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Description and Holding Information
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Rainsford, The Black Empire of Haiti, 1805 (1806 Dutch transla.)
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St. Domingo, of het land der zwarten in Hayti en deszelfs omwenteling, door Marcus Rainsford naar het engelsch; Mit platen en kaarten; In twee
deelen: no identified translator or editor, Vol. 1-2, Amsterdam, Johannes Allart, 1806. ( Lacks TOC & index. Marcus Rainsford, 1758-1817, was a career
officer in the British Army who first visited Haiti in 1799. The present book is a translation of Rainsford’s An Historical Account of the Black Empire of
Hayti; Comprehending a view of the principal transactions in the revolution of Saint Domingue; With its ancient and modern state: London, 1805 (LLMC
No. 31677). His was one of the earliest accounts of the slave uprising in the French colony of Saint-Domingue that began in August 1791. It goes on to
describe the subsequent warfare that at different times involved French, Spanish, and British troops; usually allied with various internal factions in
Haiti. His book includes the first known representations of Toussaint Louverture, who emerged as the principal Negro leader; engravings derived from
Rainsford’s talented sketches and careful descriptions. Also included is extensive documentation of the revolution. Rainsford provides disturbing
accounts of the brutal treatment of the slave population by their French masters, but also describes the atrocities committed on all sides in the course
of the ensuing struggle. Although the British initially tried to take advantage of the slave revolution by seizing a part of the island for themselves,
they were eventually driven out by combined French and local forces under the leadership of Toussaint-Louverture. Although sometime enemies, the
British came to respect Toussaint because of what they viewed as his chivalrous behavior during their phase of the conflict. In fact, Toussaint’s lenient
behavior toward the British was subsequently used against him by his foreign enemies, notably Napoleon Bonaparte, and his onetime allies among the
local mullato population, notably André Rigaud. In any event, shortly after the British were driven out of Saint-Domingue, their wider struggle against
Napoleonic France came to dominate their strategic thinking. They thus had every motivation to consider Tousasint an ally. Whether for that reason or
as a reflection of his personal feelings, Rainsford’s account of the early years of the Negro Republic is quite favorable to Toussaint and his people’s
struggle for independence. Contrary to the prevailing European and American opinion at the time, he
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Title:
St. Domingo, of het land der zwarten in Hayti en deszelfs omwenteling / door Marcus Rainsford, naar het Engelsch.
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OCLC Number:
806779868
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Available Volumes
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