The Old Regime and the Haitian Revolution

A provocative history of Haiti up to 1804, when Haitians became the first formerly enslaved people to overthrow a colonial slaveholding power.

Malick W. Ghachem (Author)

9780521545310, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 February 2012

366 pages, 7 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.49 kg

'… contributes to our understanding of abolition and the Enlightenment, as well as colonial Saint Domingue and the Haitian and French Revolutions.' Richard Turits, William and Mary Quarterly

The Haitian Revolution (1789–1804) was an epochal event that galvanized slaves and terrified planters throughout the Atlantic world. Rather than view this tumultuous period solely as a radical rupture with slavery, Malick W. Ghachem's innovative study shows that emancipation in Haiti was also a long-term product of its colonial legal history. Ghachem takes us deep into this volatile colonial past, digging beyond the letter of the law and vividly re-enacting such episodes as the extraordinary prosecution of a master for torturing and killing his slaves. This book brings us face-to-face with the revolutionary invocation of Old Regime law by administrators seeking stability, but also by free people of color and slaves demanding citizenship and an end to brutality. The result is a subtle yet dramatic portrait of the strategic stakes of colonial governance in the land that would become Haiti.

1. Domestic enemies
2. Manumission was the means
3. Reconciling humanity and public policy
4. Stop the course of these cruelties
5. Less than just a despot?
6. To restore order and tranquility.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL]