African Americans and the Haitian Revolution

Maurice Jackson is Associate Professor in the Department of History at Georgetown University. He is the author of Let This Voice Be Heard: Anthony Benezet, Father of Atlantic Abolitionism.Jacqueline Bacon is an independent scholar in San Diego, California. She is the author of Freedom's Journal: The First African-American Newspaper.

"This is a timely and enterprising collection that answers a growing need to set African American history in a broader international context. It combines essays that are diverse in approach with a wide-ranging selection of documents." David Patrick Geggus, co-editor of The World of the Haitian Revolution "The chapters and documents presented in this edited volume deliver the goods in rich abundance as promised in its title, through deeply probing exploration of important connections between people of African descent in the United States of America and the history and legacy of the Haitian Revolution. The central significance of that upheaval, when slaves freed themselves in the Caribbean, cannot be overstated for its wide range of impact on the consciousness of enslaved and oppressed blacks in America. African Americans and the Haitian Revolution offers fresh insight and opens up many windows into the role of the historically fascinating and extremely complex world of the Haitian Revolution in shaping the African diaspora." David Barry Gaspar, author of A Turbulent Time: The French Revolution and the Greater Caribbean "Amidst a spate of exciting new work on U.S. perceptions of the Haitian Revolution, this work stands out — not simply for the novelty and quality of the scholarship it contains, but also for its efficacy for the classroom. Here, first-rate historical analysis combines with excellent historical editing to offer students the single best volume that can be found on its topic. Highly recommended." Patrick Rael, author of African-American Activism before the Civil War: A Reader on the Freedom Struggle in the Antebellum North "These essays and case-studies presented as a collection are so compelling because stylistically mirroring the historical ebb and flow of ideas across ‘porous borders’, the works in this volume converse with each other. They present a variety of evidence which unarguably attests to the enduring influence which Haiti has and continues to have on the actions and consciousness of African-Americans. ... What is abundantly clear through the chronologically wide-ranging array of evidence presented in this volume, is that Haiti’s revolution and its aftermath have been undeniably key in African-American’s: recognition of their own potential and; galvanising themselves and their community to act in creating both material freedoms and continuing to inspire freedoms of mind."–Wendy Asquith, University of Liverpool

• Introduction Maurice Jackson and Jacqueline BaconPart One: EssaysChapter One: Fever and Fret: The Haitian Revolution and African American ResponsesMaurice Jackson and Jacqueline BaconChapter Two: Afro-American Sailors and the International Communication Network: The Case of Newport BowersJulius S. ScottChapter Three: The Roots of Early Black Nationalism: Northern African Americans' Invocations of Haiti in the Early Nineteenth CenturySara C. FanningChapter Four: "The Black Republic:" The Influence of the Haitian Revolution on Northern Black Political Consciousness, 1816-1862Leslie M. AlexanderChapter Five: "A Revolution Unexampled in the History of Man": The Haitian Revolution in Freedom’s Journal, 1827-1829Jacqueline BaconChapter Six: Antebellum African Americans, Public Commemoration, and the Haitian Revolution: A Problem of Historical MythmakingMitch KachunChapter Seven: American Toussaints: Symbol, Subversion, and the Black Atlantic Tradition in the American Civil WarMatthew J. Clavin Chapter Eight: "The Spirit of Human Brotherhood," "The Sisterhood of Nations," and "Perfect Manhood": Frederick Douglass and the Rhetorical Significance of the Haitian RevolutionGlen McClishChapter Nine: No Man Could Hinder Him: Remembering the Haitian Revolution in the History, Music, Art and Culture of the African American PeopleMaurice JacksonPart Two: Historical Documents"The Condition and Prospects of Hayti" (1826)John Browne RusswurmThe Haitian Revolution in Freedom’s Journal, the first African American Newspaper (1827-1828)From A Lecture on the Haytien Revolutions; With a Sketch of the Character of Toussaint L'Ouverture. Delivered at the Stuyvesant Institute, (For the Benefit of the Colored Orphan Asylum,) February 26, 1841.James McCune SmithFrom St. Domingo: Its Revolutions and its Patriots. A Lecture, Delivered before the Metropolitan Athenaeum, London, May 16, and at St. Thomas' Church, Philadelphia, December 20, 1854William Wells BrownFrom A Vindication of the Capacity of the Negro Race for Self-Government, and Civilized Progress, as Demonstrated by Historical Events of the Haytian Revolution; and the Subsequent Acts of that People Since Their National Independence (1857)James Theodore HollyThe Haitian Revolution in Resolutions Adopted by African American State and Regional Conventions (1858, 1859, 1865)From Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive, and Rising (1887)William J. SimmonsFrom Lecture on Haiti. The Haitian Pavilion Dedication Ceremonies Delivered at the World’s Fair, in Jackson Park, Chicago, Jan. 2d, 1893 Frederick Douglass"The Same" (1932)Langston HughesFrom A History of Pan-African Revolt (1938 [1969])C. L. R. James"Mister Toussan" (1941)Ralph Ellison"Ho Chi Minh is Toussaint L’Ouverture of Indo-China" (1954)Paul RobesonBibliographyContributors