Elpidio Valdes

Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. When the Second Commission sailed away from Saint Domingue in June 1794, the fate of the colony was truly up in the air on almost every front. On the one hand, the British had invaded and now occupied a series of ports in the west and south provinces. The main…

Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. As the Second Commission approached the first anniversary of their arrival in Saint Domingue, it’s fair to say that they had shepherded the colonial crisis from mere revolt to full blown revolution. Remember, when they had shown up, the whites were still attempting to both deny colored equality and make…

Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. In the eight months that the Second Commission had been in Saint Domingue, they had faced both unbeatable slave armies and stubborn whites who believed that if they held out just a little bit longer, things would go back to the way they were in the good old days. But…

Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. After King Louis signed the Law of April 4, which eliminated the legal basis for racial discrimination, the Legislative Assembly selected three men to sail to Saint Domingue and enforce the law. And for the record, it was in fact a law rather than simply a decree, because the King…

Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. So last time Saint Domingue erupted into a massive threeway revolt that was capped off with the unfathomable slave uprising. And it did not take long for the rest of the world to learn of the shocking events in the French colony. It should come as no surprise that the…

Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. So we ended last week with the momentous vote by the National Assembly in May 1791 to grant full citizenship to free people of color who were born of two free parents. The vote was taken at the end of an exhausting week of debate and was a last minute…

Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. So last week, we approached the brink of the French Revolution and discussed the tensions that would shape the course of events inside Saint Domingue once things started going nuts back in the Metropole. But in this early phase of the revolution, events in the colony would not be defined…

Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. So, last time, we introduced Saint Domingue, the French colony that occupied the western third of the island of Hispaniola. We also introduced the main groups who inhabited the island: the whites, the free coloreds, and the slaves. And I did my best last week to discuss each group in…

Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. Welcome to the beginning of our fourth revolution together, and one that is a bit different from the rest. The English, American and French revolutions are all regarded as huge turning points in history. Often studied, often discussed, and at least moderately understood by the general public. They at least…