The Haitian Revolution

The Haitians revolted because the French revolution caused turmoil between the free and White peoples of Haiti, and the Haitians seized the opportunity to stage a rebellion. Also, up until the rebellion, there had been growing animosity between the white and African peoples. This was largely due to racism. The French Code Noir, which was written by Louis XIV in 1685 shows reforms made against the Africans (1). The Code states that the all slaves must be baptized, and they are only allowed a certain amount of rations each week. This is a reliable source because it came from the king, which shows how the French government thought of the slaves. Jean-Marie d’Augy, a white official at an execution of a mulatto leader also thought that the slaves were useless (3).

“We have not brought half a million slaves from the coasts of Africa to make them into French citizens.” This shows that d’Augy thought of the slaves as lesser people then the French. This racism towards the Africans led to the revolution. Mark Almond, a 20th century historian showed a more direct cause as to the reason why the Haitians revolted (4). Almond said that Napoleon’s forces tried to re-establish slavery, and deported Toussaint back to France. These “reforms” just enraged the African community and produced a larger rebellion. This source is reliable because the information is not biased, it just states the facts. Thomas Jefferson also influenced the Haitian revolution. In Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, they state that “Men are born and remain free…” This perspective on life could have influenced the Haitians to revolt. A document that would have been helpful is one that specifically shows that the Declaration of Rights affected the Haitians.

The actual events of the Haitian revolution consisted of the Haitians rising up and overthrowing the white slave owners. The French tried to fight back, but because France was to far away, it was impractical to send reinforcements, and the Haitians gained their independence. “Revenge Taken By the Black Army”, and sketch by Marcus Rainsford shows the European view of what happened during the revolution (6).

The picture shows Africans hanging French soldiers. This is not a reliable source because is taken from a European perspective, and therefore would attempt to make the Africans seem savage and barbaric. A document that would be helpful is one taken from the African’s perspective on the situation. This would be more likely to be less biased. One of the keys to the Haitian’s success was their unity. What provided this unity was the religion of voodoo. An excerpt from a College World History Textbook from 2002 illustrates a voodoo ritual (5). All of the people at the ritual swore to Boukman, an influential voodoo chief who helped immensely to inspire the Haitians to revolt. Although Toussaint was the official “leader” of the revolution, Boukman helped inspire the people.