THE BEDFORD SERIES IN HISTORY AND CULTURE
Loczl-
Slave Revolution in the
Caribbean, 1789-1804
A Brief History with Documents
Laurent Dubois
Michigan State University
and
John D. Garrigus
Jacksonville University
BEDFORD/ST. MARTIN'S
Boston •
New York
Contents
Foreword
Preface
MAPS
iii
v
1
PART ONE
Introduction: Revolution, Emancipation,
and Independence
7
The French Caribbean in the Eighteenth Century
The Revolution Begins, 1789-1791
From Slave Revolution to Emancipation, 1791-1794
Defining Emancipation, 1794-1798
The Haitian Revolution and the United States
War and Independence
The Legacy of the Haitian Revolution
Major Revolutionary Figures and Groups
9
18
24
29
34
35
39
43
PART TWO
The Documents
47
1. The French Caribbean in the Eighteenth
Century
1. The Code Noir, 1685
ix
49
49
CONTENTS
2. Prophesies of Slave Revolution, 1771 and 1780
3. Mederic-Louis-Elie Moreau de Saint-Mery,
Description . . . of the French Part of the Island of
Saint-Domingue, 1797
54
57
2 . The Revolution Begins, 1 7 8 9 - 1 7 9 1
63
4. Letters from the Slave Revolt in Martinique, AugustSeptember 1789
63
5. The Free Citizens of Color, Address to the National
Assembly, October 22, 1789
67
6. The National Assembly, Decree of March 8 and
Instructions of March 28, 1790
70
7. Abbe Gregoire, Letter to Those Who Love Mankind,
October 1790
73
8. Letters from the Uprising of Vincent Oge, October 1790
75
9. Julien Raimond, Observations on the Origin and
Progression of the White Colonists' Prejudice against
Men of Color, 1791
78
10. The Debate of May 15, 1791
82
11. The National Assembly, Law on the Colonies, 1791
84
3 . From Slave Revolution to Emancipation,
1791-1794
12. Herard Dumesle, Voyage to the North of Haiti, 1824
13. Antoine Dalmas, History of the Revolution of SaintDomingue, 1814
14. Pierre Mossut, Letter to the Marquis de Gallifet,
September 19, 1791
15. Philadelphia General Advertiser, Reports from the
Insurrection, October-November 1791
16. Jean-Francois and Biassou, Letters to the
Commissioners, December 1791
17. Gros, In the Camps of the Insurgents, 1791
18. Olympe de Gouges, Preface to The Slavery of the
Blacks, 1792
86
86
89
93
95
99
103
108
CONTENTS
XI
19. Jean-Paul Marat, From The Friend of the People, 1792
111
20. Thomas Clarkson, The True State of the Case,
Respecting the Insurrection at St. Domingo, 1792
'
113
21. The National Assembly, Law of April 4, 1792
115
22. Journal Republicain de la Guadeloupe, Account of the
Slave Revolt, April 24, 1793
116
23. Laurent Jolicoeur, Petition, 1793
119
24. Leger Felicite Sonthonax, Decree of General Liberty,
August 29, 1793
120
25. Insurgent Responses to Emancipation, 1793
125
26. The National Convention, The Abolition of Slavery,
February 4, 1794
129
4 . Defining Emancipation, 1 7 9 4 - 1 7 9 8
133
27. Victor Hugues, Proclamations, 1794
133
28. Genevieve Labothiere Secures Her Brother's Freedom,
1796-1801
136
29. The Plantation Policies of Etienne Polverel, 1794
138
30. Jean-Baptiste Belley, The True Colors of the Planters,
or the System of the Hotel Massiac, Exposed by Gouli,
1795
144
31. Toussaint Louverture, A Refutation of Some Assertions
in a Speech Pronounced in the Corps Legislatif. . . by
Vienot Vaublanc, 1797
147
32. The Council of the Five Hundred, Law on the
Colonies, 1798
153
33. Etienne Laveaux, A Celebration of the Anniversary of
Abolition, 1798
156
5. The Haitian Revolution and the United States
34. Thomas Jefferson, Letters, 1797-1802
35. Refugees in Charleston, S.C., Petition,
October 25,1799
36. Charles Brockden Brown, St. Domingo, December
1804
159
159
162
164
Xll
CONTENTS
6. War and Independence
167
37. Toussaint Louverture, From Constitution of the
French Colony of Saint-Domingue, 1801
167
38. Louis Delgres, Proclamation, 1802
171
39. General Jean-Francois-Xavier de Menard, On the
Final Stand of Delgres, 1802
173
40. Napoleon Bonaparte and General Charles-VictorEmmanuel Leclerc, Letters, 1802-1803
175
41. Mary Hassal, From Secret History; or the Horrors of
St. Domingo, 1808
180
42. Marie-Rose Masson, Letter to the Marquis de Gallifet,
July 27, 1802
184
43. Brigadier General Pierre Cange, Letter to Delpech,
November 1802
186
44. The Haitian Declaration of Independence, January 1,
1804
188
45. The Haitian Constitution, 1805
191
APPENDIXES
A Chronology of Events Related to the Slave Revolution
in the Caribbean (1635-1805)
197
Questions for Consideration
200
Selected Bibliography
202
Index
206