The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution - Assignment Example

 Topic: The Black Jacobins. Introduction: Sages of the Orient meditated for Ages, the Divine incarnations provided profound revelations to the humanity, and the wise philosophers all over the world, wrote thousands of treatises, about the procedures to achieve joy and happiness, which has eluded the mankind in the known history. The pages of human history daubed in bloodshed and violence in the name of religion, race, color, class, language and territorial gains, ask the crying question. How to make this Planet Earth heaven-like? The answer is simple and straightforward. Eyes full of understanding, hearts full of love and the life that refuses conflicts-enough, these alone are enough! But such realization never occurred in the hearts of most of the leaders, warriors and tyrants who created the history of their times. Will it ever sprout in the hearts of the leaders that lead their respective Nations and influence the world-affairs at large? Who was C.L.R. James? C L R James was born in Trinidad in 1901. He was one of the prominent personalities in the West Indian Diaspora. His writing credits are extensive. He has produced profound literature on Caribbean history, Marxist theory, literary criticism, Western civilization, African politics, cricket and popular culture. He died in 1989. Why did he write the book? A writer writes a book on any subject, because he must write it! His powerful feelings must find expression, for what he considers as social good. James had strong reasons to write the book. Go through the contents of the book. They will tell you why he wrote the book. In the earliest stages of the colonization, the colonial powers never thought about anything except profits. For the sake of aggrandizement of wealth, they reached to any extent. They committed heinous acts. In 1789 the French colony of Saint Domingue was one of the famous and profitable real estate in the world. Sugar plantations were two-thirds of the French overseas trade interests, but the procedure to manufacture the sugar, was the bitterest one. The production was as the result of the worst exploitation of human labor. It would be more appropriate to call it as inhuman labor. The sugar cane fields were the mute testimony to the torturous procedures adopted by the colonists to extract hard work from the slave labor. New slaves arrived to replace the slaves that died, unable to bear the physical and mental agony inflicted on them without intermission, by their masters. Ultimately, the slaves had to adopt the procedure of rebellion. James tells the story of the revolt and the series of events leading to the culmination of the Haitian Slave Revolt. The Slaves availed the God-sent opportunity of the French Revolution that saw the shock waves sweep across the western world in 1791. The white population stood divided. While the elites remained royalist, the bourgeoisies took to revolutionary ideas. This division emboldened the slaves to rebel against the masters. The book gives the historical details of the rebellion and describes how Saint Domingue became Haiti, the first independent nation in the Caribbean, when the rebellion ended in 1803.The man who led the rebellion was a semiliterate slave named François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture. What social science concept/theories did James use to frame the theoretical arguments in his book? The absorbing narrative adheres to rigid faithfulness to method and documentation. This is the asset of the book. You find the definitive account of Haitian Revolution 1794-1803, inspired by the events that led to the French Revolution which became the model for the Third World liberation movements in the countries of the continent of Africa and Cuba. According to James, economic and class distinctions and not the racial distinctions are important aspects of the revolution. This is his original look at the revolution, for which he has been dubbed as the Marxist by his critics. James sees the French revolution imparting heavy influence on the Haitian revolution, and not just the dormant force providing the backdrop. “The Black Jacobins, an historical account of the San Domingo Revolution of 1791-1803 and its interrelation with the French Revolution in 1789, is above all a narrative of liberation that documents the revolutionary potential of proletarian masses. Although James is careful to point out the racial heterogeneity of the San Domingo population--distinguishing, for example, between mulattoes, small whites, big whites, and maritime bourgeoisie--he places greater emphasis on the antagonisms of class that provided the socio-economic impetus for revolution.” (The Black….) While trying to argue the fundamentals of his theory, James adopts the materialist (Marxist) position that questions of class precede and overshadow questions of race, gender, or nation. He writes, “The race question is subsidiary to the class question in politics, and to think of imperialism in terms of race is disastrous. The sugar industry of San Domingo was an area of class conflict for him. But he is quick to add, "To neglect the racial factor as merely incidental is an error only less grave than to make it fundamental." (James, p, 283)James describes the gaps between leader and led (between intellectualism and masses) that perhaps led to Toussaint's demise: “Between Toussaint and his people there was no fundamental difference of outlook or of aim. Knowing the race question for the political and social question that it was, he tried to deal with it in a purely political and social way. It was a grave error. Lenin in his thesis to the Second Congress of the Communist International warned the white revolutionaries--a warning they badly need--that such has been the effect of the policy of imperialism on the relationship between advanced and backward peoples that European Communists will have to make wide concessions to natives of colonial countries in order to overcome the justified prejudice which these feel toward all classes in the oppressing countries. Toussaint, as his power grew, forgot that. He ignored the black laborers, bewildered them at the very moment that he needed them most, and to bewilder the masses is to strike the deadliest of blows at the revolution.” (James, p, 239-240). How do the titles and content of each of the book’s first five chapters (chapters 1-5) reflect his arguments? The first five chapters of the book are the property, the owners, parliament and property, the San Domingo masses begin, and the Paris Masses complete. The connotation of the word slave was comparable to the incinerator that burnt everything dropped within it. The slave trade was carried out by an entire chain that conducted the trade in a brutal manner. James writes, “The stockades of grinning skulls, the human sacrifices, the selling of their own children as slaves, these horrors were the product of an intolerable pressure on the African peoples, which became fiercer through the centuries as the demands of industry increased and the methods of coercion were perfected.”(James, p, 7) James’ vivid description in chapter one gives the harsh realities of making of a slave, from the moment a black man or women is captured and dispatched as the human cargo to the intended destination. “No place on earth, observed one writer of the time, concentrated so much misery as the hold of a slave-ship.”(James, p, 8) Once loaded on the ship, they were at the mercy of the crew that was more brutal. James writes, “Fear of their cargo (slaves) bred a savage cruelty in the crew. One captain, to strike terror into the rest, killed a slave and dividing heart, liver and entrails into 300 pieces made each of the slave eat one, threatening those who refused with the same torture.”(James, p, 9) Once the slaves landed in the destination port, they were traded like commodities. The negotiations between the buyers and sellers of the slaves took place. The transaction was put through and cruelties of another genre awaited the slave, whose ownership vested with the new master now. James writes, “Having become the property of his owner, he was branded on both sides of the breast with a hot iron. His duties were explained to him by an interpreter, and a priest instructed him the first principles of Christianity.”(James, p, 9) Exploitation of a different nature began with right earnest. The suffering of the slaves multiplied. This religion served as an ongoing conspiracy in their lives than provide them with spiritual solace. James perceived important insights from the Haitian Revolution. One was the fact that the slaves recognized and organized themselves as a class of workers exploited under modern capitalist conditions--Another was the internationalism of this class whose collective labor made the wealth of empires and nations. The titles of chapter four ("The San Domingo Masses Begin") and chapter five ("And the Paris Masses Complete") run together to make a single sentence, driving home the solidarity those workers forged between Haiti and France: "'Servants, peasants, workers, the laborers by the day in the fields' all over France were filled with a virulent hatred against the 'aristocracy of the skin.' There were so many moved by the sufferings of the slaves that they had long ceased to drink coffee, thinking of it as drenched with the blood and sweat of men turned into brutes." (Haiti Analysis…) In the sugar factories slaves worked together, which resulted in a close social bond between them; they were in an easy position to discuss common issues and then to organize a mass movement was easier for them from the operational perspective. They were mentally ready for any action that involved physical aggression. How does James strike a balance between an understanding of individual (Toussaint and others) and social behavior in the book’s next five chapters (chapters 6-12)? Chapters 6-12 indicate how the slave society fought, struggled and rebelled against injustice with all the available means. They were blessed with able leadership to guide and canalize their revolutionary fervor in to a mass movement. Skirmishes turned into major battles between the colonial powers and the locals. James describes action in every chapter that is full of bloody conflicts and ruthless violence from both the ends was commonplace. The rise of Toussaint, the mulattoes try and fail, the white slave-owners again, the expulsion of the British, Toussaint seizes the power, the black consul, the bourgeoisies prepares to restore slavery, and the war of independence, are all splashed with bloodshed of the revolutionary fighters and the innocent people. This is the only slave revolt that finally leads to the founding of a black republic in the heart of the Caribbean. James reads the perspectives of different sections of the society who played the dominant role in San Domingo before and after the revolution. He identifies four important categories which played mutually exclusive roles as for their approach to revolution. They are the big whites (planters), small whites (artisans and professionals) mulattoes and blacks. The psychology and ‘vested interest’ of each class was different. These groups formed alliances when it suited their interests, departed when such co-operation was not necessary. They challenged or supported the colonial government solely from the point of view of their self-interest. This can be compared to the time-serving multi-party alliances in the modern era, in democratic countries, especially that have secured independence from the various colonial powers, in Asia and Africa. The man who played the pivotal role in the revolution is Toussaint L'Ouverture, the black general who led the slave revolt and administered the colonial government. James provides rare insight into the thinking of this rustic man and his practical approach to the issues as revealed through his written correspondence. To his people, Toussaint was god-like. The author provides authentic details about this quick-silver personality, and how he utilized the division amongst the French to the advantage of the black people. The account given by him about the various segments of the French Society in France is done with half-hearted approach and does not do full justice to the subject. It should have been more appropriate. It lacks complete details. His discussion on of Dessaline, L'Ouverture's general who persecuted the revolt to its end, is lack-luster. James has not given his perspective of this man in depth. But he is convinced beyond doubt about the role of race in shaping motivations for the revolutionary struggle. James is the son of a Haitian immigrant. The perspective of the blacks in Haiti as for race prejudice is entirely different from the blacks in America. There is a strong reason for that. Blacks are social and political majority in Haiti. In fine, James espouses a Marxist worldview and any author who has witnessed suffering of his people, has the firsthand experience of what it is to live in utter poverty must have leanings towards Marxism. Being a true Marxist, he gives more importance to the psychological dimensions of the struggle. Revolution is a great historical development that provides the continuity to the society and gives new hopes in the post-revolution era. It also throws up personalities that are fit to lead in that particular context. Someone rises above the traditional order to lead the people. Toussaint was one such individual. He was a middle level functionary on his master’s estate. In the early part of the struggle against the colonial powers, he became popular amongst the back masses on account of his military, political, diplomatic and social skills. He maintained the French connections, for tactical reasons. James’ praise for Toussaint never stops. He was the organization leader for the blacks. He heralded revolution for their benefit. He led many of the important battles. He is the sheet anchor of the book. When the revolution was coming to an end he was captured but then he had readied some of his trusted generals, like Moise and Dessalines to compete the revolution. How do the last chapter (chapter 13) and the appendix written for the second edition identify and define the principles and strategies, according to James, that can create more compassionate interpersonal relationships and social institutions based on equity and social justice? This is a well-researched history book, which reads like a novel. In the appendix titled, "From Toussaint L'Ouverture to Fidel Castro," the book provides an excellent window into the Haitian Revolution and the repercussions it caused across the world. James succeeds in showing how colonialism must own the responsibility for the creation of many separate and distinct social classes in San Domingo. His examination of the social structure is comparable to that of W.E.B. DuBois enunciated in his essay “The Evolution of the Race Problem.” DuBois argues that "the problem of the past, so far as the black American was concerned, began with caste; men came to the idea of exclusive black slavery by gradually enslaving workers, as was the world's long custom, and then gradually conceiving certain sorts of work and certain colors of men as necessarily connected."(Evolution….) James discusses intellectual and social movements in Cuba, Haiti and Trinidad during the 1920-1930s. How small groups faced the challenges of coping up with the grave situations that disrupted their understanding and connectedness to the world outside. He shows similarities between the Haitian revolution and recent movements in the Caribbean. Conclusion: The author explains the major role played by Toussaint to bring the heaven of freedom to his people through the Haitian Revolution. Summing up his achievements of gathering the historical facts and his deep emotional involvement, he candidly writes in the preface, “The writer has sought not only to analyze, but to demonstrate in their movement, the economic forces of the age; their molding of society and politics, of men in the mass and individual men; the powerful reaction of these on their environment at one of those rare moments when society is at boiling point and therefore fluid. The analysis is the science and the demonstration the art which is history.” (Preface, vii)Admittedly James is a historian, but he accepts that his writings have been influenced by his study in particular areas. He admires Russian Revolution and is fascinated about Marxism. He can not avoid the influence of Marxist principles in his writings. If he were born amidst an affluent western capitalistic society, his thinking on Marxism, perhaps would be different. This is however, not to say that he would have been lesser adherent to those principles. Only the circumstances tamed his thinking process, otherwise James is an ideal raw material to be a stern, uncompromising communist. ================ Works Cited: Evolution of the Race Problem: W E B Du Bois. Org. The Evolution of the Race Problem, written by WEB Du Bois.. – Retrieved on April 20, 2009 HaitiAnalysis.com: The Black Jacobins 70 Years Later This year marks the seventieth anniversary of C.L.R. James's The Black Jacobins: Retrieved on April 20, 2009 James, C L R: Book: The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution Paperback: 448 pages Publisher: Vintage; 2 edition (October 23, 1989) Language: English ISBN-10: 0679724672 ISBN-13: 978-0679724674 The Black Jacobins: a Class Analysis of Revolution Retrieved on April 20, 2009 Read More