French and Haitian Revolution Comparisons

Haitian Revolution, Toussaint Louverture, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

9 January 2013
How France started a Revolution across the Atlantic
Throughout history, there have been dozens of times when people were extremely upset with the government that was ruling over them. However, these angry citizens only revolt a fraction of the time, due to fear of the government. Two examples of when people stood up for their rights and revolted are the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution. These revolts are loosely connected, as many say that the Haitian Revolution was inspired by the French Revolution. The French Revolution started in 1789 and continued all the way until 1814. The people in France had discontent with the classes, as 98% of the French population was living in serious poverty. The French people revolted, and after two years, they finally got rid of the monarchy that they hated. However, after a while, Napoleon took power of France and started a war with almost all of Europe. France lost the Napoleonic Wars, and was forced to return to a monarchy. By the time the war was over, France had also lost one of their best colonies, Haiti. During the French Revolution, the slaves in Haiti were upset with how little freedom they had. A majority of slaves revolted in 1791 against French rule. After twelve and a half years of fighting, Haiti got its independence on New Year’s Day of 1804. Many have speculated that Haiti would still be a part of France if it was not for the French Revolution. The Haitian Revolution was inspired by the French Revolution because Haiti saw the French Revolution as a perfect time to revolt, the slaves in Haiti felt as if they had the right to be free after reading the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen, and decided to revolt after reading some of John Locke's Enlightenment ideas. One of the reasons Haiti revolted during the French Revolution is because France was already focused on the French Revolution, so they couldn’t pay that much attention to Haiti(“Haiti). Toussaint L'Ouverture, the leader of...
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