Revolutions have pitfalls

Peter Hallward claims that the Haitian revolution differed from the American and French revolution because it truly applied Thomas Hobbs’s concept of the state of nature (Hobbs, 1651). Hallward also claims that “the declaration of human freedom” (Hallward, 1762) was fought for at any price and that this action was contrary to the thinking of the time period. Hallward then goes on to claim that people seeking true liberalist concepts in the modern day should look towards the Haitian revolution.

I disagree with Hallward’s claim that a state of nature was truly applied in the Haitian revolution. Toussaint L’Ouverture was the leader of the Haitian revolution. L’Ouverture was one of the revolutions biggest perpetuators and had an enormous influence on its outcome. After L’Ouverture expelled the French commissioner, he wrote the new Haitian constitution and named himself governor-for-life. (Knight, 2000:1).

A governor-for-life is a dictator. Any form of dictatorship is completely against the natural rights of a society. One can only speculate how long L’Ouverture would have been in power had he not been removed and how far he would have gone to justify this power. He could have possible violate many peoples natural right, in which case Hallard would have had a different opinion.

Hallards also stated that the Haitian believed “the declaration of human freedom” would be fought for at any cost by them. This is statement is correct because the Haitian generals wrote in their Act of Independence (Tonerre,1804) that they would rather die than live under French domination. This general attitude toward living under French rule was probably one of the biggest factors that led to the independence of Haiti.

This because what Haiti was attempting had never bee done before. It was a completely new precedent. All the factors were stacked against Haiti winning their war of independence. The fact that the Haitians would not compromise and were so determined is what ultimately led to the freedom. I do not think the colonial powers ever expected Haiti to be successful in their revolution.

In conclusion, while the aim of the Haitian revolution might have been true to the idea of the state of nature, in practicality, it had faults just like the American and French revolutions. One of the reasons that Haiti won the revolution was because of their sure perseverance and brut will. I do not think that the Haitian revolution has any more or less value than the American or French. It is different in its respective right as this was the first time that a nation of slaves had rebelled but it still has its pitfalls; L’Ouverture’s lust for power which left him dictator for life and weakened the democratic fiber of Haiti.

List of References:

· HOBBS, T, 1651. Leviathan.

· HALLWARD, P, 1762. Haitian inspiration: On the bicentenary of Haiti’s independence.

· TONERRE, B, 1804. Liberty or death.

· KNIGHT, F, 2000. The Haitian Revolution. Times Live. [Online]. Available: http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/105.1/ah000103.html [Accessed 24 February 2010]