Anti-Colonial Revolutions: An Insight Into Haiti

The 18^th century was a melting pot of various colonies in the Americas deciding to stick it to the man and declare independence from their mother countries. The Thirteen Colonies stood up to Britain in 1775, engaging in a ten year long war in which the colonists eventually earned their sovereignty. Similarly, many different independence movements in South and Central America in the late 1700s and early 1800s led to many colonies, such as Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, etc, gaining their independence from their colonizers, mainly Spain and Portugal. The most pivotal of these, however, may be the Haitian Revolution. Not only was the Haitian revolution the first successful revolution in Latin America, but it is widely considered the most successful slave rebellion and became a defining moment in the history of the Americas.

The Haitian Revolution fulfilled all of the requirements of a budding revolt, so it is a miracle that the French did not see it coming. For one, the lower class people of Haiti were not pleased. Life in Santo Domingo, the biggest city in Haiti, was not pleasant for the lower class. There was a very high percentage of slaves, almost 90%. They clearly outnumbered the natives. However, the slaves were still brutally oppressed and forced to work in horrible conditions, leading to much unhappiness among the slaves. In addition to this, there was prominent middle class leadership, divided into three main groups. The Grand Blancs were rich white French men who were minor aristocrats that spent very little time in Haiti, preferring to stay in France. The Petit Blancs were also white men, but considerably less rich, often middle class doctors, lawyers, or plantation owners. Lastly, there were the Gens de Coleur, who were educated and powerful freed black men often acting as artisans or plantation managers. Despite their education and freedom, the Gens de Coleur were feared to be gaining too much power and thus where heavily discriminated and persecuted by the Petit and Gran Blancs. Lastly, there was incredible economic upgrade accompanied by a sharp decline. Haiti was, for a time, the richest colony in the Caribbean. As it was predominately sugar plantations, Haiti monopolized the sugar industry, producing 50% of all sugar consumed in Europe and the Americas. However, Haiti saw their economic downfall in the form of mercantilism. When France fell into debt and succumbed to inflation, France could not buy sugar from Haiti and due to this practice, Haiti could not sell to anyone else, destroying the economy of the colony. With all of these requirements in place, it was only a matter of time before Haiti rose up against its colonizer.

The revolution began approaching as tension erupted between the people of Haiti and the French. For example, because France could not buy sugar from Haiti, the Grand Blancs petitioned France to allow them to sell sugar to America. As expected, France says no and this leads to many protests. In a first step towards revolution, the Haitians declare their economic independence from France. The French were unable to stop them because they were in deep debt and they were also dealing with their own revolution. In addition to this, there was deep-seeded tension unraveling between the Gens de Coleur and the Blancs. The Gens de Coleur ask for equality, but the Blancs are set against it. Everyone in the colony wants something from the French, but they are not being granted anything, much like during the American Revolution. The colonists in the Thirteen Colonies wanted exemption from taxes and the Haitian colonists wanted equality and economic independence. As if this all was not enough, a priest by the name of Boukmon encouraged slaves to kill all of the white people, leading to a two week long uprising in which slaves went from plantation to plantation killing all free Haitians, from the Blancs to the Gens de Coleur. Things are not looking good for the French right now.

Everything comes to a boiling point when during their own revolution, the French famously abolish slavery. The Haitian slaves see this as an opportunity to protest for their own freedom, as they are part of a French colony, but the Gens de Coleur swiftly denied them so as to retain their labor force. However, this leads to a monumental slave uprising, effectively beginning the long impending war. The Blancs ask the Spanish and the British for help and thus, they invade, but this makes the situation worse. The slaves rally under Tussant Le’ Ouverture to defeat both the Spanish and the English. Le’ Ouverture declares himself governor of Haiti for life and creates a Constitution. Le’ Ouverture helps to drive out the French, who were also plagued by yellow fever, and then was swiftly tossed out of power when the French imprisoned him. His lieutenant, Jean Jacques Dessalines helped the Haitians secure their independence and establishes a dictatorship. Things are finally looking up for the Haitians.

Despite their newfound sovereignty, however, Haiti ended up failing economically fairly quickly. Their new dictator had forbidden the production of sugar, a crop that had brought the Haitians heaps of wealth, and thus the economy begins its downturn. In addition, nobody wants to trade with Haiti, as the French and Spanish were upset with Haiti and the English and Dutch had their own sugar. Quickly, Haiti went from the richest colony in the Caribbean to the poorest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere due to their pivotal revolution. Haiti may be independent, but the question of the millennium is: Was it all worth it? Only the Haitians may answer that.