Siblings of Soil

Charlton W. Yingling is an assistant professor at the University of Louisville. He coedited the book Free Communities of Color and the Revolutionary Caribbean.

Yingling’s Siblings of Soil is a history of the Haitian Revolution and its aftermath that focuses on the militaristic, religious, and kinship ties between Haitians and the Spanish side of the island. Grounded in astonishing archival research that spans Europe, the Caribbean, the United States, and Australia, Siblings of Soil demonstrates how African descendants across Hispaniola collaborated across time to ultimately unify the island under Haiti in 1822. This contribution centers the whole island in the broader historical literature on the Age of Revolutions. It moreover is a poignant reminder of a bygone era of cooperation in the forging of an independent, anti-slavery, and anti-colonial Black state. The Isis Duarte Book Prize committee commends Siblings of Soil for its extraordinary research and timely innovation. (Isis Duarte Prize Committee, Haiti/ Dominican Republic section of the Latin American Studies Association) Yingling . . . masterfully [argues] that the Dominican Republic did not gain independence from but rather separated itself from Haiti. He also provides pertinent examples of Dominican influence on Haiti in its early years and of collaborative efforts between the two 'siblings.' . . Importantly, Yingling locates Santo Domingo in the historiography of the Age of Revolutions. Haiti, at least, has received more recognition in this era given the significance of the Haitian Revolution. . . This well-researched book incorporates archival material from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, France, Spain, Cuba, and Vatican City. . . Highly recommended. (CHOICE) Siblings of Soil successfully delineates the importance of an archivally grounded understanding of the history of the island and is a notable contribution to the historiographical effort, expanding how we under‐stand the revolutionary age to have been lived. (H-Net Reviews (H-Caribbean)) [Siblings of Soil] is a welcome contribution to a range of historiographies, and it sheds light on a too-often overlooked part of the Age of Revolutions . . . Yingling has produced a significant work that belongs in the libraries of scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. (H-Net Reviews (H-Slavery)) This history of the Haitian Revolution in Santo Domingo makes one story out of many distinct threads. (HAHR)

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Entire Island Has One FamilyChapter 1: Race and Place in Eighteenth-Century HispaniolaChapter 2: Following a Revolutionary Fuse, 1789–1791Chapter 3: Belief, Blasphemy, and the Black Auxiliaries, 1792–1794Chapter 4: Many Enemies Within, 1795–1798Chapter 5: French Failures, 1799–1807Chapter 6: Cross-Island Collaboration and Conspiracies, 1808–1818Chapter 7: The “Spanish Part of Haiti” and Unification, 1819–1822Epilogue: Becoming Dominican in HaitiArchives ConsultedNotesIndex