JCB presents exhibition on Haitian Revolution

by Mary Jo Curtis

Today's political spin doctors have nothing on the great Napoleon. When the French emperor was faced with a slave revolution in the colony of Saint-Domingue - soon to become known as Haiti - he hired writer Jean-Louis Dubroca to launch character assassinations against the movement's leaders.

His influence apparently extended to the local media, as well: The Gazette de Saint-Domingue, which began publication in that same period, failed to report an Aug. 21-22 revolt until Sept. 3. That "suggest(s) an editorial agenda to minimize, if not deny altogether, the reality of... the loss of control over their slaves," according to the narrative accompanying a bound edition of the publication now on display in a new exhibition at the John Carter Brown Library.

Two of Dubroca's early 19^th century books - one taking aim at insurgent leader Toussaint L'Ouverture (left), the other at his successor Jean-Jacques Dessalines - are also among the volumes presented to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of Haiti's independence. Titled "The Haitian Revolution, 1789-1804," the exhibition was planned to coincide this month with the international conference, "The Haitian Revolution: Viewed 200 Years After," an event that drew nearly 100 scholars to campus.

In the 18^th century, Saint-Domingue and Brazil were the centers of the Atlantic slave trade. When Saint-Domingue declared its independence from France on Jan.1, 1804, the event marked the culmination of the world's largest and only successful slave revolt.

Prepared by historian Malick W. Ghachem, author of the forthcoming book "The Old Regime and the Haitian Revolution" (Cambridge University Press), the exhibition features items from the JCB collection that portray the revolution's key players and illustrate its major turning points. The presentation is divided into eight parts, beginning with life in the colony before the revolution and concluding with its impact.

Visitors fluent in French will be treated to the first-person reports of white colonists, diplomats, free people of color and other contemporary actors and observers, as recorded in books, pamphlets and letters. For the English-speaking, the accompanying narrative explains each item and offers a concise history of the period. The exhibition is completed with maps and prints.

Among the volumes on display are:

• "Le Code Noir ou edit du Roy," a 1735 publication documenting the laws of slavery in Saint-Domingue and other French plantation colonies, as set forth by Louis XIV in 1685;
• Abbe Guillaume Thomas Raynal's "Histoire Philosophique," one of the few examples of anti-slavery sentiment in the pre-revolutionary French Atlantic world;
• Moreau de Saint-Mery's attempt at the "science" of skin color, a document that categorized 128 racial combinations found in the island's population;
• A letter written by a member of the Provincial Assembly of the North, reporting the devastation of some 200 plantations during a slave uprising and noting, "Our fertile fields are flowing with the blood of our brethren."

The exhibition will continue through September. The library is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. For more information, call 863-1262.