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A review by gabesteller
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C.L.R. James
5.0
Finally got around to reading this Classique, which was maybe the most commonly requested book out of the reserve stacks when i worked at Mudd.
While you might have to be a history or politics person to be fully all in, I found it real propulsive and even epic, with these little breaks where James will editorialize or rattle off a bit of biting sarcasm. Some of these are kinda like “bad ass” fodder for dorm room socialists but i feel like coming out of an actual 30’s caribbean radical they have a lot more weight.anyway we got stuff like:
“The cruelties of propter and privilege are always more ferocious than the revenges of poverty and oppression” and “The rich are only defeated when they are running for their lives”
Correct statements!
James does a really excellent job with the set up though so you really understand what an insnane goddamn powerderkeg the island was, (the ratio of slaves to mixed/free black to whites to rich white boggles the mind) and the way every faction is just barely balanced, each one carrying a simultaneous advantage and disadvantage (The Mixed race people can travel to france and be educated while the poor whites are indentured, but the mixed people are still barred from certain positions and places etc). all leading to a ton of scheming a double crossing.
unfortunately that does include betrayals by the formerly enslaved generals against their own people, which are extremely disheartening and even more painful to read about than the the many massacres and tortures committed by all sides over the course of the book. Mostly it just solidifies the impression of San Domingo as a hell on earth from which everyone was deathly desperate to escape.
The more macro level facts (only completely successful slave revolt in history et al) remain pretty inspirational however and James does a good job of conveying how radically the world was turned upside down and how “ordinary people” proved themselves in incredible situations. The passage describing the Haitian Delegates appeal to the French parliament for the abolishment of slavery, which is then abolished in a unanimous vote is very moving.
My only real issue is some stuff thats clearly really dated, like the occasional weird and sus hagiography of Toussaint saying he and his wife lived forever in perfect harmony, and that there was always music and flowers in his room, like i guess ill take ur word for it on that stuff. worse he has a habit of referring to the enslaved Haitians as ignorant and backward and half savage, and like i get that they didn't get an education and they were severely traumatized but their not like wild animal jeezus. anywaaaaay overall still pretty great! 4.5 stars but lets be generous and give him the whole 5!
Thanks CLR!
While you might have to be a history or politics person to be fully all in, I found it real propulsive and even epic, with these little breaks where James will editorialize or rattle off a bit of biting sarcasm. Some of these are kinda like “bad ass” fodder for dorm room socialists but i feel like coming out of an actual 30’s caribbean radical they have a lot more weight.anyway we got stuff like:
“The cruelties of propter and privilege are always more ferocious than the revenges of poverty and oppression” and “The rich are only defeated when they are running for their lives”
Correct statements!
James does a really excellent job with the set up though so you really understand what an insnane goddamn powerderkeg the island was, (the ratio of slaves to mixed/free black to whites to rich white boggles the mind) and the way every faction is just barely balanced, each one carrying a simultaneous advantage and disadvantage (The Mixed race people can travel to france and be educated while the poor whites are indentured, but the mixed people are still barred from certain positions and places etc). all leading to a ton of scheming a double crossing.
unfortunately that does include betrayals by the formerly enslaved generals against their own people, which are extremely disheartening and even more painful to read about than the the many massacres and tortures committed by all sides over the course of the book. Mostly it just solidifies the impression of San Domingo as a hell on earth from which everyone was deathly desperate to escape.
The more macro level facts (only completely successful slave revolt in history et al) remain pretty inspirational however and James does a good job of conveying how radically the world was turned upside down and how “ordinary people” proved themselves in incredible situations. The passage describing the Haitian Delegates appeal to the French parliament for the abolishment of slavery, which is then abolished in a unanimous vote is very moving.
My only real issue is some stuff thats clearly really dated, like the occasional weird and sus hagiography of Toussaint saying he and his wife lived forever in perfect harmony, and that there was always music and flowers in his room, like i guess ill take ur word for it on that stuff. worse he has a habit of referring to the enslaved Haitians as ignorant and backward and half savage, and like i get that they didn't get an education and they were severely traumatized but their not like wild animal jeezus. anywaaaaay overall still pretty great! 4.5 stars but lets be generous and give him the whole 5!
Thanks CLR!