A Secret among the Blacks: Slave Resistance before the Haitian Revolution

by John D. Garrigus

A bold rethinking of the Haitian Revolution reveals the roots of the only successful slave uprising in the modern world.

Unearthing the progenitors of the Haitian Revolution has been a historical project of two hundred years. In A Secret among the Blacks , John D. Garrigus introduces two dozen Black men and women and their communities whose decades of resistance to deadly environmental and political threats preceded and shaped the 1791 revolt.

In the twenty-five miles surrounding the revolt’s first fires, enslaved people of diverse origins lived in a crucible of forces that arose from the French colonial project. When a combination of drought, trade blockade, and deadly anthrax bacteria caused waves of death among the enslaved in the 1750s, poison investigations spiraled across plantations. Planters accused, tortured, and killed enslaved healers, survivors, and community leaders for deaths the French regime had caused. Facing inquisition, exploitation, starvation, and disease, enslaved people devised resistance strategies that they practiced for decades. Enslaved men and women organized labor stoppages and allied with free Blacks to force the French into negotiations. They sought enforcement of freedom promises and legal protection from abuse. Some killed their abusers.

Through remarkable archival discoveries and creative interpretations of the worlds endured by the enslaved, A Secret among the Blacks reveals the range of complex, long-term political visions pursued by enslaved people who organized across plantations located in the seedbed of the Haitian Revolution. When the call to rebellion came, these men and women were prepared to answer.

Genres: History

256 pages, Hardcover

Published September 19, 2023

Reviews

[Samuelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost a century after C.L.R. James (voir mon dernier review), Garrigus offers a new approach to the history of the Haitian Revolution, a historical event whose significance continues to be severely underestimated. Its importance has been downplayed, among other ways, by erasing its political nature and labelling it a rebellion rather than a revolution. Historians have often refused to acknowledge the level of organization it must have required.
Garrigus, however, argues the Revolution was rooted in the work, over multiple decades, of enslaved people preparing for it. He makes little mention of the French Revolution’s influence on the enslaved’s minds, as their enduring tradition of resistance testifies that they did not need Europeans to think for themselves and recognize the absurdity of enslavement. A great work on resistance and strategies of survival, which took many many forms in Saint-Domingue.

[Elina Salminen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels weird to review a scholarly book, but I guess I want to document somehow that I read it. I picked this one up because it was listed as one of the best academic titles of the year or something. I was interested, both for models of excellent academic writing and also because I know next to nothing about the Haitian Revolution.

The focus of the monograph is on the lead-up to the revolution. Garrigus argues that the revolution didn't emerge out of thin air, but instead had long roots in both hardship and a culture of resistance. To make this argument, he described anthrax breakouts that led to what amounts of local witch hunts in the latter half of the 18th century. Even after doctors had concluded that anthrax was the cause of the deaths of cattle and humans, slave owners continued insisting the disease was the result of slaves poisoning people. Since interrogation techniques heavily featured torture, it's not surprising their suspicions were typically validated. The other main strand discusses the ways in which the slaves did, indeed, try to undermine their masters. Magical practices were used not only for healing but also to make enslavers kinder. Many enslaved people were savvy about laws, and would petition local and even French courts when their owners didn't obey the laws.

These dual forces - relentless suffering on one hand, and similarly relentless pushback, often in the form of community action - built the foundation for the Haitian Revolution to spread to the region Garrigus studies.

[staceyzh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why spend no ink on actual resistance if that's the title of the book? I get there are very few sources, but why briefly mention that "strikes happened" or "resistance leadership" without actually go into any details? Or at least pose answers that are missing from the sources, like how was the resistance leadership demonstrated? How were the strikes organized? Were there any negotiations? What did the strikers say and do? Were their military and political training? Communities and networks were created, sure, but that doesn't mean they magically become competent and clear revolutionary masses when push comes to shove. These are critical questions to answer if we want to understand why the Revolution happened, and why it was successful, and how the leaders were developed politically. This has no actual political meat.

[TAMARA ASHBA · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written and academically significant book chronicling the lives endured by enslaved and freed Africans in colonized Haiti. The author, John Garrigus, creates a sense of kinship with the characters and reader, leaving the reader with a deeper understanding of the lives and struggles of black Africans on their journey to the Haitian Revolution.

[Marielle Mullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

why did my professor make me buy this book if we were only going to read half of it 😡