The French Revolution
Slaves learned about the French Revolution and decided to discuss their rights and future. As a result, they started to hold mass meetings in order to prepare for resistance. Slaves had already started to organize themselves into small groups of rebels in different isolated plantations.
Santo Domingo became a critical center for insurrection as slaves organized themselves. Slave masters terribly repressed their slaves. The French Revolution led to the spread of revolutionary ideas. French soldiers who visited the France colony of Santo Domingo also spread the idea of revolution among blacks. French soldiers also informed black slaves and mulattoes that the French legislatures had acknowledged that all humans were same and liberated.
Black rebels used the Island of Santo Domingo as their base during 1791 resistance. Most rebels were blacks who were working in sugar plantations. In addition, other oppressed workers also joined the revolution with the aim of eliminating their masters. Black revolters established bases in all locations they had destroyed.
Most blacks identified with the revolution movement. Consequently, slaves made their interests strategic objectives during their struggle. Cooper focused on the relationship between the French Revolution and its impacts on French colonies, particularly in the island. The author noted that slavery was a critical matter during the French Revolution. Blacks struggled for their freedom as the French Revolution provided them with new ideas. According to Cooper, one can comprehend the French Revolution alongside the question of race (Cooper 83).
Blacks struggled for total abolishment of slavery. Rebel leaders and soldiers worked together to ensure that the Port of Santo Domingo was safe. Toussaint became the most important leader during 1800 in Santo Domingo as he organized the island into a strong economy and established a military autocracy. Toussaint became authoritative and autonomous as he led rebels and French soldiers. This organization scared Napoleon as Toussaint led the slave revolution in Santo Domingo.
The cruelty of slave masters, who were owners of plantations, led to a deep-rooted feeling of suffering and rebellion as slaves started to demand for their rights. However, one must recognize that slave rebellion and revolution started long before the French Revolution emerged. Slaves conducted secret meetings, used language, and religion to resist their masters.
After the French Revolution, the law prohibited slavery and abolished in Santo Domingo. Rebels in the island understood the confusion and division among their white masters. As a result, they led the Haitian Revolution with a specific objective of ensuring that slavery ended. In order to realize this object, blacks were willing to take any challenge to achieve their goal.
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo Island became a critical location for insurrection as many black slaves turned against their white masters and plantation owners in quest for freedom. The Haitian Revolution started in 1791. Initially, the Revolution was in a single location of the Island in the northern plain, but it later spread to other areas as other slaves joined the fight against oppression.
This was an issue of race struggle. While scholars have provided accounts of historical events at Santo Domingo, many white authors did not present actual events but rather portrayed the black revolution as a series of disorganized, unsystematic actions. However, the Haitian Revolution was organized, had leadership, and a sense of unity. This was a triumphant rebellion of against white plantation owners in history.
Works Cited
Cooper, Anna Julia. Slavery And The French And Haitian Revolutionists 2nd ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006. Print.