I thought it was delightful that the Haitian leaders saw fit to include in their Declaration of Independence a few clauses as to the preservation of peace among their neighbors. “Let us ensure, however, that a missionary spirit does not destroy our work; let us allow our neighbors to breathe in peace”. That’s just terrific. How often, in the act of shrugging off oppressive rulers, do people take into account those around them? “Fortunate to have never known the ideals that have destroyed us, they can only have good wishes for our prosperity”. It is particularly interesting that the Haitian generals included these ideas, given that there are no such considerations populating the American Declaration of Independence…What made the Haitian and American colonial experiences different such that one set of wealthy men would make these considerations, while the other set of wealthy men would not? Or is the geographical context of the two situations so different that comparing the two is pointless?
One thought on “Considerate Haitians”
Comments are closed.
Interesting thoughts, Louis! One key issue in terms of the difference is that those who wrote the Haitian Declaration of Independence included ex-slaves, notably Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who well knew that the slave-owning nations and empires around Haiti deeply feared the spread of slave insurrection to their countries. So the attempt at reassurance was partly in relation to the desire to establish trade relations with other nations. You can ask Julia more about this in section tomorrow, as this is precisely the topic she explores in her dissertation work.