Undertones Of Revolution

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When accessing the Age of Revolutions, many connections can be made between the American and Haitian Revolutions. By the late eighteenth century, new ideologies were beginning to surface, especially on the topic of universal rights, which intertwined these two revolutions. The spread of Enlightenment ideas ignited enslaved Africans, in both regions, to question their own civil liberties, and demand change in the institution. Undertones of rebellion can be seen in pre-revolutionary periods, which play a critical role in the outbreak of the eventual insurrections. When comparing the slave insurrections in America and the Caribbean, the enslaved populations used the chaos generated by the emergence of the French and American Revolution to

Many fugitive slaves retreated into ?maroon communities?, which were usually remote areas such as swamps or mountains.[footnoteRef:14] However, after Spanish Florida declared freedom to any slave who managed to escape, small rebellions began to form in the British southern colonies. In 1739, one of the largest slave uprisings in the Colonies, prior to the American Revolution, occurred, known as the Stono Rebellion.[footnoteRef:15] No more than a hundred armed slaves marched south, allegedly to Spanish Florida, murdering any whites they came into contact with. The rebellion was eventually put down, and led to strict ramifications. South Carolina legislator passed the Negro Act of 1740, which restricted slave assembly, education and movement.[footnoteRef:16] The speed and fury of the Stono Rebellion triggered fear among plantation owners all throughout the Thirteen Colonies.[footnoteRef:17] Plantation owners were shocked and overwhelmed that their slaves had the capacity to carry out such extensive revolts, which prompted the government to pass stricter slave laws to ensure the safety of the whites.[footnoteRef:18] While the Stono Rebellion may be regarded as unsuccessful, it had powerful effects, and revealed the strength this enslaved population had. [14: Ibid., 17. ] [15: Chandler, Allen, ?Stono Rebellion in South Carolina,? from The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia, (Atlanta: Charles P.

In the Thirteen colonies, rumors generated hope within the enslaved population, but it wasn?t until the declaration of freedom proposals that the slaves became active forces within the community. Both the enslaved populations in Saint-Domingue and America had to resort to violence to receive the freedom they