The Black Jacobins
by C. L. R. James · first published 1935
50% recommend50% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Narrative history of Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution, the only widely successful slave revolt; recommended as the seminal account for anyone interested in Haiti's revolutionary history.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
En 1789, les deux tiers du commerce extérieur de la France se faisaient avec sa colonie antillaise de Saint-Domingue, laquelle représentait le plus grand marché de la traite européenne des esclaves. La plus grosse colonie du monde, fierté de la France et objet de convoitise de toutes les autres nations impérialistes, faisait partie intégrante de la vie économique d'alors. Tout cet ensemble reposait sur le labeur d'un demi-million d'esclaves. Au mois d'août 1791, après deux ans de Révolution française avec ses répercussions à Saint-Domingue, les esclaves entrèrent en révolte. Leur lutte dur
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…when Toussaint L'Ouverture rose to power in Haiti (The Haitian and French revolution were very closely intertwined) and slavery was abolished. The seminal book on this period of Haitian history is "The Black Jacobins" by CLR James.
on “Animated History of the Atlantic Slave Trade” ↗I'll briefly recommend "The Black Jacobins" by CLR James: A classical quasi-Marxist study of Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution (the only widely successful slave revolt). Toussaint hacked the slave trade, colonial oppression, and…
on “Ask YC: Let's start a Hacker News book club” ↗There's only one book you need to read. The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James (the story of Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian revolution)
on “Ask HN: How do you organize a revolution?” ↗…you a terrorist: a black lives matter memoir”, Patrice Khan-Cullors, Asha Bandele [2] “Stay woke: a People’s Guide to Making All Black Lives Matter”, Tehama Lopez Bunyasi, Candis Watts Smith [3] “The Black Jacobins”, C.L.R. James [4] “Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition”, Cedric Robinson [5] “Black Reconstruction in America: 1860-1880”, W.E.B. DuBois
on “The Fourth of July” ↗I would recommend anyone interested in Haiti's revolutionary history to read CLR James' 'The Black Jacobins'. Theirs is the only successful and durable slave revolt in history and an incredible story.
on “Haiti’s Lost Billions” ↗…"heroes" of the French Revolution whose own extreme, fanatical leftism was a pioneer for mass murder of civilians in the name of ideological purity. >The name of the magazine derives from the 1938 book The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C. L. R. James in which James ascribes the Haitian revolutionists a greater purity in regards to their attachment to the ideals of the French Revolution…
on “Review of Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future” ↗See "The Black Jacobins" by C.L.R.James https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Jacobins
on “Slave Revolt in Jamaica, 1760-1761: A Cartographic Narrative (2012)” ↗…ancestor, along with the enslaved woman he raped. And then he enslaved his own child. Look into: - the Mau Mau in Kenya (https://radiolab.org/podcast/mau-mau) - prerevolutionary Haitian society from the Black Jacobins by CLR James (https://politicaleducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/CL...) - what King Leopold of Belgium did to the Congo - what happened to Rapa Nui (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCyzrie_les)…
on “The Escalation of War in Ethiopia” ↗I'm currently reading The Black Jacobins which is about Toussaint L'Ouverture and the revolution in Haiti. Even after having read accounts of the brutality of slavery multiple times before, it always seems to recede into an abstraction after…
on “The Wrongful Death of Toussaint Louverture” ↗The magazine is named after a 1938 book "The Black Jacobins" about the Haitian revolution started by slaves and which occurred partially because of the French revolution. The revolution was successful with slavery (mostly) ending and Haiti becoming a state. The…