Haiti hardly ever features among the great revolutions of history—the French Revolution and the ‘Glorious Revolution’ in Britain are usually the hallmarks when talking about the overthrow of political governments. However, between 1791 to 1803, enslaved Africans in Haiti started a rebellion and created their own nation, which would become the first Black-Led Republic.
In this video, we will take a journey through history and look into the only successful revolt by enslaved Africans in recorded human history.
The year is 1789, and Haiti, known as Saint-Domingue at the time, was a French colony with a thriving economy built on the backs of enslaved Africans.
Under French rule, Haiti was a flourishing economy that exported sugar, coffee, indigo, cotton, and tobacco to Europe and other parts of the world. The French saw Haiti as a gold mine and invested heavily in its agriculture and infrastructure. The island was transformed into a haven for trade and commerce, attracting traders and merchants from all over the world. The French built roads, bridges, and ports to facilitate transportation and trade and invested in education and technology to promote growth and innovation.
The economic boom in Haiti under French rule was driven by the labor of enslaved Africans, who worked on sugar, coffee, and other plantations. They were brought over from West Africa and forced to work long hours in inhumane conditions. The French colonial government, aided by local elites, kept a tight grip on power and wealth, ensuring that the profits from the lucrative plantations flowed back to France. Slavery was the backbone of the Haitian economy, and the French were ruthless in their pursuit of profit.
When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, there were five distinct sets of interest groups in the colony. There were white planters—who owned the plantations and the slaves—and petit blancs, who were artisans, shop keepers and teachers. Some of them also owned a few slaves. Many of the whites on Saint Dominigue began to support an independence movement that began when France imposed steep tariffs on the items imported into the colony. The planters were extremely disenchanted with France because they were forbidden to trade with any other nation. Furthermore, the white population of Saint-Dominique did not have any representation in France. Despite their calls for independence, both the planters and petit blancs remained committed to the institution of slavery.
Saint-Domingue had an estimated population of 560,000 with 500,000 enslaved Africans, 32,000 European colonists and 25,000 free Black and mixed-race Haitians. The free population of Saint-Domingue consisted of a rich planter class and poorer free Black people. Despite their freedom, the wealthy people of color of Saint-Domingue had no voting rights and faced discrimination—they had to wear identifying clothing and were forced to live in designated districts. The rejection of the monarchy and the subsequent efforts to create a more egalitarian society emboldened these marginalized colonial ‘citizens’ to campaign for French citizenship and full property rights.
In 1789, the Declaration of Rights of Man was passed in France, which stated that ”all citizens are equal in the eyes of the law.” This should have been a game-changer for the people of Saint-Domingue, but unfortunately, the governor refused to enact these new rights on the island. This caused outrage among the free Black and mixed-race Haitians, who began to demand equal rights.
One member of Haiti’s wealthy class, Vincent Ogé, even led a movement to demand these equal rights. Unfortunately, he was captured and executed in public as a warning to others. However, instead of discouraging the revolutionaries, his death only fueled their passion for change.
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