While the Age of Revolution has long been associated with the French and
American Revolutions, increasing attention is being paid to the Haitian Revolution as the third
great event in the making of the modern world. A product of the only successful slave revolution
in history, Haiti's Declaration of Independence in 1804 stands at a major turning point in
the trajectory of social, economic, and political relations in the modern world. This
declaration created the second independent country in the Americas and certified a new genre of
political writing. Despite Haiti's global significance, however, scholars are only now
beginning to understand the context, content, and implications of the Haitian Declaration of
Independence. This collection represents the first in-depth,
interdisciplinary, and integrated analysis by American, British, and Haitian scholars of the
creation and dissemination of the document, its content and reception, and its legacy.
Throughout, the contributors use newly discovered archival materials and innovative research
methods to reframe the importance of Haiti within the Age of Revolution and to reinterpret the
declaration as a founding document of the nineteenth-century Atlantic World.
The authors offer new research about the key figures involved in the writing and
styling of the document, its publication and dissemination, the significance of the declaration
in the creation of a new nation-state, and its implications for neighboring islands. The
contributors also use diverse sources to understand the lasting impact of the declaration on the
country more broadly, its annual celebration and importance in the formation of a national
identity, and its memory and celebration in Haitian Vodou song and ceremony. Taken together,
these essays offer a clearer and more thorough understanding of the intricacies and complexities
of the world's second declaration of independence to create a lasting
nation-state.
Copyright:
2016
Book Details
Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9780813937885
Publisher:
University of Virginia Press
Date of Addition:
01/13/16
Copyrighted By:
the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia