Haitian Revolution and Saint-Domingue Overview

Framing and framing contrasts

The speaker stresses the Haitian Revolution as foundational and destabilizing: "This revolution shakes the foundations of the planet" and also notes its impact on the world stage.
The Haiti crisis is used to challenge taken-for-granted ideas about freedom, independence, and rights in Western political culture, especially in relation to citizenship and the meaning of rights in the United States.
Haiti is presented as central to understanding Atlantic world revolutions, not peripheral to them.
The instructor urges students to see Haiti on its own terms and to connect its revolution to broader revolutionary currents in the Atlantic world.
The media portrayal of Haiti is criticized as predominantly negative (hurricanes, disasters, political turmoil, assassinations) and this bias is contrasted with what may be missing or underrepresented (positive developments, resilience, and native historical agency).
The point is made that Western depictions often cast Haiti as inherently terrifying or backward while Haiti simultaneously contributed ideas that many Western nations claim as their own.
The course aims to unpack these depictions and place Haiti within a larger historical framework.
The lecturer notes that in everyday life, people encounter revolutions as mass phenomena, not just elite actions, and stresses that revolutions require mass participation.

Context: revolutions in the Atlantic world

Revolutions are not only about small groups taking action; they require mass participation.
The United States experiences its own revolution; France experiences a revolution in the metropole; these revolutions are contemporaneous and influential on one another.
The Haitian Revolution is positioned as both shaping and being shaped by these broader Atlantic revolutions, not as an isolated event.
The phrase "two revolutions at once" is introduced to describe the Haitian experience: a simultaneous struggle against slavery and struggle against imperial rule.
The lecture will explore how Atlantic revolutions impacted each other and how Haiti fits into this web of transformations.

Before the revolution: geography, names, and initial conditions

The island is originally known by the indigenous name Aydi (Ayiti), from which Haiti derives.
The island is located in the Caribbean and is the site of early European colonial competition; it becomes Santo Domingo (Spanish) and Saint-Domingue (French) after division of the island.
Saint-Domingue (French) is contrasted with Santo Domingo (Spanish); the two halves are often presented in Western discourse as starkly different, despite their shared island heritage and close proximity.
The speaker notes that the Haitian Revolution emerges within the larger Atlantic context and immediately after the United States’ own founding and French revolutionary upheavals.

Saint-Domingue: a slave society under imperial rule

Saint-Domingue is described as a slave society, in contrast to a "society with slaves".
In a slave society, slavery shapes virtually every aspect of life—economics, culture, and social order—such that enslaved people constitute the majority of the population.
Demographics during the period include an enormous enslaved majority (e.g., around 90\% enslaved) with a small elite of white landowners and a small class of free people of color.
The social hierarchy includes:
- Grand Blancs (great whites): European elites, often connected to France, wealthier colonists.
- Petits Blancs (little whites): working-class whites, Creoles, laborers, artisans, and small landowners; they are colonists but not the aristocracy.
- Free people of color (gens de couleur libres): people of African descent who are free; some possess rights and even own enslaved people, though many are not enslaved themselves.
This structure creates a volatile balance: a large enslaved majority with a small, entrenched white privilege and a legally distinct, often aspirational free colored class.
The presence of a large free people of color, who seek liberty and equality, intersects with enslaved peoples’ resistance, creating a crucible for revolution.

The economic engine: wealth, power, and the cost of empire

Saint-Domingue is described as the richest and most profitable colony in the Atlantic world, driven by plantation slavery.
The main export products are sugar and coffee, produced on a massive scale and fueling global markets:
- Sugar production accounts for about 60\% of all sugar consumed worldwide at the time.
- Coffee accounts for about 40\% of global coffee production.
The wealth generated by Saint-Domingue’s plantations accrues almost entirely to a tiny oligarchy of landowners; enslaved people see little to none of this wealth, highlighting the extreme wealth disparities and the system’s brutality.
The colony’s profitability is described as astronomical, with slave labor sustaining immense profits for a small elite while inflicting severe suffering on the enslaved population.
The slave trade remains lucrative for the owners, with the Middle Passage continuing to supply enslaved people despite high death rates due to disease and brutal conditions (e.g., yellow fever causing high mortality among incoming enslaved people).
The speaker notes a grim dynamic: mortality among enslaved people sent from Africa is high upon arrival due to climate and disease (e.g., yellow fever), while those born into slavery in Saint-Domingue showed somewhat greater longevity, contributing to profitable, long-term exploitation.
The economics of Saint-Domingue thus create tremendous incentive for slaveowners to maintain and defend the system, even as resistance grows.

Resistance and the social memory of rebellion before 1791

The enslaved population’s resistance forms a crucial backdrop to the Haitian Revolution.
Notable resistance figures and phenomena include:
- Macandal (Francois Macandal): a legendary enslaved figure from the Atlas Mountains who was a healer and religious authority; associated with pre-revolutionary resistance and mystical leadership. He is depicted as missing a hand in some depictions.
- Macandal’s leadership while in bondage includes involvement with Vodou and Islamic influences; he works as a traditional healer and religious organizer on the plantation.
- An injury on the plantation: Macandal’s hand is damaged (in a sugar refinery context, where sugar cane is processed and molasses boiled); he is wounded and his hand is removed or burnt as a punitive measure, illustrating the brutality of the system.
- A Maroon and underground resistance emerges in Lacou (Lacan) region, where a mysterious poisoning campaign by enslaved people targets slave owners; the Maroon community supports and facilitates resistance from the shadows. Macandal’s influence is connected to these underground networks.
- Dalibukhman (Daliboukman) and Cecile Fatimah (Cecile Fatimah or Cecile Fatimah Fatimah): religious figures who organize and energize enslaved communities through spiritual leadership and healing. Dalibukhman is from Senegambia and taught literacy to enslaved people, which brought him into conflict with slaveholders; he ultimately ends up in Saint-Domingue and becomes a respected figure.
- Cecile Fatimah (a mambo, i.e., a vodou priestess) emerges as a key female religious leader and chronicler of the revolution; she dies in 1845 at age 112 and becomes a central symbol in the narrative of resistance.
Religious-based resistance is highlighted as a form of cultural and political organization: Vodou ceremonies provide spaces for community bonding, planning, and oath-taking, despite the surveillance and control of overseers.
The narrative emphasizes that resistance often centers on bloodshed and violence because enslaved people faced dehumanization and a system that denied them any nonviolent pathway to meaningful autonomy. The “prison break” metaphor captures the violent necessity of breaking free from an oppressor who does not recognize humanity.
The period’s resistance is not isolated to Saint-Domingue alone; it is part of a long arc of enslaved resistance that includes literacy work, religious assembly, and clandestine networks across plantations.

The August 1791 uprising: Bois-Caïman and the initiation of a slave revolt

The uprising begins with a significant religious gathering in August 1791 at Guacagua in the Macao region (Bois Caïman context): a coordinated, secret gathering of enslaved people from various plantations—roughly 200 attendees.
The gathering is organized as a Puukmandan or Puakmandan-like ceremony, with an animal sacrifice (goat or sheep) and a formal oath setting a foundation for broader resistance.
The speeches and oath articulate a theological reframing: the enslavers’ god is blamed for crimes, but the enslaved are urged to heed a different divine call toward vengeance, liberty, and justice; the rhetoric includes inverting Christian narratives that had historically justified suffering in heaven.
The address emphasizes a call to liberty that speaks to the hearts of the enslaved, with a language that links religious authority to political emancipation.
The uprising escalates rapidly, and within four days, plantation operations in the region are violently disrupted, with widespread arson and rebellion across the northern coast of the colony.
The immediate military leadership emerges from the enslaved community, with figures such as Hoopman Dutti killed within weeks and Cecile Fatimah rising to leadership within the enslaved army.
The events at Bois Caïman/Guacagua are interpreted as the initiation of the largest sustained slave rebellion in history, marking a turning point in the Haitian story.
The text emphasizes that this was not a single-night event but the culmination of a long process of organizing, planning, and clandestine networks across plantations and maroon communities.

Religion as resistance and the role of Vodou

Vodou plays a central role in sustaining enslaved communities and in mobilizing resistance; it is described as a social ecosystem that binds people together in secret spaces away from overseers.
The religious leadership includes prominent women (mambo) who exercise spiritual authority and serve as historians and chroniclers of the movement (e.g., Cecile Fatimah).
The August 1791 oath is framed within a Vodou cosmology that uses deities of natural power and justice to legitimize rebellion, challenging the Christian-imposed narrative that endurance would lead to heavenly reward.
The religious ceremonies serve dual purposes: cultural cohesion and political mobilization for an organized revolt rather than mere spontaneous violence.

Two revolutions at once: anti-slavery and anti-colonial struggle

The Haitian Revolution is described as two revolutions converging: abolition of slavery and assertion of personal and collective citizenship rights under a French colonial framework.
The enslaved population seeks to end the institution of slavery and to secure liberty under an evolving vision of citizenship; the free people of color pursue liberty, equality, and fraternity, and seek to participate as French citizens with rights.
These converging aims shape the trajectory of the rebellion and influence its leadership, strategy, and contested outcomes.

Contemporaneity: parallel revolutions and global ripples

The Haitian Revolution is contemporaneous with the French Revolution and is connected to broader anticolonial and abolitionist currents across the Atlantic world.
The Haitian uprising both influences and is influenced by events in France, Europe, and the Americas, illustrating the interconnectedness of revolutionary movements.
The episode shows how enslaved and free communities are affected by, and contribute to, global flux and the politics of empire.

Analyzing the actors: why people stayed and why revolt happened

The “why” behind the revolution includes the profitability of the plantation system that concentrated wealth at the top while producing extreme human suffering for the enslaved.
The enslaved and the free people of color provide the backbone of the revolutionary movements that transform Saint-Domingue into Haiti.
The decision of slaveowners to resist or surrender power is influenced by the profitability of the plantation system, the risk that a successful revolt could shift global power dynamics, and the fear of losing wealth and status.
The text suggests that the enslaved could not walk away from the system without catastrophic consequences to their families and communities, making organized resistance both rational and necessary from their perspective.

The US response and Western misperceptions

The United States is described as having deferred action on Haiti’s revolution for political reasons, effectively kicking the question down the road rather than taking a stance on abolition and universal rights.
The contrast between Western media portrayals and the lived realities of Haiti is highlighted to provoke critical reflection on the ethics and politics of representation.

Key takeaways and implications for the broader Atlantic world

The Haitian Revolution is the first successful large-scale slave rebellion in world history and represents a radical break with the institution of slavery and imperial domination.
It demonstrates how slavery, race, colonialism, labor, and economic systems intersect to yield transformative political change.
It prompts a re-examination of how revolutions are defined, especially by recognizing the agency of enslaved people and free people of color in shaping world history.
It shows how religious and cultural practices (Vodou, rituals, and oratories) can be powerful organizing frameworks for political action and collective action under coercive regimes.

Final note from the instructor

The instructor emphasizes that you do not need to memorize every word of the day-by-day goals; focus on understanding the major ideas, the timeline, and the key actors and concepts.
The upcoming classes will continue to examine the role of free people of color in the Haitian Revolution and how they negotiated citizenship and rights within the broader revolutionary struggle.

Quick glossary and timeline prompts

Aydi / Ayiti: Indigenous name for the island after which Haiti is named.
Hispaniola: The island’s European-colonial name; divided into Saint-Domingue (French) and Santo Domingo (Spanish).
Saint-Domingue: French colony; site of the Haitian Revolution; slave society with enslaved majority.
Santo Domingo: Spanish colony on the eastern part; later became the Dominican Republic.
Grand Blancs: The wealthier white elite, often connected to France.
Petits Blancs: White colonists of lower status, professionals, artisans, and small landowners.
Gens de couleur libres: Free people of color; varied social and economic status, some owners of enslaved people.
Puukmandan / Bois Caïman: The August 1791 gathering that marks the formal start of organized Haitian resistance.
Dalibukhman: A religious leader from Senegambia who helped organize literacy among enslaved people and later joined the Saint-Domingue resistance circle.
Cecile Fatimah: A mambo (Vodou priestess) who becomes a leader and chronicler of the Haitian Revolution.
The two revolutions: Anti-slavery and anti-imperial (anti-colonial) struggles that converge in Saint-Domingue.
The global economy backdrop: 60\% of world sugar and 40\% of world coffee coming from Saint-Domingue at the height of its production.
Enslaved life expectancy dynamics: High mortality for enslaved Africans arriving via the Middle Passage due to disease (e.g., yellow fever); higher relative survival for those born in slavery within the colony, contributing to the system’s endurance.