Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Gaffield, ed., The Haitian Declaration of Independence

We missed this one back in January: The Haitian Declaration of Independence: Creation, Context, and Legacy (University of Virginia Press, 2016), edited by Julia Gaffield (Georgia State University). A description from the Press:
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.
A few blurbs:
"A terrific book—timely and original. The boom in Haitian revolutionary studies (which has been shaped in critical ways by many of the authors in this collection) is producing a new wave of English-language work on post-independence Haiti. This book addresses this growing interest in the early Haitian state and the legacies of the Haitian Revolution not just in the Atlantic World but in Haiti itself. A very strong, interesting collection with broad appeal." —Ada Ferrer
"This landmark collection offers the first detailed examination of one of the most neglected documents in modern world history. Julia Gaffield and the other contributors offer a comprehensive account of the creation, meaning, and legacy of the Haitian Declaration of Independence. The essays demonstrate both Haiti’s deep links with the Atlantic World and the distinctiveness of the Haitian case." -- Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall
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