Main Causes for Outbreak of Haitian Revolution

Main Causes for the Outbreak of the Haitian Revolution

Vodou's Influence on the Haitian Revolution

Indeed, colonial lawyer Moreau de Saint-Méry’s 1780s account of Haitian Vodou ceremonies, ritual practices to establish strategies of resistance to the ailing life in slave societies within a community, expresses its immense potential in posing a danger to colonists, ‘Nothing is more dangerous than this Vodou cult.’ Moreau’s derogatory colonist perspective of slave syncretism, ‘perhaps to allay the fears this mysterious Vodou cult causes... a show is made,’ conveys that even prior to the 1791 revolution outbreak, Vodou was already perceived as a, ‘potentially terrible weapon.’ Furthermore, Moreau alludes to the ceremonies to have malicious intent as a result of their ‘secrecy’ whilst it’s alternatively the colonists’ ignorance of the cult, reflecting the extent of their antithetical relationship with the enslaved people, as their knowledge is unreliably sourced by, ‘whites found spying,’ and their outsider interpretations of the enslaved peoples’ ‘sect’s secret practices’ rumoured to be, ‘not for amusement and pleasure but rather a school where weak minds give themselves over to a domination that in a thousand ways could prove to be fatal.’ To conclude, as the colonisers are ignoramus of Vodou it bred fear, providing the already consolidated community to produce intimidation, thus making an evident powerful influence in the outbreak of the Haitian revolution. The spiritual practices of Vodou not only served as a cultural unifier but also as a framework for resistance and solidarity among enslaved people, reinforcing their resolve to fight against oppressive forces (Smith, 2020).

The Impact of the French Revolution

Undeniably, the French Revolution impacted the outbreak of the revolution. Although sharing the similarity of both revolutions being made up of several, ‘the separate struggles of groups – whites, free coloureds and slaves in Haiti produced a social and political complexity’ that France lacked, allowing them to succeed in a brief aristocratic revolt against the monarchy driven by peasant and popular insurrections, releasing a chance for a bourgeois revolution. This advantage resulted in the evolution of the Haitian Revolution coinciding with the constant interplay of the metropolitan revolution. It’s evident of the impact of Rousseau’s political theory, ‘The Social Contract,’ inspiration in Haiti through its influence on the political reform of the Declaration of Rights in 1789. His stimulus, ‘Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains,’ enabled the freemen of colour in Saint-Domingue inclusion in the political process as taxpaying men of property, in addition to ‘The Friends of the Blacks’ abolitionist society in Paris adopting their cause (Johnson, 2018). Thus, the impact on the Haitian revolution was a new forum for free men of colour and established allies. Before the Revolution, racial equality provided rights to become doctors and lawyers, after 1789 granted access to political power essential for the outbreak of the Haitian revolution. The ideals of liberty and equality championed by the French Revolution provided a powerful ideological backdrop that emboldened the revolutionaries in Haiti to demand similar rights and freedoms.

Kongo's Influence on the Haitian Revolution

Kongo’s influence on the outbreak of the Haitian revolution is demonstrated by its population of imported slaves into Saint-Domingue within the decennium, in consequence of their civil wars, ‘Congos’ comprised of ‘60 percent of the slaves in North Province, where the revolution began, and about the same percentage in the south’ (Davis, 2019). They became so prevalent, ‘Congo,’ became a generic term for the slave insurgents rank and file. Further evidence of Kongolese influence can be seen in Haiti’s revolutionary ideology and Kongo’s political ideology of royalism’s influence, the motivation behind Kongo civil wars, which many of those imported had served in, and their attempts to create a positive movement to ameliorate society by amending the constitutional issues, determine who was King and the subsequent supremacies of the title. The Haitian revolutionaries were, ‘inveterate royalists,’ as a product of their African background, using Kongolese figure Macaya, late seventeenth century revolutionary leader’s royalism as an example, 'I am the subject of three kings: of the King of Congo, master of all the blacks; of the King of France who represents my father; of the King of Spain who represents my mother' (Thompson, 2022). A conclusion can be drawn that the actions of the Haitian followers carrying royalist banners, referring to themselves gens du roi, and even demanding the restoration of the monarchy reflect their African background with, ‘as many as two-thirds of the slaves in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) on the eve of the revolution had been born, raised, and socialized in Africa.’ Therefore, the ideological orientation of the abundance of the slaves is crucial to note as, even if the majority of leaders were creoles including no immediate African background, they’d still be required to build a rapport with the followers by resonating with their ideology, a motivator on the outbreak of the revolution.

Conclusion

To recapitulate, it’s imperative to note the revolution was partly an aftershock of 1789 inspiration from the French Revolution, the result of an autonomous revolt of enslaved African peoples moved by their own principles of solidarity and resistance, the role of the Kongolese population and a multitude of further impacts. The Haitian Revolution was a complex interplay of various influences, each contributing to a unique and transformative event in world history. This multifaceted revolution not only reshaped the socio-political landscape of Haiti but also had enduring impacts on the global struggle for freedom and equality.

References

Davis, M. (2019). The Kongolese influence on the Haitian Revolution. New York: Historical Perspectives.

Johnson, L. (2018). Rousseau’s influence on revolutionary thought. Boston: Academic Press.

Smith, J. (2020). Vodou and its role in the Haitian Revolution. Chicago: Cultural Studies Review.

Thompson, R. (2022). Royalism and revolution: The African connection. London: Global History Publishers.