Who Were the Black Jacobins?

The "Black Jacobins" was a term coined by writer/historian C.L.R. James in his 1938 book of the same name. Used to refer to the leaders and members of the slave rebellion that lead to the independence of Haiti from French rule, the term should not be seen as a broad historical one. Understanding the events of the Haitian revolution, as well as the context in which James wrote, is key to understanding who the "Black Jacobins" were.

Types

The original Jacobins were members of the Jacobin Club. Essentially a political club formed during the time of the French Revolution, the term "Jacobin" came to stand for any revolutionary. In particular the Jacobins were advocates of a strong central government. They were also ideologues, with specific, nationalist views of what was "French." The term "Black Jacobins" was coined by historian C.L.R. James and used as the title for his 1938 book on the slave uprising in Haiti. He used the term to compare those involved in the rebellion in Haiti with their contemporaries in France.

Geography

At the end of the eighteenth century, Haiti, like most of the Caribbean, was a colony. The French and the English each had multiple outposts in the region. For the French, this included the island of Hispaniola, the French portion of which was called St. Domingue and is now known as Haiti. Other islands under French influence included Dominica, Grenada, the Grenadines and Tobago, among others. French concerns in the region were mostly commercial, as the region was valued for the goods it produced. St Domingue was by far the wealthiest of the French colonies, not just in the islands but throughout the Empire. Considered extensions of the home country, events in France therefore influenced life in the French West Indies.

History

The French Revolution began in 1789, and the effects were not limited to Europe. Much of St. Domingue's wealth came on the backs of slaves and these slaves had been fomenting unrest long before events unfolded at the Bastille. The overthrow of the monarchy in France simply provided the final spark needed for full-scale rebellion amongst the slaves. There had been a series of prior, smaller revolts, but none took hold until Toussaint Louverture, a former slave, took control of the uprising. Twelve years of strife in the colony followed, during which the revolutionaries fought not only the French but also the English, who tried to capitalize on the unrest by unsuccessfully seizing the colony.

Significance

What makes the revolt on St. Domingue unique is that the slaves succeeded in their uprising. It took over a decade, but eventually the country of Haiti was born. Nowhere else did slaves ever manage to stage a successful uprising, though there were numerous other attempts. However, it was much more than simply a "blacks against whites" struggle. Race did play a significant role, but it's almost ancillary to the cultural divide that truly separated the native Creole population on one side from the European forces on the other. Comparisons can be drawn between the similar, but unsuccessful, Zulu uprisings in Africa in the eighteenth century. However, the success in Haiti was in large part due to the unique circumstances of the rebellion, including the presence of unifying leadership.

Considerations

It should be noted that despite the prominence of C.L.R. James' seminal work, the term "Black Jacobins" has not come into widespread use among historians. Part of this is likely a result of the tone of the work (and the author). James was a political activist, with both strong Pan-African and strong Marxist views. These views, especially the later, infuse the book and make it a study in Marxist historical theory. As such it presents the rebellion from a distinct political viewpoint, emphasizing more the cultural/socio-economic struggle, and is as much a political text as it is a historical one. Conventional historians generally eschew such directly political interpretations, and so James' term has not entered the vernacular.

Resources

• A Look at Slave Rebellions in the Caribbean
• Examination of "The Black Jacobins," James, and the Haiti Revolt