the rich upper-class white colonist, who wanted economical monopoly of the region. Consequently the region was exclusively dominated by the upper-class whites while the middle class whites were scattered in other regions of St. Of the close to 40, whites who lived in St. Domingue, French-born European whites monopolized all administrative posts.
The grand Blancs and the sugar planters were mainly considered as minor aristocrats. Most of these administrators moved back to France as shortly as possible, hopping to escape yellow, a popular fatal disease at the time James, The lower-class whites petits blancs composed the slave leaders, shopkeepers and overseers. Domingue was also polarized by rival tension between the west, south and north. Northern St. Domingue was the centre for trading and shipping, and therefore was occupied by elite French population. The southern region of St. Domingue lagged behind in wealth and development, being geographically detached from other parts of the colony. However, this isolation of the western region allowed trade between freed blacks and Jamaica to flourish, allowing blacks to gain wealth and power in this region.
The western region grew significantly in wealth, particularly after the capital was moved to Port-au-Prince. This made the region to become increasingly wealthy, particularly in the second half of the 18 th century. Besides, there were always regional tensions between allies of Great Britain who changed the colony of St. Domingue and the proponent of independence loyal to Spain and France Geggus and Fiering, While the upper-class whites enjoyed luxury and life indulgence in northern St. Domingue, middle class whites lived in less luxurious conditions in the west, and the blacks existed harshly in the southern parts. The blacks spent long hours laboring in St. Most of the black populations died form starvation and overwork. Although the blacks were protected by laws from torture and physical abuse, the reality was that the slaves could be killed, mutilated or tortured by their owners.
And since most slaves were not born in slavery, being imported from Africa where they lived in freedom, adapting to slavery conditions was not easy to them. The African slaved also carried and practiced their culture and religion, even though it was illegalized by the colony. Their religion, known as Voodoo, gave the rallying point to fight for their rights. Black slaves had been seeking to escape and run away from their owners ever since they arrived in St. Most of them were waiting for an auspicious moment to put the end to slavery and organize a popular uprising. In ,with the dominant whites split into two and with the mulattoes fighting for equality, the back slaves staged a general rebellion against their owners, destroying crops and plantations and killing whites.
By , slave revolts in St. Domingue had transformed into a full-scale civil revolution. Looking for support from the black slaves to defeat the upper-class whites, revolutionary white French officials got rid of slavery in St. While fierce fighting continued between t various social groups, Britain and Spain sent forces to capture the territory. Earlier accounts of black slave revolt took advantage of the element of surprise. In order to counteract rebellion the colonies requested for assistance from France.
Colonists who fled St. Domingue and sought refuge in other areas such as Philadelphia spread the news that barbarism and brutality was widespread in St. Domingue and believed that it was important plans for gradual abolitions of slavery was needed. Other slave powers such as England, Portugal, the United States Holland and Spain wanted to make sure that such rebellions do not happen to them. While it is not clear what caused the Haitian Revolution, most reports believe that the Society of Friends of Blacks greatly influenced the revolution. Other believes that the idea of revolution was already in the minds of most slaves given the lessons from the French Revolution Kraft, Perhaps the prominent factor that ignited revolution was the conditions of life which the slaves forced to live.
The Code Noir, for example, demanded inviolable obedience from slaves to their owners and regulated their daily activities James, Domingue turned into a killing field, where human lives were sacrificed for profit. The condition for labor was so brutal that most of the slaves died within two years of their arrival. In addition the slaves seldom reproduce, women slaves often aborted to prevent their potential children form being born in slavery Kraft, This mead tat the white masters had to continually replenish their supply of new slaves. Prior to the revolution in , more that three quarters of slaves in St. Domingue were of African descent and experienced minimal freedom in the last ten years of their lives. Besides, the Code Noir did not permit slaves to lodge any complains against their owners.
Most slaves died of harsh working conditions or starvation, women slaves lived in constant fear and were brutally treated and continually raped by their masters. And because the state of slavery meant that they were properties of their owners, the owners could do anything they please, including rape James, Slaves worked under these conditions, with the permanent fear of whip by the overseers. Slaves who attempted to escape automatically became fugitives and were subjected to several tortures mutilations, feet chained, arms hacked off , and most tortures ended in death of slaves.
Basically, the daily lives of slaves were same as the experiences in concentration camps. It is easy to understand why the affair for an insurrection was sought out for and waited with a lot of patience. Black slaves and white masters constantly engaged in violent conflicts. Most of these conflicts revolved around slaves escaping form the plantations. Most of these escapees lived off what they could steal from the plantations. Most runaway slaves lived in the woods far way from their masters. In most instances they would conduct violent attacks on the coffee and sugar plantations. Although the size and number of these bands grew bigger, they lacked strategic leadership to undertake large scale raids, and possible escapes. The French revolution of impacted greatly on the wealthy French colony of St.
The struggle in France split the country in to two: the revolutionary forces of the middle and lower classed against the nobility representing the ancient regime. The Revolution ensued, among other matters, in the overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy in France and in the formation of the First Republic. It came about from a complex series of causes, the most significant of which were the unfitness of the ruling classes of clergy, noblesse and middle class to come to terms with the troubles of state, the extortionate taxation of the peasantry, indecisive nature of the monarch, impoverishment of the workers, the intellectual ferment of the Age of Enlightenment, and the example of the American War of Independence.
Most theories tend to emphasize the cultural, political, personality and ideological factors in the unfolding and the advent of the conflict, but downplay the struggle by the social class. The revolution produced a vast set of repercussions. These revolutions spilled over into the colonies of France, such as the French West Indies, that were holding slaves. During the spilled-over revolutions, St. Domingue was not left behind. The white population in St. Domingue split into two: the white middle class receiving support from the revolutionaries and the elite first-class loyal to king Louis XVI. Low-class whites soon took the opportunity to rebel against the elite first-class whites in St. While they wanted equal rights for themselves, they did not want the same to happen to the mulattoes and black slaves.
They felt that freedom and rights were noble for everyone, but to maintain their profits and status, slavery had to be maintained. The elite whites however opposed royalism for the low class whites and need the help of the French state to minimize revolution in St. Domingue and keep the order of colonization intact. At the same time, the mulattoes realizing an excellent opportunity to improve their living standards adopted a revolutionary idea of equality and liberty to fight for their rights without considerations for the black slaves. Since they were also property owners, they did not want an end to slavery. The Haitian Revolution started as a massive slave uprising on August, A massive slave uprising erupted in the French colony Saint-Domingue which is now called Haiti.
The rebellion was fueled by a Vodou service that was organized by Boukman, a Voudou hougan or High Priest. Most historians view this revolt as the most celebrated event that began the year revolution that culminated in the independence of Haiti in the year A plantation system that was ran by slaves, imported from Africa brought the wealth of men who were mainly French planters from Africa and France. The third and fourth positions of the stratified class system were filled by a few middle class of white men, but the majority of men were black. The colony was in a melee with several revolutionary movements, at the time of the uprising from the slaves. The planters were moving toward independence from France and the free colored people wanted a full citizenship, while the slaves wanted their freedom.
All were inspired by the French Revolution of that wanted equality and freedom.
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