Premium
The Haitian revolution and the struggle against slavery: challenges to knowledge, ignorance, and silence
Author(s) -
Nettleford Rex
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
international social science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.237
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1468-2451
pISSN - 0020-8701
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2451.2006.00611.x
Subject(s) - diaspora , ignorance , emancipation , silence , interpretation (philosophy) , sociology , history , political science , law , gender studies , philosophy , aesthetics , politics , linguistics
Coming to terms with the slave trade and slavery is best done by engaging the facts of history through research, analysis, and interpretation targeting specific experiences both in the actual administration and operation of the trade and in its consequences in the African diaspora. The article refers specifically to the case of Haiti (Saint‐Domingue), both to its liberation and to its impact on the rest of the slave‐holding world, as well as to what succeeded emancipation and to the aftershocks leading up to modern times. Despite considerable progress in historical research, it remains for scholars and others to engage the silence, defeat the ignorance, and build the knowledge of a still significant dimension and period of modern human history, at least for some millions of souls in the African diaspora.