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Jefferson and Haiti
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776, marking the beginning of the American Revolution, and the establishment of a new nation: The United States of America. It may seem strange that the man who wrote so eloquently about the rights of man, and how each human being was invariably born free, could in fact be the owner of his fellow human beings, but it was true. Thomas Jefferson, while a true believer in the principles of the Enlightenment: liberty, self-determination, freedom, etc., his views on slavery were more pragmatic than idealistic. Jefferson may have been a man who personally felt that the institution of slavery should be ended, but he never took any real concrete steps toward that goal. And when the slaves on the French island of San Domingue rose up and gained their independence, Jefferson, fearing that this could become an inspiration to the slaves in America to do likewise, broke off any trade, support, and recognition for the former slave state, now called Haiti. Thomas Jefferson may have talked about the end of slavery and the emancipation of the slaves, when the time came to act on this ideal, Jefferson balked and retreated back into the mindset of a Southern Plantation owner.
Haiti, originally called St. Dominguez, was a French colony encompassing half of the island of Hispaniola, and was the chief supplier of both coffee and sugar for Europe. The French used slaves to work on the plantations, but as the mortality rate was extremely high in this...
In 1791, inspired by the French Revolution, the slaves of the colony rose up and slew their former masters in a revolution that was bloody and ruthless. Almost immediately Jefferson displayed his inherently traditional slave-owner mentality when he described the slave rebels as "a terrible engine, absolutely ungovernable…" (St. Dominguez) Eventually Napoleon Bonaparte re-established French control over the island, but soon lost interest in the America's. As a result the slaves rose up again and threw out the French once and for all. During this time the rebellion and success of the former slaves had a significant impact on the United States, who itself had recently won it's independence from a European master.
There were some in America who supported the Haitians and their quest for independence, mostly those Americans who opposed slavery. However, Americans were spit over the Haitian rebellion, with many southern supporters of slavery opposing any recognition or support of the Haitian rebels. Thomas Jefferson was one of those who supported this view, fearing that the Haitian rebellion would serve as the inspiration for a similar uprising of American slaves. In a letter to Madison, Jefferson expressed his fear of a potential slave uprising in America which would be the ultimate result of the Haitian rebellion, stating "It is high time we should foresee the bloody scenes which our children certainly, and possibly ourselves (south…
Works Cited
Gates, Henry Louis Jr., "The Curse on Haiti: it wasn't the devil that hurt Haiti; it was Thomas Jefferson." The Root. (2010) Web 26 Apr. 2011. Retrieved from http://www.theroot.com/views/curse-haiti
"St. Dominguez (Haiti)" The Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia. Web 25 Apr. 2011. Retrieved from http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/st-domingue-haiti
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