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The World of Ideas: The French and Haitian Revolutions

Estates and Pre-Revolution Context

  • The Third Estate
  • Estates Ranking (privileges and social order):
    • 1. King
    • 2. Catholic Church/Clergy
    • 3. Nobility
    • 4. Commoners/Peasants
  • The Ancien Regime
  • Key figures: King Louis the 16th (Louis XVI) and Marie Antoinette
  • Economic strain: Peasants were being taxed to help pay for America's independence
  • The World of Ideas terms to know: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (Fraternity is the English rendering of the French “Fraternité”)

Road to Revolution: Key Terms and Concepts

  • The Tennis Court Oath — meeting until they had a constitution
    • Date: 20^{\mathrm{th}} \; \mathrm{June} \; 1789
    • Purpose: Pledged not to disperse until a constitution was established
    • Significance: Demonstrated the Third Estate and allied groups’ willingness to assert political power beyond traditional hierarchies
    • Imagery: Depicted in works such as Jacques-Louis David’s painting; symbol of redefining political authority and legitimacy
    • Implication: Challenged the divine-right model of governance and the existing power structure
  • Storming the Bastille — July 14, 1789
    • Date: 14^{\mathrm{th}} \; \mathrm{July} \; 1789
    • National symbol: French national holiday; emblematic of popular action against royal power
    • Outcome: Protests accelerated into a broader revolution; escalated popular involvement
  • Revolt of the Women
    • Context: Gendered mobilization as part of revolutionary pressures
    • Consequences: Increased revolutionary momentum and openness to radical change
  • Involvement of competing European powers
    • Other empires of Europe invade France as the revolution accelerated
    • Consequence: Heightened threats to the revolutionary government and pressure to solidify reforms
  • Year Zero
    • Concept: A symbolic resetting of political and social order in revolutionary terms
  • The Jacobins (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) [Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood]
    • Political club and movement advocating for radical republicanism
  • Maximilien Robespierre
    • Core idea: “The only way to defend the revolution is to prove to the world that even though we may lose the revolution, we will not return backwards.”
    • Role: Leading figure associated with the radical phase of the Revolution
  • The Terror and Defense of the Revolution (Sept 1793 – July 1794)
    • Phase: Period of extreme repression and violence intended to defend the revolution from internal and external enemies
  • Execution of the King and Marie Antoinette
    • Date for the King: January 1793
    • Context: Monarchy abolished in practice; trial and execution symbolized the radical break with the Ancien Régime
  • Exporting the Revolution
    • Aims: To export revolutionary ideals and reform across Europe
    • Means: Invading opponents and attempting to spread political reform; also involved attempts to impose republican order on monarchies
  • Napoleon
    • Role: Emerged as a stabilizing military leader who would dominate European politics and ultimately reshape the revolutionary era
  • Legacy of the French Revolution
    • End of divine rights of kings
    • Destruction of the aristocracy as the privileged class
    • Emergence of Citizenship as a central political value
    • Liberty, Equality, Fraternity etched into national culture
    • France as an overseen empire with colonies (early hints of imperial expansion)
  • Days of Fire
    • Associated with the Haitian Revolution and urban/rural violence that accompanied concerns about the revolution spreading beyond France
    • Cap-Français (Cap-Francais) context: View of the 40 days of fire in plain houses around Cap-Français, dated August 23, 1791

Haitian Revolution: People, Places, and Foundations

  • Makandal (1730–1758) — Revolt and Myth
  • Bois Caiman — Event in August 1791 in the woods; four days later a plantation was burned down
  • Boukman Dutty and Cecile Fatiman — key leaders; self-educated slaves; Dutty was a leading figure who inspired resistance; Fatiman served as Mambo (a female priest)
  • Mambo — Female priest role in religious ceremonies tied to resistance movements
  • Ayiti — Indigenous or historical name for the island; original Taino/Arawakan term; the island later known as Hispaniola; Ayiti reflects the original language/culture
  • Taino and Arawakan peoples — Indigenous groups on the island before European colonization
  • The colonial framework on Hispaniola
    • Spanish Colony: La Navidad settlement established by Christopher Columbus during the first voyage (winter 1492)
    • French Colony: Settlement established on the west coast of Hispaniola in 1625
  • Key themes of the Haitian Revolution
    • Citizenship and Rights as central goals
    • The world’s first successful slave rebellion that led to abolition of slavery in the revolution’s context
    • Ends slavery in the revolution’s domains and reframes anti-slavery within anti-colonial struggles
    • Colonial structure and resistance to European colonial rule

Haitian Revolution: Days of Fire and Revolutionary Figures

  • Days of Fire: Cap-Francais context
    • View: The 40 days of fire of the plain houses at Cap-Francais on August 23, 1791
  • Toussaint L'Ouverture
  • Jean-Jacques Dessalines
  • Timeline of abolition and conflict in Saint-Domingue
    • 1793: Sonthonax abolishes slavery in the north to fight the war
    • 1794: Jacobin government ends slavery in all French colonies
    • 1797: British invade Santo Domingo to prevent the slave revolt from spreading
    • 1798: Toussaint becomes commander of the French armies in Saint-Domingue
    • Le Douville (General) attempts to broker peace between Rigaud and Toussaint; peace efforts fail
    • Toussaint signs a trade and non-aggression treaty with the British (furthering strategic alliances)
  • The War of Knives
    • Internal conflict among leaders and factions (e.g., Rigaud vs. Toussaint) as the revolution matures
  • Toussaint’s governance and control
    • Invites some white settlers back to restore order to the economy
    • Enforces labor on plantations as a means to stabilize the economy
    • Consolidates control across Saint-Domingue
  • Napoleon’s intervention and the attempt to restore slavery
    • Napoleon Bonaparte sends Leclerc to restore slavery by capturing Toussaint
  • Revolutionary violence and the broader anti-colonial struggle
    • Describes the period as the most violent phase of the French Revolution within the colonies
    • Reassertion of anti-slavery and anti-colonial sentiment across the Caribbean and beyond
  • 1804: Haiti independence declared
  • Haitian Revolutionary Flag: half blue, half red
  • Key takeaways and implications
    • Slavery is not the natural order of things
    • Citizenship and freedom are not the preserve of Europe; anti-imperialism is a driving force of the revolution
    • Question of development: development for whom? (global post-colonial reading)

Key Takeaways and Relevance

  • The Haitian Revolution demonstrates that enslaved peoples could wage and win national independence and challenge colonial powers
  • The French Revolution’s legacy extends beyond France, influencing debates about citizenship, rights, and anti-imperial movements worldwide
  • The era highlighted tensions between revolutionary ideals and the violence needed to defend or advance political change
  • The revolution reshaped global political landscapes, including the abolition of slavery in French colonies and the emergence of new post-colonial sovereign states

Connections and Implications

  • Philosophical: Questions about natural rights, the legitimacy of monarchy, and the moral foundations of citizenship
  • Ethical: Anti-slavery and anti-colonial moral arguments prominent in the Haitian context
  • Practical: Revolutionary strategies (military, political clubs like the Jacobins, and propaganda via art and public memory)
  • Real-world relevance: Long-term impact on citizenship rights, abolition movements, and debates about imperialism and self-determination

Symbols and Visuals Mentioned

  • The Tennis Court Oath depicted in Jacques-Louis David’s artwork as a symbol of oath-bound political legitimacy
  • The Bastille as a symbol of oppressive monarchy, later celebrated as a national holiday and revolutionary symbol
  • The Haitian Revolution flag: blue and red halves representing different factions and solidarities in the struggle for freedom

References to Dates and Key Figures (LaTeX-friendly recap)

  • Tennis Court Oath: 20^{\mathrm{th}} \; \mathrm{June} \; 1789
  • Storming of the Bastille: 14^{\mathrm{th}} \; \mathrm{July} \; 1789
  • Execution of the King: \mathrm{January} \; 1793
  • Cap-Français fires: 23^{\mathrm{rd}} \; \mathrm{August} \; 1791
  • Haitian independence: 1804
  • Abolition in the north (Sonthonax): 1793
  • Abolition across French colonies (Jacobin government): 1794
  • Toussaint L'Ouverture’s rise: 1798
  • Leclerc and the attempt to restore slavery: 1802-1803/1804\,\text{era}
  • War of Knives: late 1790s
  • British invasion of Santo Domingo: 1797