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Haitian Connections in the Atlantic World: Recognition after Revolution

2016; Duke University Press; Volume: 96; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1215/00182168-3677949

1527-1900

Thomas Schoonover,

Caribbean history, culture, and politics

Julia Gaffield has undertaken a significant research project. Her efforts to examine the first years of Haitian independence in the nineteenth century and Haiti's entrance into the Atlantic world required her to conduct research in five different languages in the archives of eight countries: Haiti, France, Jamaica, England, the United States, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Spain. Based on this impressive research, she makes considerable headway in unraveling the complex story about the international relations of Haiti after its revolution, the subsequent defeat of Toussaint Louverture in 1802, and the reestablishment of Haitian rule under Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Nevertheless, Dessalines's declaration of independence on January 1, 1804, did not attract recognition by Britain, France, other European nations, or the United States. Gaffield examines the efforts taken under Dessalines and his successors to obtain such recognition, and she finds actions that could be considered close to recognition of Haiti's independence. For example, at times the Dutch and Danish governments were involved in negotiations to establish political as well as economic ties.The Haitian Revolution was a challenge to the Atlantic world's slave-based economy; Gaffield convincingly describes how far-reaching this challenge was. Showing a slaveholding Atlantic world concerned about its political, economic, and personal safety and well-being, she uncovers how Danish, Dutch, French, British, and North Americans not only shared roles in trying to understand and influence this slave-based economy but also fostered contacts with businesses and governments to create space and opportunity. The Haitian leaders condemned the French slave system, but they were often silent and circumspect about British, US, Dutch, and Danish ties to slavery. Relevant merchant correspondence was often held (and found) in state or court records and in the archives of nearby representatives or colonial agents who had a variety of ties to their home governments. In her research and writing, Gaffield follows historian Lauren Benton's approach of “layered sovereignty”—the division of authority into parts (pp. 12–13).Gaffield's study challenges the “isolation thesis” of Thorald Burnham (p. 2). Her research finds no joint effort to isolate Haiti but rather a diversity of opinion, especially in regard to trade opportunities. The movement of manufactured and agricultural goods facilitated what historian Julius Scott called the “Common Wind”—a collective connection among the Caribbean island societies (p. 11). However, Gaffield's search of foreign archives revealed considerable informal public and private contact. She gained much information through the use of these disparate archives.In this struggle to find acceptance, Haiti was not unique. North American colonies faced the same problems. Both these cases, and later the independence of Spanish American colonies, illustrated efforts to deal with a new situation. Historian Eliga Gould labeled such conduct as searching for “treaty-worthiness” (p. 6). The use of eight national archives is especially impressive in such a short book (the body of the text is just under 200 pages). Exhibiting diligent research, Gaffield examines Admiralty cases from various places, but chiefly from British Admiralty Courts, to uncover the impact and wording of agreements and to thus clarify the Haitian search for recognition of its independence and a general search for trade and arms purchases. While the extensive use of Admiralty records in chapter 3 might pose difficulty for some readers, she handles this material with great skill. Her research reveals incomplete materials, largely the result of natural disasters, lack of funding, political turmoil, and theft that undermined the curation of archives. In any event, Haiti's declaration of independence allowed England to deal France a heavy blow during the Anglo-French conflict.Gaffield presents a telling case against the United States and President Thomas Jefferson. Perhaps part of the trouble with recognizing Haitian independence stemmed from Dessalines's document of independence, which declared “liberté,” not “souverainté” (p. 9). The United States did not protect and insist on free trade, nor did Jefferson sustain and assert the law of nations, in an effort not to confront France at this time. She contends that the Jeffersonian government accepted the law of nations as an optional, not compulsory, guide. Other states sought to locate Haiti between a colony and a country. Thus, various foreign governments stopped short of welcoming Haiti into the community of the Atlantic world.