Sheena Mitchell

Haitian Revolution
jail a revolutionary, But you cant jail a revolution
-Huey Newton
The Haitian Revolution was one of the most successful rebellions to ever occur.
This revolution happened because , people were suffering because The Europeans
had full control over Haitians. They made them slaves in their own country , doing hard
labor working on plantations all day for the Europeans. Haiti was wealthy for its large
production of indigo, coffee and most importantly, sugar. The slaves worked on hot
plantations where the conditions were terrible, when the slaves were cut while working
on the field, their sweat would burn the cut and they couldnt do anything to fix it. They
even made them go against each other sometimes , when they had to get whipped.
The french and the Haitian werent equal but Haitians with mixed blood , also known as
mulatto got more rights than those fully Black .But make no mistake about it they still
weren't treated as well as the French.
Toussaint L'Overture a former slave, who knew how to read and write had led the
slaves into freedom. He was fortunate in having a liberal master who had him trained
as a house servant and allowed him to learn to read and write (HistoryWiz , 2008) .The
Haitians burned everything the French had made them work on. There were hundreds
of burned sugar and coffee fields so there was no more plantations to work on. This
revolution lasted from 1791 to 1804, outlasting the French Revolution.

This revolution was very necessary because in the end, everyone who was Black
or a slave to the European, was now free. This revolution can be compared to the
French Revolution because like the Haitian, They didn't have equal treatment amongst
everyone . The peasants who were the lowest on the feudalism pyramid had it the
worst in France so they too. According to the three estates , the peasants had to pay
the most tax out of everyone else. Once they worked and got the money, it had to be
given to the government. They decided to rebel along with people whom were still
suffering in debt from the last ruler before king Louis XVI.
They planned for weeks how they would revolt against their owners . On the day
of August 22nd, the slaves , mulattos, rebels and maroons all went against the French.
They beheaded, poisoned and hung all who were European. Because Haiti was so
important for its resources , Some may argue and say it was not beneficial for Haitis
economics but what would economics matter to you when you dont have freedom .
Revolution is important , whether it's violent or not because it helps get your
point across when you want change or to make a deep statement. Another example of
this can be the recent events that took place in Ferguson. The people were displeased
with the way their community was being treated & the unjust way of Michael Brown's
death, so they protested for months to get the change they all needed. This raised
awareness & they gained solidarity from all over across the country and globe from
places like Palestine, China and more to help them stand against the mistreatment to
non-whites. All the greatest changes of today were accomplished with revolution.