![]() ![]() James wrote it in 1938, making this year the seventieth anniversary of its publication. While slavery was a system of “unceasing brutality” (15), James notes that countless French officials and others have tried to show that. James’s brilliant book, The Black Jacobins, rescues the Haitian Revolution from repression. According to the Negro Code, issued by France, they were harshly disciplined, tortured, and whipped for the smallest infraction. James notes that the “difficulty” was the fact that these slaves remained “invincibly human beings” with “the intelligence and resentments of human beings” (11). James describes a typical San Domingo slave’s long workday, shabby quarters, and meager diet. When they reached America and the West Indies, the slaves were inspected and branded. zenosbooks A great book about a surprisingly little known chapter of history. James restores that rebellion to the center stage of world history where it belongs. They were then loaded onto ships, where they died “not only from the regime but from grief and rage and despair” (9). The Haitian Revolution was unique - the only successful slave uprising in history, and in THE BLACK JACOBINS, C.L.R. Slaves were brought under brutal conditions from the interior to the coast. ![]() ![]() Operating from their central base in Guinea, Europeans destabilized tribal life in order to collect slaves. ![]()
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