The old regime and the Haitian revolution The Haitian Revolution (1789 1804) was an epochal event that galvanized slaves and terrified planters throughout the Atlantic world. Rather than view this tumultuous period solely as a radical rupture with slavery Malick W. Ghachems innovative study shows that emancipation in Haiti was also a long term product of its colonial legal history. Ghachem takes us deep into this volatile colonial past digging beyond the letter of the law and vividly re enacting such episodes as the extraordinary prosecution of a master for torturing and killing his slaves. This book brings us face to face with the revolutionary invocation of Old Regime law by administrators seeking stability but also by free people of color and slaves demanding citizenship and an end to brutality. The result is a subtle yet dramatic portrait of the strategic stakes of colonial governance in the land that would become Haiti Provided by publisher