The task of rebuilding a land built by blood would be overwhelming to any leader and any people. Revolutionary heroes like Dessalines tried to "make independence truly meaningful" by attempting radical reform projects including land redistribution. Such radical policies, however well-intentioned, rarely work out smoothly. The Haitian Revolution was successful in that it liberated a nation from colonial mental, political, and economic oppression and liberated its people from literal bonds of slavery. Important lessons can be learned from the Haitian Revolution, lessons that can apply equally in the twenty-first century as to the eighteenth and nineteenth. First, no revolution is meaningless, and certainly no emancipation is meaningless. Second, no revolution is without bloodshed but neither is a revolution without glory and triumph. Third, progress occurs....

The Haitian Revolution, sometimes referred to as the "daughter of the French Revolution," paved the way for future slave revolts (Gerard). Although Haiti remains devastated by the fallout of colonization and the slave trade, hope remains that the tide of human history will once again shift toward progress and greater freedom.
Works Cited

Girard, Philippe. "Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution (Review)." Latin American Politics & Society; Spring2005, Vol. 47 Issue 1, p138.

Nesbitt, Nick. "Troping Toussaint, Reading Revolution." Research in African Literatures; Summer2004, Vol. 35 Issue 2, p18.

Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth. "The Haitian Revolution in Interstices and Shadows: A Re-reading of Alejo Carpentier's the Kingdom of This World." Research in African Literatures; Summer2004,…