Browse the 18th Century era within the In Our Time archive. The grands blancs in Saint-Domingue, unhappy with Sonthonax, arranged with Britain to declare British sovereignty over the colony, believing that the British would maintain slavery. [55] A new governor sent by Paris, Lger-Flicit Sonthonax, abolished slavery in the Northern Province and had hostile relations with the planters, whom he saw as royalists. "Teaching the Haitian Revolution: Its Place in Western and Modern World History". '"[26], The book received widespread praise, with many reviewers noting how the events described in the book portend to modern times. The Mexican Revolution - Every 5 Days. What is the Significance of the Haitian Revolution? [105], The Haitians next tried to stop the French at a British-built fort up in the mountains called Crte--Pierrot, a battle that is remembered as a national epic in Haiti. The parallels with modern times, and particularly contemporary America, leap off the page". Meanwhile, Dessalines led the rebellion until its completion, when the French forces were finally defeated by the end of 1803. So they just took the Spanish pronunciation and used it with a French accent. The end of French rule and the abolition of slavery in the former colony was followed by a successful defense of the freedoms the former slaves won and, with the collaboration of already free people of color, their independence from white Europeans. The revolution of 1911 was a critical moment in Chinese history because of how it paved the way for the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949, an uprising that established the People's Republic of China. The largest and most encompassing of those civilizations to Duncan was always the Romans. ), Posted by: A ragtag force of slaves managed to unify Haiti, defeat Europes most powerful army and become the first country in Latin America to gain independence, second only to the United States in the Americas as a whole. I was wondering if you would cover the slave uprisings in other French colonies during the 1790s, especially the one in Guadeloupe (featuring Louis Delgres). On 20 September 1793, about 600 British soldiers from Jamaica landed at Jrmie to be greeted with shouts of, "Vivent les Anglais!" This is one I know absolutely nothing about, and it sounds really interesting (and bloody and horrible) from the first episode. State of the Revolution. [92] In June 1799, Rigaud initiated the War of Knives against Toussaint's rule, sending a brutal offensive at Petit-Gove and Grand-Gove. They often received education or artisan training, and sometimes inherited freedom or property from their fathers. However, this isolation allowed freed slaves to find profit in trade with Jamaica, and they gained power and wealth here. 19:44. The poor whites couldn't stand the rich whites, the rich whites despised the poor whites, the middle-class whites were jealous of the aristocratic whites, the whites born in France looked down upon the locally born whites, mulattoes envied the whites, despised the blacks and were despised by the whites; free Negroes brutalized those who were still slaves, Haitian born blacks regarded those from Africa as savages. [105] In the ensuring Battle of Ravine--Couleuvres, after six hours of fierce hand-to-hand fighting with no quarter given on either side, the French finally broke through, albeit with heavy losses. In it, the new head of state made the case for the new nation's objective: the permanent abolition of slavery in Haiti. On the night of 30 November 1803, 8,000 French soldiers and hundreds of white civilians boarded the British ships to take them away. David Geggus, "The British Army and the Slave Revolt". [33], Duncan appears as a panel historian on seasons two and three of the Netflix documentary Roman Empire,[34] and was a historical consultant for The Simpsons' episode I, Carumbus. Louverture abandoned the Spanish Army in the east and brought his forces over to the French side on 6 May 1794 after the Spanish refused to take steps to end slavery.[100]. The portrait of Belley by Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson depicts a man who encompasses the French view of its colonies, creating a stark dichotomy between the refinement of Enlightenment thought and the reality of the situation in Saint-Domingue, through the bust of Raynal and the figure of Belley, respectively. These laws also barred them from occupying many public offices. 15 Minute History is a history podcast designed for historians, enthusiasts, and newbies alike. Saison 2: Hati Vous pouvez me contacter sur podcast.decolonisations@gmail.com. [147] In the opposing camp, African American historian W. E. B. Love this! In March 1798 Maitland returned with a mandate to withdraw, at least from Port-au-Prince. "Napolon Bonaparte and the Emancipation Issue in Saint-Domingue, 17991803," French Historical Studies 32:4 (Fall 2009), 587618. The French colony of Saint-Domingue was the single most lucrative colony in the New World. [133], The course of the massacre showed an almost identical pattern in every city he visited. However, some masters tolerated petit marronages, or short-term absences from plantations, knowing these allowed release of tensions. Yet Toussaint Louverture did not stop working with the Spanish Army until sometime later, as he was suspicious of the French. On 1 January 1804, Dessalines, the new leader under the dictatorial 1805 constitution, declared Haiti a free republic in the name of the Haitian people,[121] which was followed by the massacre of the remaining whites. [54] The success of the rebellion caused the National Assembly to realize it was facing an ominous situation. Thanks, and keep up the amazing work! And all of these groups were against the slaves. In 1791 an uprising began in the French colonial territory of St Domingue. Others fled to towns, to blend in with urban slaves and freed blacks who often migrated to those areas for work. Historical themes, events and key individuals from Akhenaten to Xenophon. Two days later an independently sailing French frigate was chased down and captured in the same waters. [47] At least 900 coffee plantations were destroyed, and the total damage inflicted over the next two weeks amounted to 2 million francs. [106] The French had won, but they had lost 2,000 dead against an opponent whom they held in contempt on racial grounds, believing all blacks to be stupid and cowardly, and furthermore, that it was shortages of food and ammunition that forced the Haitians to retreat, not because of any feats of arms by the French army. Thanks, and keep up the good work! No one would eat fish from the bay for months afterward, as no one wished to eat the fish that had eaten human flesh. The independence of Haiti was a major blow to France and its colonial empire, but the French state would take several decades to recognize the loss of the colony. In 1787 alone, the French imported about 20,000 slaves from Africa into Saint-Domingue, while the British imported about 38,000 slaves total to all of their Caribbean colonies. Prominent wealthy American slave owners, reading about the revolution, also read speculation about what might come in their own states. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [164] Just as the French were successful in transforming their society, so were the Haitians. Enjoy! The series covered the English Civil War, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, Simon Bolivar and Gran Colombia, the July Revolution, the Revolutions of 1848, the Paris Commune, the Mexican Revolution, and finally the Russian Revolution, ending its run of narrative episodes in July 2022. Many were children of white planters and enslaved mothers, or free women of color. [109], Haiti's first head of state Jean-Jacques Dessalines called Polish people "the White Negroes of Europe", which was then regarded a great honor, as it meant brotherhood between Poles and Haitians. Arthur S. | )[116] At the Bay of Le Cap, Rochambeau had blacks drowned. Dessalines won a string of victories against Leclerc and Rochambeau, becoming arguably the most successful military commander in the struggle against Napoleonic France.[118]. [39], The African population on the island began to hear of the agitation for independence by the planters, who had resented France's limitations on the island's foreign trade. The rebels' organizational capacity and tenacity under pressure inspired stories that shocked and frightened slave owners in the hemisphere.[12]. As such, they were demanding their rights as Frenchmen which had been granted by the king. Waves of suspicion meant that the government rounded up and killed thousands of suspects, ranging from known aristocrats to people thought to oppose the leaders. The new governor of Jamaica, Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres, urged Maitland not to withdraw from Mole St Nicholas. Revolutions aired from 15 September 2013 to 3 July 2022. Nearly two thirds of those slaves were African born. Having made himself master of the island, however, Toussaint did not wish to surrender too much power to France. Associate Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Chicago, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Historical Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services, https://15minutehistory.org/podcast-player/117/episode-11-the-haitian-revolution.mp3, Episode 6: Effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade on the Americas. The average life span of a slave in Haiti was 7 years. If caught, these runaway slaves would be severely and violently punished. Leclerc also gave Toussaint a plantation at Ennery. [109] [15] Saint-Domingue was the most profitable French colony in the world, indeed one of the most profitable of all the European colonies in the 18th century. If anyone Is looking for a good Map visualization to keep track while hearing the podcast. Besides initial cruelty that created the precarious conditions that bred the revolution, there was violence from both sides throughout the revolution. [16] The death rate was so high that polyandryone woman being married to several men at the same timedeveloped as a common form of marriage among the slaves. In the 2010 Podcast Awards, The History of Rome won best educational podcast.[11]. However, the social conflict cultivated under slavery continued to affect the population for years to come. [114] In November, Leclerc died of yellow fever, like much of his army. [71] During the course of 1794, most of the British forces were killed by yellow fever, the dreaded "black vomit" as the British called it. The Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class, What You Already Know About the Origins of WWI, Long Live the Bolsheviks Death to the Communists. The 1804 massacre was carried out against the remaining white population of French colonists[128] and loyalists,[129] both enemies and traitors of the revolution,[130] by the black population of Haiti on the order of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who declared the French as barbarians, demanding their expulsion and vengeance for their crimes. Posted by: And you mentioned pirates 6y See more of Revolutions on Facebook Log In or Create new account The gens de couleur looked like the grand blancs, they dressed like them, and for the most part they lived like them, but there were still restrictions on the work they could do, and even on the way that they could dress.The gens de couleur had a pretty good life, but they still wanted the rights and privileges of their planter parents. [31] This was almost half the total slave population in the Caribbean, estimated at one million that year. [106], After the Battle of Crte--Pierrot, the Haitians abandoned conventional warfare and reverted to guerrilla tactics, making the French hold over much of the countryside from Le Cap down to the Artibonite valley very tenuous. [14] Publications including Time,[15] Popular Mechanics,[16] and The Guardian [17] have included Revolutions on their lists of recommended podcasts. 07 December 2015 at 11:08 AM. If youre new to In Our Time, this is a good place to start. During February and March, Dessalines traveled among the cities of Haiti to assure himself that his orders were carried out. [105] The first of the French columns to appear before the fort was commanded by General Jean Boudet, whose men were harassed by skirmishers until they reached a deep ditch the Haitians had dug. Listen to Revolutions on Spotify. Also if you will cover Francois Mackandal's early uprising in 1750 in Haiti? [63] Rigaud failed in attempt to retake Port-au-Prince, but on Christmas Day 1794, he stormed and retook Tiburon in a surprise attack. Then sugar was introduced. Share. 00:00. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. This is an episode index for Mike Duncan's fabulous Revolutions Podcast. From this premise, the narrative began with the enslaved blacks' bid for freedom through armed struggle and concluded with their victory over slavery powers and the creation of an independent state. On 11 March 1800, Toussaint took Jacmel and Rigaud fled on the French schooner La Diana. And boy did it get messy. Although the series of events during these years is known under the name of "Haitian Revolution", alternative views suggest that the entire affair was an assorted number of coincidental conflicts that ended with a fragile truce between free men of color and blacks. [32] Duncan has also expressed interest in developing a TV series based on the biography, having drafted a pilot script for the proposed show. Georges Danton, one of the Frenchmen present at the meeting of the National Convention, expressed this sentiment: Representatives of the French people, until now our decrees of liberty have been selfish, and only for ourselves. [90], Between 1793 and 1798, the expedition to Saint-Domingue had cost the British treasury four million pounds and 100,000 men either dead or permanently disabled from the effects of yellow fever. [37] Le Cap Franais (Le Cap), a northern port, had a large population of free people of color, including freed slaves. Geggus points out that at least 3 of every 5 British troops sent there in 17911797 died of disease. [107], For a few months, the island was quiet under Napoleonic rule. [128][135][131], An independent government was created in Haiti, but the country's society remained deeply affected by patterns established under French colonial rule. 06 December 2015 at 09:56 PM. In the 1660s, the French began to settle in the west part of the island, and they established a colony. 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[79] The overall forces in St Domingue was at that time under the command of the lieutenant-governor of Jamaica, Sir Adam Williamson. The mulattoes were harassed by a pocket of black rebellion in their rear from February 1807 to May 1819. So, they abolished slavery for a little while so that the former slaves would fight the British and Spanish on their behalf, however they had no intention of allowing the slaves to be free. While distinguished, the portrait still portrays a man trapped by the confines of race. When the colonial governor refused, Og led a brief 300-man insurgency in the area around Le Cap, fighting to end racial discrimination in the area. But within weeks, the number of slaves who joined the revolt in the north reached 100,000. [127] In fact, because young fit men were the most likely to be drafted into the army, the plantations were thus deprived of the workforce needed to function properly.[127]. Girodet's portrayal of the former National Convention deputy is telling of the French opinion of colonial citizens by emphasizing the subject's sexuality and including an earring. I always keep a map open while listening to your podcasts anyways, so having one specifically annotated for what you're going over is a great help. Accessed 26 March 2015. of Agriculture and Livestock, The International Working Men's Association, The Adventures of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, True Liberty, True Equality, and True Fraternity, Legend Has It: The Shot Heard Round the World. In a Wall Street Journal article Johnson states: "The stories have a lot of similarities. In 1791 the slaves of the French colony of Sant-Domingue rose up against their colonial masters and after a long and bloody struggle, defeated them to found the state of Haiti. The gens de couleur are interesting: they were the products of white plantation owner fathers and slave mothers. [19] Most slaves spoke a patois of the French language known as Haitian Creole, which was also used by island-born mulattoes and whites for communication with the workers. In April 2021, with Duncan's work on the book completed, he and his family returned to the United States. "I sort of stumbled into it, so I was reading a ton of Livy at the time, and a ton of Suetonius, and then I had just gotten into Tacitus. [5] It is now widely seen as a defining moment in the history of the Atlantic World. Slavery sustained sugar production under harsh conditions; diseases such as malaria (brought from Africa) and yellow fever caused high mortality, thriving in the tropical Caribbean climate. In 1789, there was a population of 40,000 whites and 500,000 slaves. White planters saw it as an opportunity to gain independence from France, which would allow them to take control of the island and create trade regulations that would further their own wealth and power. Haiti: Our Revolution Continues. "[13] As he had done with The History of Rome podcast, Duncan ran a series of tours to accompany the podcast which visited historical sites mentioned on the show. King Louis XIV of France passed the Code Noir in 1685 in an attempt to regulate such violence and the treatment of slaves in general in the colony, but masters openly and consistently broke the code. When slaves left the plantations or disobeyed their masters, they were subject to whipping or to more extreme torture such as castration or burning, the punishment being both a personal lesson and a warning for other slaves. A major effort by Christophe to take Port-au-Prince in mid1812 failed. [29] The book was received positively by numerous important outlets including The New Yorker,[30] Publishers Weekly[31] and The New Republic. Trevor | In 2017, Duncan wrote The Storm Before the Storm, which was well reviewed and appeared on The New York Times Best Seller List. To realise this goal, Dessalines adopted the economic organisation of serfdom. Blackburn, Robin. [63] The British historian Sir John Fortescue wrote, "It is probably beneath the mark to say that twelve thousand Englishmen were buried in the West Indies in 1794". On 24 July another British squadron intercepted the main French squadron from Cap Franais, which was attempting to break past the blockade and reach France. In 1789 the French Revolution began with a cry for Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. [105] The next French commander who tried to assault the ditch was General Charles Dugua, joined shortly afterwards by the column commanded by Leclerc. In 1793, he arrived on the scene, taking a leadership position. Download the best of Radio 3's Free Thinking programme. While Haiti suffered major economic setbacks during the early years of the post revolutionary era, the ideals of freedom and anti-colonialism never ceased to be part of the Haitian consciousness. [40] He was captured in early 1791, and brutally executed by being "broken on the wheel" before being beheaded. Then there were the petit blancs, or the Little Whites. These were tradespeople: shopkeepers, merchants, overseers, the former indentured servants who had gotten their freedom and now worked in smaller aspects of the economy. The conflict up to this point was between factions of whites, and between whites and free blacks. ET. 4.0 Another Revolutions Podcast Update | [13] The commodity crops were traded for European goods. [18] Even by the standards of the Caribbean, French slave masters were extremely cruel in their treatment of slaves. 38 min playlist_add Dec 11, 2022 Appendix 11- Meet the New Boss Not necessarily the same as the old boss. What is the Significance of the Haitian Revolution? Posted by: [14], The colony's white population numbered 40,000; mulattoes and free blacks, 28,000; and black slaves, an estimated 452,000. All the best. They grew cotton, tobacco, indigo, a few subsistence crops, but they were small farms with very few slaves, and everyone working side by side. So around 1802, what was a revolution against slavery, which occurred on the island, turned into a war of independence and led to the independence of Haiti from France in January 1804 officially . Many of them joined Toussaint's army. Although the numbers in these bands grew large (sometimes into the thousands), they generally lacked the leadership and strategy to accomplish large-scale objectives. [107], In 1802, Napoleon added a Polish legion of around 5,200 to the forces sent to Saint-Domingue to fight off the slave rebellion. This allowed certain categories of whites to be excluded from massacre who had to pledge their rejection to France: the Polish soldiers who deserted from the French army; the group of German colonists of Nord-Ouest who were inhabitants before the revolution; French widows who were allowed to keep their property;[132] select male Frenchmen;[136] and a group of medical doctors and professionals. In addition, in early 1791, some of the gens de couleur tried to use force to get their citizenship and equality of rights. "Haitian Revolution." [63] By this point, it was well known that service in the West Indies was virtually a death sentence. [24], On 1 January 1804, from the city of Gonaves, Dessalines officially declared the former colony's independence, renaming it "Haiti" after the indigenous Arawak name. The Haitian Revolution was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. It will be safeguarded for you, since it has been only too well earned by your own efforts. [97][98] There has been considerable debate over whether the number of deaths caused by disease was exaggerated. [73] Rather than attacking the main French bases at Le Cap and Port-de-Paix, Whyte chose to march towards Port-au-Prince, whose harbour was reported to have forty-five ships loaded with sugar. [71], The main British force for the conquest of Saint-Domingue under General Charles Grey, nicknamed "No-flint Grey", and Admiral Sir John Jervis set sail from Portsmouth on 26 November 1793, which was in defiance of the well-known rule that the only time that one could campaign in the West Indies was from September to November, when the mosquitoes that carried malaria and yellow fever were scarce. However, all was not simple in the press. The largest sugar plantations and concentrations of slaves were in the north of the islands, and whites lived in fear of slave rebellion. Many planters or young unmarried men had relations with African or Afro-Caribbean women, sometimes providing for their freedom and that of their children, as well as providing for education of the mixed-race children, especially the boys. An interactive 17-map progression and timeline project tracing power and shifting alliances across geography and time from precolonial kingdoms through the Revolution and up to Haiti's current borders with the Dominican Republic. Within the next two months, as the violence escalated, the slaves killed 4,000 whites and burned or destroyed 180 sugar plantations and hundreds of coffee and indigo plantations. All of these groups were near equal in number, working together. Most returned to France as soon as possible, hoping to avoid the dreaded yellow fever, which regularly swept the colony. "[96] Yellow fever caused the most deaths. This group was generally subdivided into the plantation owners and a lower class of whites who often served as overseers or day laborers, as well as artisans and shopkeepers. Troops under the command of John Whyte did not arrive in Saint-Domingue until 19 May 1794. Although he lasted from 1804 to 1806, several changes began taking place in Haiti. The podcast covers the time period from the origin of the Roman Kingdom to the fall of the Western Roman Empire, focusing on the most accepted chain of events according to historical consensus. [citation needed] Dessalines offered citizenship and assistance to slaves in Martinique and Guadeloupe so that they could start their own uprisings. He warned, "the Africans only want a chief, sufficiently courageous, to lead them on to vengeance and slaughter". The Haitian Revolution, which took place between 1791-1804, is significant because Haiti is the only country where slave freedom was taken by force. [114], Dessalines matched Rochambeau in his vicious cruelty. He died months later in prison at Fort-de-Joux in the Jura Mountains. [106] With March, the rainy season came to Saint-Domingue, and as stagnant water collected, the mosquitoes began to breed, leading to yet another outbreak of yellow fever. And Domingo became Domingue, This was fairly common with the Spanish possession in the new world. Site includes teaching tools and resources. [126] Many of the workers likened the new labor system to slavery, much like Toussaint L'Ouverture's system, which caused resentment between Dessalines and his people. In addition to podcasting, Duncan is the author of two historical books. [108] By September, Leclerc wrote in his diary that he had only 8,000 fit men left as yellow fever had killed the others. [105] General Dugua was killed, Leclerc was wounded and the French lost about 800 dead. Theres a wonderful quote from a French colonist in 1792 that summarizes the French attitude: There can be no agriculture in Saint-Domingue without slavery. Blacks outnumbered whites fifteen times over. There was a growing population of affranchis, which were freed blacks or freed slaves, and then what were called gens de couleur, or people of color. D | "French Revolutionary Wars." David Geggus asks: "How much of a difference did it make?" Apart from granting rights to free people of color, the Assembly dispatched 6,000 French soldiers to the island. In cooperation with their former mulatto rivals, blacks ended the Revolution in November 1803 when they decidedly defeated the French Army at the Battle of Vertires. The Blockade of Saint-Domingue not only cut the French forces out from reinforcements and supplies from France, but also meant that the British began to supply arms to the Haitians. The remainder of the squadron was forced to fight two more actions on their return to Europe, but did eventually reach the Spanish port of Corunna. Read about our approach to external linking. Upon arrival and the first fights, the Polish platoon soon discovered that what was actually taking place in the colony was a rebellion of slaves fighting off their French masters for their freedom. [24] Shortly afterwards, the ferocious Dessalines rode into Le Cap to submit to France and was rewarded by being made the governor of Saint-Marc, a place that Dessalines ruled with his customary cruelty. [56] Louverture, the ablest of the Haitian generals, had joined the Spanish, accepting an officer's commission in the Spanish Army and being made a knight in the Order of St. S2 Ep 2: Les . [105] Dessalines appeared before his men standing atop of a barrel of gunpowder, holding a lit torch, saying: "We are going to be attacked, and if the French put their feet in here, I shall blow everything up", leading his men to reply "We shall die for liberty!". The immigration intensified after the journe (crisis) of 20 June 1793, and soon American families began to raise money and open up their homes to help exiles in what became the United States' first refugee crisis. Main Whites kept control of only a few isolated, fortified camps. The island was known at the time by the Tano Indians as Hay-ti, which meant mountainous place. In the 1500s, the Spaniards began to settle the eastern part of the island, where they began sugar production in 1516. Next: The Haitian Revolution. [56] The same month, a coalition of whites and conservative free blacks and forces under French commissaire nationale Edmond de Saint-Lger put down the Trou Coffy uprising in the south,[50][57][58] after Andr Rigaud, then based near Port-au-Prince, declined to ally with them.

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