Haitian History & Future Prospects

From History Whiz, "Slavery and the French Revolution" -- Even before 1789 critics had attacked the slave trade and slavery in the colonies. France had several colonies in the Caribbean, the most important of which was Saint Domingue (later called Haiti). There were 500,000 slaves there in 1789 and they provided the labor for sugar, coffee, and cotton plantations.

The behavior of slaves and the actions of slave owners in the colonies was regulated by a series of royal edicts, called the Code Noir, or slave code.

When the Revolution began in 1789 the free mulattos of Saint Domingue discussed the rights of free blacks. Vincent Ogé presented the views of his fellow mulatto property owners to a meeting of the white planters in 1789. Assembly of Colonists

JACOB LAWRENCE (1917–2000) The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture:

Both groups sent their representatives to France to demand representation in the National Assembly. There were those in the National Assembly who believed in rights for blacks and worked for abolition of slavery. Some were members of the Society of the Friends of Blacks, a French abolition organization. However, there was not much support for aboliton among the revolutionaries. They also argued for full rights for free blacks - There were about 28,000 free blacks and mulattos in Haiti, many of whom owned slaves of their own. More radical revolutionaries continued to urge abolition. Olympe de Gouges, who also championed rights of women, wrote Reflections of Black People, a pamphlet urging improvement of the situations of slaves and free blacks.

Address to the National Assembly in Favor of the Abolition of the Slave Trade February 5, 1790 -Society of the Friends of Blacks

As they argued in France, the uncertainty created instability in the colonies. The free blacks and mulattos agitated for full rights. The planters feared that Paris might abolish slavery and take away their livelihood, and began to talk about independence.

JACOB LAWRENCE (1917–2000) The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture:

Vincent Ogé presented the views of the mulatto property owners to a meeting of the white planter delegates who had come to Paris. In October 1790, 350 mulattos rebelled in Saint Domingue. The rebellion was put down, the rebels were arrested and the leaders, including James Ogé, were executed. On May 15th, the National Assembly succumbed to pressure and granted political rights to all free blacks and mulattos who were born of free mothers and fathers. It only affected a few hundred people but the planters were infuriated and refused to follow the law.

Just a few months later, on 22 August 1791, the slaves of Saint Domingue again rose up in rebellion, in what was eventually to become the first successful slave revolt in history. The National Assembly reacted by rescinding the rights of free blacks and mulattos on September 24th. Once again the slaves reacted with violence. They burned down plantations, murdered their white masters, and attacked the towns. The fighting went on even as the new

JACOB LAWRENCE (1917–2000) The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture:

Legislative Assembly (it replaced the National Assembly in October 1791) met at the end of March 1792. On March 28th, the assembly voted to reinstate the political rights of free blacks and mulattos. Nothing was decided about slavery.

The slave rebellion continued. In the fall of 1792, as the Revolution in mainland France began to radicalize, the French government sent two agents to Saint Domingue to gain control of the slave revolt. The rebel slaves then made agreements with the British and Spanish in the area. The British and Spanish had promised freedom to those slaves who would join their armies. It was not a matter of principle - they did not intend to end slavery in their own colonies. But they saw an opportunity to weaken France.

JACOB LAWRENCE (1917–2000) The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture:

The rebellion and invasions took their toll on Saint Dominique. The economy had nearly collapsed and drastic measures were needed. The National Convention (the more radical assembly of the Jacobins that replace the Legislative Assembly in France) finally voted to end slavery in all the French colonies on February 4, 1794. Thousands of whites fled the island, and even the Mulattoes were not pleased. Many owned slaves themselves and were opposed to the move.

The decree from faraway Paris did not solve the problems in the colonies. Some local officials disregarded the decree, others converted slavery into a forced labor system, and others took no action at all. The decree was never fully implemented.

A leader of the slaves had emerged in the conflicts. Toussaint L'Ouverture, a slave who had learned to read and write, embraced the enlightenment philosophy of equality and liberty. He was a brilliant general, and large areas of Saint Dominique came under his control.

Eventually the Jacobin government in France fell like those governments before it. When Napoleon took control in France, he attempted to put Saint Dominique on a sound footing. By 1800 the plantations were producing for France only one fifth of what they had in 1789. He reinstituted slavery in the colonies, and denied rights to free blacks. He send an expeditionary force to retake Saint Dominique. Through deception the French captured Toussaint and took back to France. Napoleon ordered that Toussaint be imprisoned in the Alps and murdered by lack of food and warmth. However, the fight went on and the slaves were finally successful in driving out the French. In 1804 Saint Dominique became the independent republic of Haiti. The first successful slave revolt in history was over. (source: History Whiz)

Haitian History & Future Prospects

Capoeira: An African Martial Art in Brazil

Capoeira: An African Martial Art

Born out of an ever present need to protect themselves in a hostile environment, Africans enslaved in Brazil practiced a martial art now called Capoeira. Its methods were sneaky, the results often brutal and when needed, deadly.

Capoeira was and is composed of cat like movements where participants collapse to the ground, use cartwheels, flips, handstands and many other deceptive movements to avoid strikes and injury by opponents. Practitioners use kicks, sweeps, head butts, gouges and punches in order to strike their opponent. All of these actions are combined to compose a devastating form of martial art which protected its ancient participants from enslavers and at times each other.

Capoeira's origins are often disputed. There are many who disagree on whether it arrived with enslaved Africans or whether Africans created it once they reached Brazil. One theory suggest that it was a courtship dance in Angola used by suitors of young women. Another suggests that it was a fighting system that was refined and evolved by Africans to its deadly form in the Brazilian slavery era. Regardless, of the final outcome of these disagreements, the ultimate truth is that no one disputes that it is an African creation.

On the numerous plantations of the Brazilian countryside, enslaved Africans practiced and used these methods to combat the malicious behavior often meted out by overseers, their crews and the slave owners. Its practitioners were able to create such force through their movements and surprise tactics that it was not uncommon for victims to be knocked out suddenly or die from it's blows. Users of this martial art also placed razors between their toes or used knives to unmercifully deal with those who chose to cross their paths.

Brazilian Maroons, who were Africans who escaped slavery and formed alliances with "Native Americans", were notorious for using Capoeira against hunters, trackers and soldiers who were attempting to return them to a state of slavery. Survivors of ambushes with Maroons that involved hand-to-hand combat described scenes of mayhem, stating that the Maroons appeared from nowhere striking them with blows from angles that they could not fathom. It was not uncommon to hear of these enslavers turning tails to the wind in an attempt to escape these vicious attacks.

As a result of the deadly interactions that were occurring between Africans and the colonialists and at times injury from African participants against each other, Capoeira was banned by "slave owners" and other leading authorities. However, always creative, the community found ways to keep it alive. Capoeira was incorporated into dance movements in public and secret locations were arranged for its practice in private.

The actions of the Africans to practice their martial art whenever and however they could ensured the survival of Capoeira throughout Brazil's history of African enslavement. After the banning of slavery in 1888, Brazil continued to ban its practice and it was wildly viewed as a martial art practiced by "thugs" and "criminals". Fortunately, many African Brazilians and other Brazilians who realized its true value and history did not allow the criminalization of their martial art and continued to practice Capoeira.

Despite restrictions, the official ban of Capoeira could not last and the will of the people defeated the will of the state. And without such restrictions the martial art of Capoeira has evolved into the form which is practiced today. Elements of the dance and martial art have both survived to create an experience which is both mesmerizing as well as instructive.

Practitioners of Capoeira gather in a circle, called a roda, and those who surround the contestants sing, clap and play musical instruments such as the berimbau (string instrument) and drums. Then the contestants perform a movement called the Ginga (jinga), where they move around each other, almost like a dance, in order to disorient their opponent. After this point it is open season on both opponents, as contestants leap into an array of deceptive offensive and defensive movements against each other. As one contestants leaves the circle another immediately takes his place. This interaction between the group continues until the group decides to disband. I must admit that my descriptions of this ancient African art does not do it justice.

In conclusion, it is my intention that the role of Africans in Capoeira and in the evolution of martial arts should not be ignored, forgotten or denied. The bravery of its practitioners in the past to protect their freedom and in the present to maintain their traditions is a testament to the fact that true greatness can be suppressed but never destroyed.

(source: http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/capoeira.html)

PBS Secrets Of The Dead: Slave Ship Mutiny

PBS Program: Secrets of the Dead "Slave Ship Mutiny"

When the Meermin set sail from Madagascar for South Africa on a hot summer’s day in 1766, the Dutch crew had no idea they were about to make history. The ship was filled to capacity with human cargo, slaves bound for hard labor building the Dutch West India Company’s colony at Cape Town.

But the Meermin with its crew and cargo would never make it to Cape Town. Instead, in a dramatic altercation, the slaves mutinied and managed to overpower the Dutch crew, ordering the ship be sailed back to Madagascar and freedom. But the crew of experience sailors deceived the slaves and turned the boat around each evening to make for Cape Town. And so the circumstances for a dramatic climax – and shipwreck – were laid when the ship and its desperate passengers finally spied land.

Watch the "Slave Ship Mutiny" as it tracks the efforts of archaeologists, historians and slave descendants to discover the full story of this dramatic historical event. They want to learn what happened on the Meermin, how the slaves were able to overpower their captors, and why the ship ended up wrecked on a wild, windswept beach 200 miles east of Cape Town.

The slave ship Meermin set sail from Madagascar for South Africa in 1766, but the ship would never make it to Cape Town, the slaves mutinied and managed to overpower the Dutch crew, ordering the ship be sailed back to Madagascar and freedom.Watch the full episode. See more Secrets of the Dead.