The Issue Surrounding the Haitian Revolution from European Perspective of Black Nations
During times of war or revolution, many pretend the events of the outside world arent happening. Especially when they dont coincide with their belief systems. Or they make up interpretations and formulas to reassure themselves. This behavior occurs throughout history and can be seen in the Haitian Revolution. And the proceeding events of the late eighteenth century. The colonial powers had imposed their power. And slavery on black people for over three centuries, but Haitis sudden uprising was treated with disbelief and ignorance. Michel Trouillot in Silencing the Past argues that the complexity of issues surrounding the Haitian Revolution"from the European perception of black nations as inhumane to an inability to recognize black desires for freedom to mistakes in the white system"led to the overall silencing of the Revolution after its outbreak.
Furthermore, the framework of the unthinkable revolution contradicts the morality of global powers. And the validity ascribed in the present to historical archives as a whole. ignorance surrounding the beginning of the revolution was caused by the philosophical. And psychological views about black people in Haitian society at the time of uprising. The Haitian revolution was unthinkable in the various schemes of perception recognized in the eighteenth century for categorizing human beings.
Europeans divided humans into more humane Whites, and eless humane Blacks, universally bad and having to be treated with disregard as if belonging to another species destined to be slaves. In short, the practice of slavery in the Americas secured black position at the bottom of the human world: Blacks were inferior and therefore enslaved, black slaves behaved badly and were therefore inferior (Trouilliot 77). Slaves were believed incapable of the organizational and mental skills needed for revolutionary activity esince to acknowledge them was to acknowledge the humanity of the enslaveda (Trouillot 83).
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In other words, none of the accepted views included the possibility of a revolutionary uprising on the slave plantations, much less a successful one leading to the creation of an independent state. Trouilloit explains that the unthinkable revolution couldnt be conceived within the range of possible alternatives. Surprise and disbelief surrounding the beginning of the slave revolution was further enhanced by a lack of warning. Observers argued that blacks could never have enough courage to stand against the colonial powers or even enough intelligence to organize a revolt. However, planning was done in secrecy since slaves lacked publications or organized societies which could have created an opportunity to exchange ideas or plan a revolt.
France, the most directly involved in the Haitian Revolution, paid a heavy price, as the losses in men were comparable to those who died at Waterloo, and Haiti was one of their most valuable possessions. While some thought the revolt a sudden, short outbreak soon to be stopped by the colonial powers, others started to fear for their own security within the emerging black-controlled society. The Haitian Revolution brought up questions of morality, equality, and the justice of the system of life imposed on slaves and conquered nations.
Also, the eunthinkable aspect of the Haitian Revolution. Was the challenge it posed to the very framework within which it examined race, colonialism and slavery in the Americas. In view of the available evidence. It seems that very few people were in fact ready to acknowledge the resistance or the humanity of the enslaved, which would have approved of the possibility that there is something wrong with the current colonial system. The age of Enlightenment was an era of confusion surrounding slavery and led to a questioning the rules imposed on black people.
Trouilliot further notes that the Haitian Revolution was the ultimate test to the universalist pretensions of both the French and American revolutions (PAGE). The Haitian Revolution had been viewed as impossible by contemporaries and was later equally silenced by historians, scientists, and publishers of magazines and encyclopedias. Perhaps it is out of general embarrassment to the degree of exploitation imposed on black societies. That some started silencing the evidence of revolts in the historical data. Trouillot uses the example of the Penguin Dictionary of Modern History. As one of many sources that doesnt mention the Haitian Revolution or even the word slavery. The general reasoning for this comes from the inability to express.
The unthinkable and the overall fear of realizing the truth about the past. One cannot help but wonder why historian may want to hide certain facts, as well as the degree to which all available historical evidence is valid. As viewed in the case of Haitian Revolution validity is not always the case; monuments, even though present. May in fact mean something completely different than expected, or can be used as a pretext to talk about something else. The silencing of the historical data about the revolution is even more surprising when exploited and approved by the leaders of nations whose citizens participated in those revolts.
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The Issue Surrounding the Haitian Revolution from European Perspective of Black Nations. (2023, May 24). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/the-issue-surrounding-the-haitian-revolution-from-european-perspective-of-black-nations/
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