In January 1804, the once wealthy colony of Saint-Domingue declared its independence from France and adopted the Amerindian name "Haiti." Independence was the outcome of the extraordinary uprising of the colony's slaves. Although a central event in the history of the French in the New World, the full significance of the revolution has yet to be realized. These essays deepen our understanding of Haiti during the period from 1791 to 1815. They consider the colony's history and material culture; its "free people of color"; the events leading up to the revolution and its violent unfolding; the political and economic fallout from the revolution; and its cultural representations.
Author(s): David Patrick Geggus; Norman Fiering
Series: Blacks in the Diaspora
Edition: pbk
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 440
City: Bloomington / Indianapolis
Preface and Acknowledgments • Norman Fiering
From Saint-Domingue to Haiti: To Live Again or to Live at Last! • Jean Casimir
Part I : Saint-Domingue on the Eve of Revolution: Politics and Economics
1. Saint-Domingue on the Eve of Revolution • David Geggus
2. Vestiges of the Built Landscape of Pre-revolutionary Saint-Domingue • Jacques de Cauna
3. Saint-Domingue's Free People of Color and the Tools of Revolution • John D. Garrigus
4. On the Road to Citizenship: The Complex Route to the Integration of Free People of Color in the Two Capitals of Saint-Domingue • Dominique Rogers
5. The Trans-Atlantic King and Imperial Public Spheres: Everyday Politics in Pre-Revolutionary Saint-Domingue • Gene E. Ogle
Part II: The Unfolding of the Slave Revolution
6. The Insurgents of 1791, Their Leaders, and the Concept of Independence • Yves Benot
7. Avenging America: The Politics of Violence in the Haitian Revolution • Laurent Dubois
8. “Fêtes de l'hymen, fêtes de la liberté”: Marriage, Manhood, and Emancipation, in Revolutionary Saint-Domingue • Elizabeth Colwill
9. The Colonial Vendée • Malick Ghachem
10. The Saint-Domingue Slave Revolution and the Unfolding of Independence, 1791-1804 • Carolyn E. Fick
Part III: Reverberations
11. The French Revolution's Other Island • Jeremy Popkin
12. Speaking of Haiti: Slavery, Revolution, and Freedom in Cuban Slave Testimony • Ada Ferrer
13. The Saint-Dominguan Refugees and American Distinctiveness in the Early Years of the Haitian Revolution • Ashli White
14. “Free upon higher ground”: Saint-Domingue Slaves' Suits for Freedom in U.S. Courts, 1792-1830 • Sue Peabody
15. Repercussions of the Haitian Revolution in Brazil, 1791-1850 • João José Reis and Flávio dos Santos Gomes
Part IV: Representations of the Revolution
16. The Specter of Saint-Domingue: American and French Reactions to the Haitian Revolution • Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall
17. Representations of the Haitian Revolution in French Literature • Leon-Francois Hoffmann
18. Neoclassicism and the Haitian Revolution • Carlo Celius
Epilogue • Robin Blackburn
List of Contributors
Index
