The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-05-20

Street,fn Harlem. Speakers VIII in
cIude William L. Patterson, national
secretary of the I. L. D.; Harold
Williams, of the Harlem Liberator';
Joshua Kunitz, of the National
Connsttee for the Defense of Poll
ticalr Prisoners; J. ZamOre, and
Robert B;sbane, of the Dumas Lit
erary Club. The meeting is ar
ranged By the Nat Turner Literary
Sociefy
BY HAROLD WILLIAMS
ONE Of the most brilliant pages in
v thsr history Of the struggles of the
Negro people for national liberation
is the SHaitian Revolution. Slavery
was completely destroyed by the force
full organized might of the Negro
slaves under the able leadership of
Toussiapt L'Ouyerture at the end Of
the 1871. century. The sharp turn Of
events III France with the overthrow
of tbs Sfefidal lords re-echoed in the
colonies'8he idea Of fraternity, equal
lty andwliberty. The mullatoes who
= occupied the status of the middle
class were demanding equal rights.
They took the opportunity of send
ing two 'of their representatives to
France, 0ge and Clavanne. On their
S.Feturrt rsthe colonists demanded that
they bet.pgt to death. T. c. Stewart,
the Haitian Revolutions, gives the
following account: after two months
of horribie proceedings, which cannot
be called a trial it was finally de-
creed that Jacques Oge and Chay-
anne SHOULD be broken alive on the
wheel and be left with their faces
turned towards heaven as long as it
should please COD to continue their
lives After death their heads were
to be cut of and that Of Oge placed
on a pole in the road leading to his
native town, Dondo.'
With what hypocrisy and vicious
ness theIandlords attempted to peu-
petratB Ithe= SystemPSof oppression!
Although Oge and Chavanne were
not representativ Of ethe slaves but
of tha.4aaiddle clasbtmullatoes de-
nandipgx1aual rights the slave mas
ters nresS their demands with fright
ful terror But thisg terror is of no
avail to- maintain sfsRery. The re-
VoluticJl ssg rising of tare Negro slaves,
August: 2221-s 1891, completely shattered
the power and system of the chattel
slavery .prasters. The revolutionary
slave leader. Toussiant L'OuvertTe,
skillfubN-a5ilized the antagonism be-
tween X France and Spain and sue
ceeded.irr ovanquishing the armies Of
! FRANCES Spain and England This
. was indeesf great victory for the
slaves ,aHd.a crushing defeat for the
Europsan.4 slave powers. The black
slaves, -H;w4thout previous military
training, or experience, conquered
the best armies of Europe, with arms
wrested from them.
The, Struggle in Haiti
Haiti was the richest colonial pos
session of France and one of the
greatest military outposts. The sue
cesSful rSlaye revolution was stag
gering .defeat to the colonial slave
system founded upon white supreme
acy. Napoleon determined to crush
the REVOLUTION. He organized an ex-
petition Of thirty thousand of his
crack battalion, with his brother-in-
law, General LIE Clere as its head,
to reinstate chattel slavery on the
Island OF Haiti. To accomplish this
military @ananouever, France nego-
tiated WITH other European powers,
for moral.sa 2rt as well as the Sc
curing of. ships TO transport the SOL
dierS.
=. GeneraIlLe Clere attempted to de-
ceive the Haitian people with the
words that he came to cooperate"
with the Haitian people in restoring
order. The, Haitian masses did not
permit themselves to be fooled, but
rose in aims again.
The military tactics employed by
the Haitian slaves was in many res
poets superior to those of the soldiers
= of Napoleon. After years of battle
ToussiahE L'Ouverture was treacher-
ously tricked and taken to France as
? prisoner yet the struggle for lib
- GRAFTON Sontinued
T. NeesrfN@
JEAN DESSALINES succeeded Tous-
y isant RDuverture and wa sable to
solidify.sthe mullato middle class with
the blacks sin the struggle for liberia
ton. DsSsalines was able to mobilize
over 10000 men and hurl them
against the army of France. General
Rochambaau, Communicated chief of
the French army, declared that when
DeSSalineS,, would be captured, he
would not be treated as a prisoner OF
war but WQuld be beaten and whipped
to DEATH, But the heroic struggle of
the Haitian masses forced Rocham-
beau firafly to beg for mercy at their
hands. R8chambeau with the pitiful
remnants OF the grand army of Ma
poleon, fled to France. The revolu-
don of tife Negro slaves was COM
pletely victorious, After 10 years of
heroic revolutionary struggle, the
Negroes OF Haiti established the first
tree Negro Republic in the Western
world III 1904.
Great Historic Event
The Haitian revolution was the
: greatest historic event in the period |
following the great French revolution |
hp to tho Paris Commune Of 1871. |
The Paris Commune was the first at
empt on the part Of the workers to
WerthrowiIae class rule Of the ex-
ploiters and establish their own rule. |
This attempt though unsuccessful, |
vas the ,pgelude to the victorious Rus
nan Revolution of 1917. Today, Haiti |
B once more enslaved. The indie
sendences Of the Negro republic Of
Haiti was crushed out by United |
states Imperialism, with the inter-
ention of United States marines in |
bit at the behest Of the Wall Street |
sankers. j. President Roosevelt, who |
low demogically proclaims his new
lea1 for the forgotten man." played
leading role as Assistant Secretary
the NAPv- in the bloody repressiOr,