The Background:
Late 17th century- Slave labor had become central to the way of life on the island of Hispaniola. Whites were reliant on African slave labor for almost all aspects of their daily life. The African population dramatically outnumbered their Spanish owners. Sugar production was still the leading export and the main source of income for Hispaniola. However, new fortunes had been discovered in the Americas in the form of gold and attention from the Spanish crown was dwindling. The French had slowly begun to occupy the western side of Hispaniola, what today is known as Haiti. French inhabitants of the island faced little violent hostility because of Spain’s removed interest in their investment of the island. Their presence was legally recognized in 1697 with the Ryswick peace agreement and it officially gave the western one-third of the island.
By the late 18th century Haiti had become extremely profitable for the French and considered an invaluable colony. The French Revolution had rippled out to Hispaniola by 1789 and French officials feared they would lose their investment in the island just as they had lost Canada to the British during the seven years war. A large mixed population now inhabited the island. Slave women had discovered that having relations with their masters was a way to secure liberty for themselves and their descendants, a quick form of personal emancipation.
The Juice-
Slavery officially ceased to be a form of labor on Hispaniola in 1793. The driving force to ending slavery was a man by the name of Toussaint Louverture. Toussaint Louverture was a former slave who was believed to have been educated by his godfather. He united mainly black and mulatto people and created a force with the main goal to get the new British occupiers off Hispaniola. By 1801 Louverture had managed to unify the entire island of Hispaniola against the Spanish as well and declaring Haiti an independent country. Haitians freed that the French would re-enslave them from an attack through the Dominican so in 1844 Haitians invaded the Eastern side of the island. Slavery was officially abolished on the Eastern side of Hispaniola under the leadership of Jean Pierre Boyer. Dominicans however did not see the improvement under the new Haitian occupiers that they had so badly hoped for.
The Debate-
There was little debate over ending slavery in the Dominican Republic. Freedom was rather demanded and taken by the slaves on the island of Hispaniola. They saw an opportunity arise with the chaos of the French Revolution and used that to their advantage in gaining freedom. Had the slaves of Hispaniola tried to gain independence through peaceful means there is no telling if and when emancipation would have occurred.
Sources:
Frank Moya Pons. The Dominican Republic: a national history. Princeton : Markus Weiner Publishers, 1995
David , Howard. Coloring the nation: race and ethnicity in the Dominican Republic. Colorado: Lynne Riener Publishers, 2001.
Two corrections: Toussaint L'Ouverture defeated Spanish forces on the eastern half of the island in the name of France, in 1801. He declared emancipation across the whole island.
ReplyDeleteBoyer also unified the island, and secured emancipation, as well as land reform, in 1822. The island was unified between 1822-1844.