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French American Revolution Essay

749 Words3 Pages

Throughout the centuries, there have been many revolutions commenced around the world. The word “revolutionary” has made a presence in the world’s vocabulary, but what does the word mean? In my opinion, revolutionary means to fight for the people’s beliefs and freedom. The most well known revolutions throughout the world would be the French, American, and Haitian Revolution. Each one has made a significant impact on their societies. However, I believe that the Haitian Revolution was the most revolutionary. To begin with, the goal of the French revolution was to abolish the harsh taxes pressed onto the citizens of France. The Declaration of the Rights of Man, a document made within the French revolution, defines the National Assembly’s …show more content…

The Haitian Revolution was sparked from the French Revolution. The Ways of the World explained that “the French Revolution lit several fuses and set in motion a spiral of violence that engulfed the colony for more than a decade” (The Ways of the World, pg. 709). Saint Domingue, otherwise known as Haiti, was a very wealthy civilization. The civilization made its living off of the widely known plantations of sugar and coffee. Saint Domingue had three main groups living on the island. The island was made up of whites, gens de couleur libres (free men of color), and slaves. However, the slave population covered more than 80% of the Saint Domingue’s population. The Haitian Revolution was not based on politics, it was based more on the social aspects of society. Each ethnic group represented on the island had different reasonings for their part of the revolution. However, the white society had a common interest. The Ways of the World described the white society as being very persistent in opposing freedom to the slaves of Haiti (The Ways of the World, pg. 709). This unintentionally lit the fire of a revolution. I believe that the Haitian Revolution was the most revolutionary because of the destruction and horrifying state it caused in the world around the island as well as the island itself. The Ways of the World describes that “the slaves burned 1,000 plantations and killed hundreds of whites as well as mixed-race people” (The Ways of the World, pg. 709). The slaves of Haiti fought hard and long for their freedom. To describe how much this victory meant to the slaves, the Haitian Declaration stated that “in the end, we must live independent or die” (The Haitian Declaration, pg. 1). From the small line, audiences could hear the sounds of desperation expressed by the people. They could imagine how much fight the people put into

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