Question

Discuss the ways in which the Haitian revolution was linked with other world historical events that were going on in the last decades of the 18th century and the early decades of the 19th century.

Answer 1

Haitian Revolution, series of wars between Haitian slaves, colonists, British and French colonizers ' forces, and a number of other groups, between 1791 and 1804. The Haitian people ultimately gained independence from France through the war, and thus became the first nation to be founded by former slaves.

A large portion of the slave population was raised in Africa, from a variety of peoples in West Africa. The vast majority worked in the fields; others were servants of the household, boilers (at the sugar mills), and even slave drivers. Slaves endured long, backbreaking workdays and frequently died from injuries, infections and tropical diseases. Malnutrition and famine were also common. Many slaves managed to escape into the interior of the mountains, where they became known as Maroons and waged guerrilla battles against colonial militias.

Against this backdrop a revolt emerged, starting from the early 1790s as a series of conflicts. Among the causes of the disputes were the grievances of the affranchis with a racist society, the instability generated by the French Revolution in the colony, the nationalistic rhetoric articulated during Vodou rituals, the continued violence of the slave owners and wars between European powers. Vincent Ogé, a mulatto who advocated for colonial reforms in the Paris assembly, led an insurrection in late 1790 but was arrested, tortured and executed.

An outbreak of yellow fever weakened the French — Leclerc succumbed to the disease in November 1802—and the culmination of the Louisiana Purchase in May 1803 marked Napoleon's intent to withdraw from North America. Less than three weeks later, with the outbreak of war between France and Britain on 18 May 1803, the French situation in Haiti was truly hopeless.