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Haiti began importing more than 40,000 slaves a year (mid-1700s)

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Haiti began importing more than 40,000 slaves a year (mid-1700s)

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Around the mid-1700s  Haiti began importing more than 40,000 slaves a year creating a 10 to 1 ratio of slave to white  person.

The Spanish military was starting to crack down more on piracy in the West Indies. This must have forced many of the rich, former Pirates to switch over to a more legal means of generating income, which may have demanded slaves.

France was constantly at war in the 1700's. They were officially engaged in more than ten wars the 1700s.  At times they were fighting more than one war at a time. All of this fighting was funded by plantations.

In Europe at the time there was growing demand for sugar and coffee. These tropical foods could only be grown in the West Indies and Haiti was the largest producer of both.

Many Haitian Whites gained their wealth through piracy of Spanish galleons. This wealth made it easy for them to switch to owning plantations.

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Rara music demonstrates the most important piece of any revolution. The culture and unique personality of those who would otherwise be suppressed buy tyranny. Rara music is a completely unique art form that would never have existed without the resistance the Haitians gave to the Europeans.  Rara music represents what the revolution meant. It represents the  unique personality of Haiti.  and most importantly, it represents why resistance to tyranny matters. Without revolutions and the fight for freedom beautiful incredible art such as Rara music would never exist. No one would ever hear the clash of horns, drums, whistles,  and bells. No one's feet would ever be driven to dancing dy the fast repeating clashing rhythms of steel drums. The beauty of Rara music alone is validation to all who fight against tyranny and resist power.

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August 1791 -- The slaves of Haiti revolted. 

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August 1791 -- The slaves of Haiti revolted. 

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The French King freed all slaves in France. The Rights of Man outlawed slavery in France. When the Haitian slaves heard this, they felt that they were being held in slavery illegally.

Fighting broke out between the Petit Blanc's and the wealthy blacks.   This provided the perfect environment for civil unrest and for a successful slave revolt to occur.

The French Revolution had just taken place, so it was the perfect time for the Haitians to strike and make a permanent change.

France had just declared that all free people of color were now French citizens. This caused unrest among the slaves because, of course, even the shaky justification of racial superiority had just been removed. There was no reason why they were slaves and white people were free.

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Illustration from Rainsford’s book, An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Marcus Rainsford 1805

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Illustration from Rainsford’s book, An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Marcus Rainsford 1805

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This piece is very significant. If you look closely, you can see that the people of color are shown as being far more personal in human looking then the white man. This shows that the author understand who the true animals were in the situation. This piece Cries Out to all who oppress, , and says “your time has come. Be wary of those you would oppress for there are few things more dangerous than a broken man rebuilt.

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August 1793 -- The Haitian slaves gained their freedom.

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August 1793 -- The Haitian slaves gained their freedom.

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The Spanish were at war with the French. This meant that they gave military backing to Haitians -- even promoting L'ouverture (the commander of the slave revolt)  to an official officer in the Spanish Army.

The yellow fever was a very prevalent disease at the time and hit the French soldiers particularly hard.

The French and English declared war on each other over territory in North America.  This caused the English to decide they were going to invade San Domingo.  The French, realizing they had no hope of winning the war they were fighting, freed their slaves.

The French Enlightenment had just happened. This made France far more accepting of the true equality of all men.  This growing acceptance encouraged the French to free the slaves.

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August 1793 -- The Haitians gained their freedom.

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August 1793 -- The Haitians gained their freedom.

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The Spanish were at war with the French. This meant that they gave military backing to Haitians -- even promoting L'ouverture (the commander of the slave revolt)  to an official officer in the Spanish Army.

The yellow fever was a very prevalent disease at the time and hit the French soldiers particularly hard.

The French and English declared war on each other over territory in North America.  This caused the English to decide they were going to invade San Domingo.  The French, realizing they had no hope of winning the war they were fighting, freed their slaves.

The French Enlightenment had just happened. This made France far more accepting of the true equality of all men.  This growing acceptance encouraged the French to free the slaves.

January 1804 -- Haiti gained its independence

Around this time, Napoleon came into power. He said the laws that freed the slaves in France did not apply to slaves in other colonies.  Hatians could not be expected to be part of a country in which they were still officially considered slaves.

Napoleon planned to take back a huge territory in North America.  If he was going to do that, he’d need tons of money. The best way for France to make that money would be to revert Haiti back to its former financial glory through the use of slavery.

Yellow fever was still running rampant on the island at this time. It decimated the French forces and forced them to leave Haiti.

Napoleon was, of course, fighting wars outside of Haiti, which sapped the resources of the French military.

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The main idea of this piece is that wow slave owners may have owned the slaves bodies they would never own the slaves mine's.  This piece is showing the one most important piece of resistance that  is always held with every oppressed person. The freedom of their mind. As long as a person can wish for change, their offering resistance. This piece shows that while a body can be dominated a soul can never be destroyed.  This piece shows that all the slaves needed to take their freedom was the hunger for freedom that lived within their souls and the power within their bodies.

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Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus, the Rara music festival in Haiti will not be taking place this year, but that doesn't mean Rara music will not be made. Many  Rara bands are using an interesting tool to put together new pieces of Rara music.  Each member of the band simply records themself making noise at 200 beats per minute, and then emails it to one person who puts it all together. You will have an opportunity to do this very thing. Simply record yourself play any instrument, yelling out, clapping, or whistling on the beat of 200 BPM and send it to this email danielbondbrown22@students.fieldschool.org), and you to can be a part of rah-rah music. It’s easier than you think.

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The Haitian Revolution Gallery (created by Daniel Bond-Brown) is a gallery created to represent the history, effects and perception of the Haitian revolution. It delves into detail about the global circumstances that led to the Haitian revolution and the effect that the Haitian revolution had going into the future. The gallery features three pieces (created by three different authors at three different times). The pieces are organized on a timeline along with information about the patient evolution which could help contextualize the events. There's one piece that was created by an Irishman contemporary to Haitian revolution. This piece is an etching done in black-and-white depicting the Haitians hanging the former slave owners. There’s one piece that is a style of music that was created by slaves in Haiti and has continued to this day. The third is a modern piece done by a Haitian artist. This piece depicts a slave harvesting sugarcane, but the slaves upturned eyes and red bandanna symbolize the freedom of his mind and his plans for revolution. The pieces themselves can be found below listed in the order in which the subject matter happened. Underneath the pieces, is the information about the subject matter and an analysis of the art. The Haitian revolution gallery represents not only the history of the revolution, but what the revolution meant and why the revolution happened. The beauty of Rara music shows the incredible self-expression that can be allowed to exist when resistance is given to oppression. The etching of the executions shows the mighty revenge and righteous fury of the oppressed. The slave chopping sugarcane shows that no matter how much you oppress a person’s body you can never completely oppress their mind.