Recitation #2: An Impossible Revolution Parts 1&2

Prof. RolandThe Caribbean in

Post-Colonial PerspectiveANTH 1115

Sketch of the Haitian Revolution

French Revolution/Rights of Man and Citizen “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” – but for whom?

Grands blancs Petit blancs Gens de couleur Slaves??

Sketch of the Haitian Revolution (cont’d)

Petit blancs break ranks The Amis des Noirs back the Gens de ColourPower shifts ex-slave majority

Rise of Toussaint Louverture

Sketch of the Haitian Revolution (cont’d)

Napoleon revisits slaveryJean Jacques Dessalines and Henri Christophe I 

Haitian independence in 1804

Early Haiti

French refuse to recognize independence until 1825

Ex-slaves refuse to return to plantation lifestyle

Legacy of stubborn pride

Legacy of poverty

Legacy of color/class meanings

Mulatto rulers and black military

Big men (colored) & peasant-based militias (black)

Duvaliers and culture of fear

Questions/Comments?

History and Haiti

Moments of Silence in production of historyFact Creation (Making of sources)

Fact Assembly ( Making of archives)

Fact Retrieval (Making of narratives)

Retrospective Significance (History in final instance)

“War within the War”

Henri Christophe and the 3 Faces of Sans Souci

The Palace at Potsdam (Germany)

The Palace at Milot (Haiti)

The Man (Christophe’s enemy)

Sounds of Silence

ErasuresFormulas of silence that erase facts

(i.e., general silence on slave resistance or Haitian rev)

BanalizationFormulas of silence that empty events of content and trivialize them

(i.e., dismissive explanations at the time about why slaves rebelled)

The Construction of History

Historicity 1

What HappenedFacts of the Matter

Underbelly of History

Historicity 2

What is SAID to have happened

Narrative about the facts

Power to tell the (victor’s) tale

Why Haiti is Important

Slaving societies cannot pretend slaves are content

Hemispheric fear of another “Haiti”Rumors of slave revolts brutally crushed

Better balance of slaves to free

Beginning of the end of slavery

Slaves Celebrating “Haiti”Impossible now within reach

Questions/Comments?