The Old Regime and the Haitian Revolution
By: Malick W. Ghachem
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780521836807; 9780521545310
Subjects: Politics and government; Law; France; HISTORY / Caribbean & West Indies / General
Description: "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. Ghachem's 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"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 1. Domestic enemies; 2. Manumission was the means; 3. Prudent government; 4. Prosecuting torture; 5. The Code Noir in revolution, part one (1788-92); 6. The Code Noir in revolution, part two (1791-94).