Jonathon Neumann

2/23/15
French and Haitian Revolutions
Dr. Matthew Lundin

Slavery in Saint Domingue

The French colony of Saint Domingue, now known as the nation of Haiti, has a history of

extreme brutality and injustice that leads many today to question how people could approve of

such a societal structure. Though this system of slavery was very unjust, a number of reasons it

may have made sense to white Europeans throughout the 17 th through 18th centuries are the

ignorance of outside traders, the economic competition, the colonist fear of slave uprising, and

the hopelessness of slaves. It is easy to criticize these Europeans for such inhumane actions, yet,

at the same time, the generations that follow us will question our consumeristic lives that

continue through means that we are mostly unaware of.

The order of slavery of Saint Domingue existed to please traders not just in France but in

other European nations as well, and many of the traders as well as plantation owners were not

aware of how terrible the conditions were of those who provided them resources and wealth.

Saint Domingue was one of the most profitable colonies of the time as 40 percent of Europes

sugar and 60 percent of its coffee came from its plantations (Dubois and Garrigus, 8). If one

examines the way that slave life was depicted in Saint Domingue through books and images

presented to these traders, it makes it look much more pleasant than it actually was.

For example, the sketch of a sugar plantation on the French West Indies from 1762 that

is attached to my works cited page hides away things such as the sugar mill, where, according to

a slave, fingers and arms were often disfigured or lost (Geggus, 39). Additionally, the cabins

displayed on the right side of the picture create a somewhat pleasant picture of homes that are

almost alluring; when the truth is that the living conditions were terrible in these structures
(James, 10-11). Also, the landscape is beautiful; the slaves are not working but are rather at

leisure, which stands in steep contrast to Justin Girod de Chantranss words concerning the slave

labor: Tired by the heat and the weight of their pickaxesthey made great efforts to overcome

every obstaclepain was visible on every face, but their hour of rest never came (Geggus, 9).

In addition to this picture, the King Louis XIV issued Le Code Noir in 1685 to provide

laws and rights for slaves that never actually were enforced according to Garrigus and Dubois

(49). Many of the plantation managers were against Le Code Noir. Despite the fact that this

document may seem too unrestrictive to a reader today, it was seen as too restrictive from the

perspective of the managers. Therefore, the trading public may have believed this document was

being enforced though in reality it was not. Also, since the public may have been ignorant of

slave life, they had no problem with it; in fact, they most likely did not think about it but rather

focused on daily tasks and issues just like many westerners do today.

In addition to the ignorance of Europeans, the competitive economy of imports and

exports also influenced the justification of slavery. Plantation managers knew they must make a

good profit for the plantation owners or they may be unemployed due to the competitive nature

of such a position. These managers kept in communication with their plantation owners in order

to keep them updated on the order of their business. One document from a former planation

manager, Charles Malenfant describes his position as: His main aim is to send the owner in

France the maximum revenue possible (Geggus, 6). Though there were many more slaves than

colonists or free men of color that does not mean there every colonist had a proper position; in

fact, a number of them had to work on a planation for income. Charles Malenfant also describes

his life as a planation manager as worse off than a shepherds dog. He is even more worse

off, if he is sensitive to the treatment of blacks (Geggus, 5). Therefore, it appears that these
slave managers were instructed to treat the slaves as such and, over time, were hardened into

who they must be to maintain their position, or as Chantrans states it: the European becomes

a different person (Geggus, 9).

Secondly, in this economic system, slaves exported from Africa were viewed as pieces of

property, and, therefore, they were treated as property would be treated, not as human beings

should be treated. One letter from a merchant describes the slaves on his ship as cargo

(Geggus, 7). Many reports in addition to this one display just how little the life of an African was

valued, and it hopefully causes current readers to shudder at the danger of degrading the value of

a human life for the sake of economic gain.

Another contributing factor to the cruel structure in Saint Domingue was the fear of slave

resistance or rebellion. As I mentioned above, the slaves greatly outnumbered the free; in truth,

nine-tenths of the people were slaves in the 1700s (Dubois and Garrigus, 12). This fear was a

contributing factor to some of the disturbing tortures and disciplines that the managers

inflicted on their slaves such as dismemberment, burning, and aggressive murder (James, 12-13).

An interesting story surrounds the escaped slave Fracois Macandal who poisoned his master. The

man created a scare for a number of years that he poisoned a good number of slave masters until

he was captured and killed in 1758. Yet according to Geggus, his example lived and many were

concerned that he created a pattern that other slaves followed (19). Though it is true that slaves

occasionally poisoned their masters, it became a concern that if a slave master died it must have

been by poisoning. Though this fear exists, it by no means makes sense of treating slaves as

colonists did, such treatment can only come from, as James puts it: a depraved imagination

(12). The reader most likely knows that a slave revolution did eventually happen in 1791 due to
the vulnerability in the government following the French Revolution as well as the continual rise

of the freemen of color.

The final contributing factor I have to offer is that some slaves may have accepted the

hopelessness of life or may not have known that rights even existed for them. As one reads the

The Black Jacobins he or she may see the lifeless nature of the slaves after years of hard labor:

On holidays when not working on their private plots they sat for hours in front of their huts

giving no sign of life (James, 15) At the same time, some slaves must have heard the news

about their rights as in the Lejeune Atrocity Case, a case in which slaves brought their master, to

trial for his extreme mistreatment. Yet even though there was a trial, nothing happened in the end

and I am sure that the slaves involved were thoroughly abused and tortured afterwards (Geggus

11). Therefore, even if slaves were aware of their rights nothing changed, but those who were not

aware of such rights may have simply accepted such a terrible life.

The ignorance of traders, the trade economy, the fear of colonists, and the hopeless life of

slavery are just a few of the many reasons that the people in influence believed that slavery made

sense. However, the reader hopefully sees that such barbarity if far from humane and displays the

human capability to commit atrocities beyond comprehension. Also I must say that this order in

Saint Domingue does not speak for all the French people as we do not have writings of French

commoners even if they did know about Saint Domingue, and for all we know some may have

objected to such atrocities such as the Friends of the Blacks, but nothing changed until the

slaves themselves rebelled to gain freedom and inherent human rights. The past challenges us

today to not be ignorant about how we live lives similar to those benefiting from slavery in 17 th

and 18th centuries.

 Works Cited

Dubois, Laurent, and John D. Garrigus. Slave Revolution in the Caribbean, 1789-1804: A Brief

History with Documents. Boston: Bedford, 2006. Print.

Geggus, David Patrick. The Haitian Revolution: A Documentary History. Indianapolis: Hackett,

2014. Print.

James, C.L.R. The Black Jacobins. New York: Random House, 1989. Print.