The Haitian Revolution

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It was the revolution that altered the way individuals and groups saw themselves and their place in the world is how one scholar describes it. Which revolution could this scholar have been describing, was it the American Revolution or even the French Revolution? No! It is the Haitian Revolution, which is the only successful slave revolt in history. This revolution represents the most thorough case study of revolutionary change anywhere in the history of a modern world and is regarded as a defining moment in the history of Africans in the new world. The Haitian Revolution 1791 – 1804 was a time of harsh and brutal conflicting in the French colony of Saint – Domingue (know now as Haiti), which lead to the elimination of slavery and established Haiti as the republic ruled by people of color an African ancestry. Haiti also is the second state to declare its independence in the Americas. But why did the Haitian Revolution happen? Because the people of Haiti where oppressed and enslaved. Who where their oppressor(s), why were the people oppressed, and how were they oppressed? The Haitians were socially oppressed by French and this oppression was because of land/natural resources, racial differences, and an imbalance of power relation which lead the Haitians to revolt and resist this oppression with violent methods which helped them gain their freedom, but violence is not the only way to resist social oppression nonviolent methods could also be used such nonviolent direct action.

The French socially oppressed the people of Haiti. The French socially oppressed the people of Haiti and the slave they imported to the land to benefit from their services. Social oppression is a concept that describes a relationship of dominance and subordinat...

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...pression. Because social oppression can be institutionalized and embedded in to everyday workings it is important that this problem is addressed. Therefore it’s important to be educated on violence and oppression so conflicts could be solved nonviolently and a positive change in society can come about.

Works Cited

Cultural Conversations: The Presence of the past. Kelly “Nonviolent social defense”. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001. Print.

Cultural Conversations: The Presence of the past. King “Letter from Birmingham jail”. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001. Print.

Hamilton, Tim and Sharma, Satish. "The violence and oppression of power relations" Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 9.4 (1997). 22 Mar. 2011

Knight, W. Franklin, “The Haitian Revolution” The University of Chicago press The American Historical Review, vol. 105, No. 1 (Feb., 2000. )

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