Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Arthro-Pod EP 89: The Haitian Revolution (Part 3 of the Napoleon vs Insects Series)

 

In this episode we discuss the stress factors in the French sugar colony of Saint-Domingue that led to the Haitian revolution, including slavery and the racial apartheid system; how the Haitian revolution was intertwined with and influenced by the French Revolution; the decimation of British troops by yellow fever and the failed British invasion of Saint-Domingue; and the rise of Toussaint Louverture, whose actions would provoke Napoleon into invading Saint-Domingue.

The island of Hispaniola is dominated by tall, east-west running mountains.

Map of the provinces of French Saint-Dominuge, showing the relative locations of the North, West, and South.

"Napoleon Bonaparte in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire in Saint-Cloud" by François Bouchot

"Mortals are equal, it is not birth, but virtue alone that makes the difference". There was an abolotionist movement among the French aristocracy prior to the French and Haitian Revolutions, as illustrated by this illustration.

"Burning of the Plaine du Cap - Massacre of whites by the blacks". Most of the contemporary illustrations of the Haitian Revolution were produced by  Europeans and show Black slaves murdering White planters. While such atrocaties happened, such skewed presentations that did not include the brutality the former slaves faced, helped skew public opinion outside of Saint Domingue against the slaves. 

Illustration of jungle fighting between French troops and Black former slaves. "Saint Domingue: Capture of Ravine-à-Couleuvres"

"Portrait of Léger-Félicité Sonthonax (1763-1813)" by an unknown painter. 

"Toussaint Louverture" by Alexandre-François-Louis, comte de Girardin, painted posthumously.


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This episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/



Beginning/ending theme: "There It Is" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0