History of the Disasters in Saint-Domingue

The French naturalist Michel Etienne Descourtilz (1775 - 1835) lived in Saint-Domingue during much of the revolt that led to the Haitian independence. This is his account of the beginning of the uprising in August 1791 near and in Le Cap. This excerpt is an example of a French view of the fight against slavery, which characteristically makes no mention of the cruelties inflicted upon slaves by French colonialists and is typically unfavorable towards the affranchis and slaves.

Source
Source: Descourtilz, Michel Etienne. An III (1795). Histoire des desastres de Saint-Domingue. Chez garnery, Paris.

Translated by Mitch Abidor marxists.org CopyLeft: Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2004.

Reference

 * Descourtilz, Michel Etienne. An III (1795). Histoire des desastres de Saint-Domingue. Chez garnery, Paris.