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A review by bahareads
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C.L.R. James
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C.L.R. James is a classic work in the field of Haitian Revolution, Atlantic Slavery, and Caribbean History. CLR James is a Trinidadian historian who is also a Marxist.
The Black Jacobins is a foundational text in the historiography of the Haitian Revolution. James Walvin’s introduction in my edition says that this monograph “remains a starting point and an intellectual inspiration, written by a man whose words, always worth heeding, deal with issues which are both universal and contemporary.” James writes about the Haitian Revolution with the slave experience at the heart of the narrative.
He chronicles Saint Domingue’s history from before the Haitian Revolution to the making a free Republic after Toussaint L’Ouverture’s death. James uses Toussaint L’Ouverture as a narrative vehicle for the main part of the text. Toussaint does not appear in the text until Chapter Four. The first three chapters are background narrative to set the scene for what triggers the Haitian Revolution. The following chapters follow the actions of Toussaint, and Dessalines, Christophe, and other prominent Black leaders of the revolution.
I enjoyed reading The Black Jacobins. I heard about this monograph before, because it is a foundational text, but it was never assigned for a class I was in. Of course, newer works have moved beyond what James covered in his monograph, but I cannot begin to imagine how revolutionary this text was in 1930s. I think about other works on enslavement that come out in the 1930s and 1940s, that James in is conversation with such as Slave and Citizen or the works of Ulrich B. Phillips. James moving away the paternalistic view of slavery to show the gritty reality of enslavement for those in Saint Domingue. The descriptions of punishment and blatant cruel torture is emotionally stirring. The writing itself is fantastic; James creates a beautiful narrative that flows well and is digestible to the average reader. I have read another of Eric Williams’ books, From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492–1969, which was so dense. It was hard to get through.
I am sceptical about some of James’ blanket statements throughout the text. He portrays the enslaved as having no joy or happiness at all in their life; that they were just shells of human beings which I do not agree with. When introducing Toussaint in, James talks about how Toussaint married his wife and rejected concubinage. He mentions that most enslaved people engaged concubinage – but he makes that fact sound negative. Or at least that’s how I read it. Which rubbed me very wrong, because they would not have had a choice in the matter (84). I found it interesting when James talked about the Vodu ceremony that helped start the Haitian Revolution, he did not mention the woman involved; maybe that was not a fact known then.
I picked this monograph because I’m currently reading The First and Last King of Haiti by Marlene Daut. Surprisingly – I have been thinking about this a lot recently – I have not read any works that focus solely on the Haitian Revolution. Overall reading this will be helpful. It broadens my understanding of the period and the influences in the region. Over 85 years old, the book has its flaws, but it set the historiography on a new path. Its influence speaks for itself as it is still so relevant all these years later.
The Black Jacobins is a foundational text in the historiography of the Haitian Revolution. James Walvin’s introduction in my edition says that this monograph “remains a starting point and an intellectual inspiration, written by a man whose words, always worth heeding, deal with issues which are both universal and contemporary.” James writes about the Haitian Revolution with the slave experience at the heart of the narrative.
He chronicles Saint Domingue’s history from before the Haitian Revolution to the making a free Republic after Toussaint L’Ouverture’s death. James uses Toussaint L’Ouverture as a narrative vehicle for the main part of the text. Toussaint does not appear in the text until Chapter Four. The first three chapters are background narrative to set the scene for what triggers the Haitian Revolution. The following chapters follow the actions of Toussaint, and Dessalines, Christophe, and other prominent Black leaders of the revolution.
I enjoyed reading The Black Jacobins. I heard about this monograph before, because it is a foundational text, but it was never assigned for a class I was in. Of course, newer works have moved beyond what James covered in his monograph, but I cannot begin to imagine how revolutionary this text was in 1930s. I think about other works on enslavement that come out in the 1930s and 1940s, that James in is conversation with such as Slave and Citizen or the works of Ulrich B. Phillips. James moving away the paternalistic view of slavery to show the gritty reality of enslavement for those in Saint Domingue. The descriptions of punishment and blatant cruel torture is emotionally stirring. The writing itself is fantastic; James creates a beautiful narrative that flows well and is digestible to the average reader. I have read another of Eric Williams’ books, From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492–1969, which was so dense. It was hard to get through.
I am sceptical about some of James’ blanket statements throughout the text. He portrays the enslaved as having no joy or happiness at all in their life; that they were just shells of human beings which I do not agree with. When introducing Toussaint in, James talks about how Toussaint married his wife and rejected concubinage. He mentions that most enslaved people engaged concubinage – but he makes that fact sound negative. Or at least that’s how I read it. Which rubbed me very wrong, because they would not have had a choice in the matter (84). I found it interesting when James talked about the Vodu ceremony that helped start the Haitian Revolution, he did not mention the woman involved; maybe that was not a fact known then.
I picked this monograph because I’m currently reading The First and Last King of Haiti by Marlene Daut. Surprisingly – I have been thinking about this a lot recently – I have not read any works that focus solely on the Haitian Revolution. Overall reading this will be helpful. It broadens my understanding of the period and the influences in the region. Over 85 years old, the book has its flaws, but it set the historiography on a new path. Its influence speaks for itself as it is still so relevant all these years later.