The Haitian Rebellion and Latin American Wars of Independence

The Haitian Rebellion and Latin American Wars of Independence Toussaint L’Overture and El Libertador

Background to A Rebellion • One of the key moments in the spread of the Atlantic revolutions to Latin America and the Caribbean was the Haitian Rebellion (1791-1804) • It was the only large-scale slave revolt to succeed in the “New World” • The Haitian Rebellion was inspired in large part by the American Revolution and caused directly by events related to the French Revolution

Haiti • The island of Haiti, known then as Santo Domingo, had been colonized by the Spanish and the French • Each ruled half of the island, whose economy was based mainly on sugar production • The French half was populated by a mix of French colonists, Creoles (those of French descent, but born in the colonies), free blacks (known as gens de coleur), and over half a million black slaves

When the French Revolution began in 1789, it threw French Haiti into chaos, mainly because the white colonists and freed blacks, all of whom competed over Haiti’s sugar economy, quarreled • In 1791, the slaves of Haiti seized the opportunity to rebel

Toussaint L’Ouverture • By 1793, the leader of the Haitian Rebellion was François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture, often referred to as the “Black Washington” • Although a slave, L’Ouverture was literate and well-read • He was also a talented military commander who won victory after victory • By 1798, he had not only freed all the slaves in French Haiti, but he had crossed into Spanish-controlled Santo Domingo and liberated the blacks there as well

At this point, L’Ouverture hoped to make Haiti a country for free blacks • It would be friendly to France, but also independent • Unfortunately for L’Ouverture, the French government had no intention of allowing Haiti to go free • Over the next four years, the French debated the Haitian question • Then, in 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte, who had, in 1799, become leader of France, decided to send troops to Haiti to retake it • Ironically, while a young officer in France’s revolutionary army, Napoleon had been admirer of L’Ouverture, but now the two men were political enemies

The French managed to capture L’Ouverture, who was put in chains and sent back to France, where he died in prison • However, the French failed to conquer Haiti • Unused to fighting in tropical conditions, the French could not quell the Haitian rebels • Moreover, yellow fever killed over 40,000 French troops • Finally, in 1804, Napoleon decided to give up the effort to reconquer Haiti • The French went home in disgrace, and the independent nation of Haiti was born

Effects of the Rebellion • The Haitian Rebellion had the effect of helping to inspire rebellion elsewhere in Latin America • It also had one other far-reaching geopolitical impact • Because of his frustration with fighting in Haiti, Napoleon chose to abandon the effort to maintain major French colonies in the New World

Until the failed French effort in Haiti, France had been the master of a vast part of central North America: the large territory known as Louisiana, stretching from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi Delta • In 1803, Napoleon, seeking to rid himself of this territory, sold it at a bargain price to the United States • President Thomas Jefferson accepted the offer eagerly • Unlike Napoleon, he recognized that the Louisiana Purchase would give the United States control of the North American continent, and with it the opportunity to become a truly powerful nation

By helping convince Napoleon to sell Louisiana, the Haitian Rebellion played a part in bringing about a major shift in global power

Also, by eliminating France as a major slaveholding power, Haitian independence cut the ground from under a prime argument in parliament against abolition - that if Britain abolished the slave trade, its rival, France, would take it over • In 1793, at war with France, Britain tried to capture the island • The attempt ended in a costly and humiliating failure • By forcing British troops to withdraw in 1798, L'Ouverture showed British officers what determined military opponents enslaved people fighting for their freedom could be

Of the more than 20,000 British soldiers sent to the island during five years of fighting, over 60 percent died during the conflict • Some of the surviving officers returned home as abolitionists • Haitian independence, in 1804, also showed enslaved people throughout the Caribbean that they could fight for freedom and win

But the idea of independence seemed less attractive when the first revolution in Latin American turned slaves against their masters • This warned the creoles in the rest of Latin America that a political revolution might produce dire unforeseen consequences, making it a struggle of the poor versus the rich

The Causes of Nationalist Uprisings in Latin America • Not long after the Haitian Rebellion, revolution spread to virtually all of Latin America • From 1810 to 1825, Mexico, Central America, and South America gained their independence from Spain and Portugal • As with the American Revolution, reasons for the Latin American uprisings included a growing sense of national identity and local resentment of Spanish and Portuguese economic policies

Also important was frustration that the European-descended, or criollo (“creole”), upper and middle classes felt toward the rigid social hierarchy of Latin American societies, which prevented them from realizing their goal of upward social and economic mobility • Even before the revolutions began, tensions were brewing

Then Came Napoleon • The spark that set off the Latin American revolutions was lit back in Europe, by Napoleon • As part of his campaign of European conquest, Napoleon invaded Portugal and Spain in 1807 and 1809 • He toppled the royal governments there and put his own representatives, including his brother, in charge • The Spanish king was place under house arrest, while the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil

These sudden blows to the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies had a swift and profound impact on Latin American politics • Brazil’s transition to independence was relatively smooth • Spain’s Latin American possessions, however, rose up in rebellion

Simón Bolívar • The most influential revolutionary was Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), known throughout Latin America as the “Liberator” • A member of the Creole upper class in Venezuela, Bolívar was inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment, frustrated by the inefficiency and injustice of Spanish rule, and personally ambitious • In 1810, Bolívar took control of the independence movement that was sweeping across the northern provinces of South America: his own Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador

Unlike many members of the creole elite, who rebelled against Spain for the sake of their narrow class interests, Bolívar realized that no revolt could succeed unless it attracted all classes • In a bold stroke, he promised to fight for the rights of mixed-race Latin Americans, as well as for the emancipation of slaves • This pledge turned a small and largely unsuccessful upper- and middle-class rebellion into a mass war of independence • The military turning point of Bolívar’s wars came from 1819 to 1821, when he managed to gain control over Venezuela and Colombia

At this juncture, Bolívar joined forces with another nationalist, José de San Martín, a general turned revolutionary • San Martín had begun his uprising in 1816 • By 1820, he had freed Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay • He then turned to the north, to Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, at the same time that Bolívar was turning south, into the same areas • Despite certain political differences – San Martín was more conservative than Bolívar – the two men decided to cooperate • Bolívar was made the overall leader of the movement

By 1824 to 1825, Bolívar had cleared all Spanish and loyalist forces out of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru • Spanish South America was free • In the meantime, Brazil had also become independent • In this case, the decision to free Brazil came from above, rather than below • In 1820, the King of Portugal went back to Europe to reclaim his throne • He left his son, Prince Pedro, as regent

However, the king also gave his son the following advice: “My son, if Brazil starts to demand independence, make sure you are the one to proclaim it. Then make sure to put the crown on your own head” • Indeed, in 1822, when Brazilians began to agitate for their freedom, Pedro declared independence, created a constitutional monarchy, and proclaimed himself Pedro I

The Mexican War of Independence • Mexico and Central America waged wars of independence from 1810 to 1823 • Mexico’s revolution was complicated by the inability of various social classes to cooperate • The Mexican War of Independence was begun in September 1810 by the priest, Miguel Hidalgo, who, unfurling the flag of the Virgin of Guadalupe, called for revolution against Spain • Hidalgo was killed in 1811, but his fight was carried on by another priest, José María Morelos

But Hidalgo and Morelos fought not just for independence from Spain, but also social justice • They wanted equal rights for Indians, mestizos, and slaves (whom they planned to set free) • They wanted constitutional rule • Hidalgo’s and Morelos’s platform gained mass support from the lower classes • Unfortunately, Hidalgo’s and Morelos’s goals were opposed not just by the Spanish, but also many upper-class, even those who wanted independence • Like Hidalgo, Morelos was killed, by 1815, by conservative Mexicans, not the Spanish

This meant that Mexico’s revolt had to be carried out by the elite, not the lower classes • A conservative colonel, Agustín de Iturbide, overthrew Spanish rule in 1820 to 1821 • He then tried to establish a dictatorship, with himself as emperor • Iturbide was quickly overthrown, and a Mexican republic was proclaimed in 1823 • That same year, the nations of Central America, south of Mexico, established the United Provinces of Central America

Only in the Caribbean did Spain retain any of its American colonies • Until its defeat by the United States in the Spanish-American War of 1898, Spain kept islands such as Cuba and Puerto Rico

After Independence • Shortly before his death in 1830, Simón Bolívar commented pessimistically about the revolutions he had helped to make: “We have achieved our independence…at the expense of everything else” • In and of itself, freedom did not bring about good government, social justice, or healthy economies • Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Latin America suffered from a number of long-standing and fundamental problems

First and most immediate was political breakdown • Bolívar had hoped that Latin America would be divided into a small number of sizable states, governed by constitutional rule • Almost right away, Bolívar’s large confederations – such as Gran Colombia and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata – split apart into many smaller states • Second was the failure of constitutional rule in many of the new states • Thus, the third problem was the prevalence of dictatorial rule throughout Latin America • In addition, the United States often interfered in the affairs of Latin America

The Monroe Doctrine • The Monroe Doctrine was declared in a few paragraphs of President James Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823 • Monroe warned European countries not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere, stating "that the American continents. . .are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers" • The Monroe Doctrine became a cornerstone of future U.S. foreign policy

The Four Points of the Monroe Doctrine • The United States would not interfere in the internal affairs of or the wars between European powers • The United States recognized and would not interfere with existing colonies and dependencies in the Western Hemisphere • The Western Hemisphere was closed to future colonization • Any attempt by a European power to oppress or control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States

The Haitian Rebellion and Latin American Wars of Independence