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Dessalines Ripping The White From The Flag

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The story of the Haitian Revolution is one of death, chaos, and eventually liberty. Haiti, an island first colonized by the French in 1697, was a sugar colony powered by enslaved people. Enslaved labor turned Haiti into a leading producer of sugar, providing enormous wealth for France. The French maintained an iron fist on Haiti, ruling with brutality and tyranny, stripping humanity from thousands upon thousands of enslaved people. In 1791 a large-scale slave revolt began in Haiti, then called by the French, Saint-Domingue. Leaders such as Toussaint Louvre, a former slave, and Henri Christophe led hundreds of thousands of enslaved and free people of color in revolt. Leaders reminded Haitians of the horrific crimes committed against them, one leader, Zamba Boukman, appealed to enslaved Haitians, “You see all that the white has made us suffer. The white man's god asks him to commit crimes.” (Boukman 1). After years of …show more content…

In the background is an army of well-dressed Haitian soldiers marching behind Dessalines, and in front of Dessalines sits Haitian seamstress, Catherine Flon, known as the “Haitian Betsy Ross” sewing the first Haitian flag. This painting portrays a fully united people, men, and women, united in spirit against a colonial overlord. While Dessalines act of ripping the white from the flag could be interpreted as literally changing the French flag into the Haitian flag, it also is an act of removing “white” power over Haitians, physically tearing away the colonial power white people had over Haitians. The clean-kept blue European-style uniform portrays the revolutionaries as powerful, taking power from European colonizers and giving it to themselves. The painting portrays an image of people of color stripping away white colonial overlords and making their own

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