just_a_bucket on Sidechat | Off topic but I wonder what the founders reaction to the Haitian revolution because I know the government was terrified and showed hostility to the free Afro-Caribbean state out of fear of possibly inspiring violent slave revolts

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US Politics 11w

just_a_bucket

Off topic but I wonder what the founders reaction to the Haitian revolution because I know the government was terrified and showed hostility to the free Afro-Caribbean state out of fear of possibly inspiring violent slave revolts

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Anonymous 11w

I’d be interested to look into the sources, because I wonder what the reaction would be like in the window between revolt starting and it being a slave revolt. The origins of the Haitian revolution lie in the French Revolution, which was being supported at the time by Americans as the reign of terror hadn’t occurred yet.

Anonymous 11w

Federalists like Hamilton supported the rebellion and helped write the Haitian constitution, but wanted Louveture to become a total dictator because they didn’t believe freed slaves could do democracy (which, to be fair, they didn’t believe white Yeoman could either). Jefferson, though, was opposed because it could upset the American social order and so he turned against them entirely

Anonymous 11w

They refuse to recognize it

Anonymous 11w

Neighborhood Historian here to say that if you’re interested in learning more about the Haitian Revolution/the Afro Caribbean there is a phenomenal book by Julius Scott that is so insightful and well researched. Spent years floating around as their PhD Dissertation before finally being turned into a book. Highly recommend.

Anonymous

#1 11w

The wealthy slave owning and merchant gens de couleur in Haiti were agitating for equal voting rights. I feel like the founders may have been split on this depending on how racist they were. The gens de couleur armed their slaves, and the whites armed their slaves, and then the slaves went “hey what if we just revolt ourselves.”

Anonymous

#1 11w

I think that’s the point where the founders would have all gone “this is terrifying slave mob rule.” But what’s interesting is that the white population was not subject to widespread violence until after Napoleon invaded and tried to re-institute slavery. Following the initial slave revolt the whites would just come back to their plantation and the africans would go “oh hey, you can cook from the garden if you want anything.” The former slaves just refused to do work for them again.

Anonymous

#1 11w

Well some of the revolting slaves did kill the slave owners. But there wasn’t a systematic genocide of Frenchmen until 1804