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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