The Unfinished Revolution: Haiti, Black Sovereignty and Power in the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World Chronicles the Ways That Haiti’S Black
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The Unfinished Revolution LIVERPOOL STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL SLAVERY, 13 The Unfinished Revolution Haiti, Black Sovereignty and Power in the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World Karen Salt The Unfinished Revolution Liverpool University Press First published 2019 by Liverpool University Press 4 Cambridge Street Liverpool L69 7ZU Copyright © 2019 Karen Salt The right of Karen Salt to be identified as the author of this book has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data A British Library CIP record is available ISBN 978-1-78694-161-9 cased epdf ISBN 978-1-78694-954-7 Typeset by Carnegie Book Production, Lancaster Contents Contents List of Figures vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction: Sovereignty and Power 1 1 Games of Sovereignty and Opportunity 59 2 Selling Citizenship, Recognising Blood, Stabilising Sovereignty 83 3 Burlesquing Empire: Performing Black Sovereignty on the World Stage 113 4 Welcome to the New World Order: Haiti and Black Sovereignty at the Turn of the Century 153 5 Sovereignty under Siege? Contemporary Performances of Black Sovereignty 191 Bibliography 213 Index 237 • v • Figures Figures 2.1 Portrait of Jonathas Granville (1824). Oil on canvas. Philip Tilyard. Baltimore Museum of Art. 103 3.1 N. Corradi, “Empire d’Haïti,” lithographic plate 1 from Album Impérial d’Haïti, New York: Th. Lacombe, 1852. © The British Library Board, HS.74/2132. 133 3.2 L. Crozelier after a daguerreotype by A. Hartmann, “Faustin 1er Empereur d’Haïti,” lithographic plate 3 from Album Impérial d’Haïti, New York: Th. Lacombe, 1852. © The British Library Board. HS.74/2132. 134 3.3 L. Crozelier after a daguerreotype by A. Hartmann, “L’Impératrice Adelina,” lithographic plate 4 from Album Impérial d’Haïti, New York: Th. Lacombe, 1852. © The British Library Board. HS.74/2132. 135 3.4 P. A. Ott after a daguerreotype by A. Hartmann (with additional drawing by C. G. Crehen), “S. A. I. Madame Olive, Fille de L. L. M. M.,” lithographic plate 5 from Album Impérial d’Haïti, New York: Th. Lacombe, 1852. © The British Library Board. HS.74/2132. 136 3.5 Illustrations of Faustin I and Empress Adelina, copied from lithographs by L. Crozelier that were derived from daguerreotypes by A. Hartmann, as found in the Album Impérial d’Haïti, New York: Th. Lacombe, 1852. “His Imperial Majesty Faustin, Emperor of Hayti,” Illustrated London News, 16 February 1856, 185. 137 • vii • The Unfinished Revolution 4.1 C. D. Arnold and H. D. Higinbotham, Official Views of the World’s Columbian Exposition (Chicago: Press Chicago Photo-Gravure, Co., 1893). Plate 110. 166 4.2 C. D. Arnold and H. D. Higinbotham, Official Views of the World’s Columbian Exposition (Chicago: Press Chicago Photo-Gravure, Co., 1893). Plate 75. 167 • viii • Acknowledgements Acknowledgements This book emerged from years of struggle and joy. It benefited from rich discussions with a stellar team of postgraduates at Purdue University— Cassander Smith, Sabine Klein, Philathia Bolton and others who listened as I tried to make sense of my growing archive. I had the good fortune to have some excellent mentors in the process of writing this book. Eric Lott provided early encouragement. So, too, Elizabeth Maddock Dillon, Dennis Moore and Sean Goudie. I feel that I have studied at the feet of Colin Dayan—although our interactions have occurred more often in my head than in real life. Joanna Brooks has been a constant light—flickering at the right moments to remind me of the journey(s) ahead. Stephanie Smallwood provided much-needed advice and perspective at two critical moments. I would probably be lost without the passion and spirit of Marlene Daut. Antonio Tillis ensured that I knew there could be a different model that allowed one to navigate academia while staying grounded. Ryan Schneider played a key role in the growth of my ideas. Adviser, mentor and friend, he reminded me that this work demands as much as it gives. My thanks to Susan Curtis and Bill Mullen who were essential conduits at different parts of this work and my scholarly journey. My thanks, too, to Kristina Bross and Christopher Lukasik for keeping me afloat and accountable. Aparajita Sagar, Venetria Patton, Joseph Dorsey and Leonard Harris nourished me with fire, food, wisdom or humour. Thank you, all. I have been blessed with invitations by generous groups and opportunities at an array of conferences and symposia to present my ideas. My thanks to the College Language Association; the Society of Early Americanists; the American Studies Association; the Charles Brockden Brown Society; the Early Caribbean Society; MELUS; New Perspectives on African American History and Culture; the Royal Geographical Society, the British Association • ix • The Unfinished Revolution for American Studies; the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment; and the European Association for the Study of Literature, Culture and the Environment. Two pivotal events, filled with generative discussions and fellowship, helped me crystallise my thoughts: (1) the Migrating the Black Body four-day symposium in Germany arranged and nurtured by the doubly brilliant Leigh Raiford and Heike Raphael-Hernandez, two scholars whom I respect and appreciate; and (2) a Visiting Distinguished Lectureship at Nanjing Agricultural University’s College of Foreign Studies. More recently, I have had the pleasure of presenting portions of this work to colleagues at the Institute for Black Atlantic Research (University of Central Lancashire), the Institute for Latin American Studies (University of London), the Black Studies Seminar (Birmingham City University), the Centre for the Study of International Slavery (University of Liverpool), the Yesu Persaud Centre for Caribbean Studies (University of Warwick), the Space & Society Group (University of Dundee), the Caribbean Research Seminar in the North and the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (Newcastle University). Students and colleagues at the University of Aberdeen were excellent sources of support and encouragement. Many thanks, especially, to Andrew Mackillop (now at the University of Glasgow), Tom Bartlett (now retired), Andrew Blaikie (also retired) and Bill Naphy. My move to the University of Nottingham has provided me with a wide community of colleagues who continue to inspire me. I would like to thank all of the community partners, institutions and community members whom I get the pleasure of interacting with as Director of the Centre for Research in Race and Rights. To my colleagues in the American and Canadian Studies department, many thanks for welcoming me and encouraging my work. I look forward to more plotting and activities. To the Black Studies PhD postgraduates that I have the honour of directing and co-supervising, I am humbled by your immense openness to learning and discovering. Thank you for letting me be a part of your scholarly journey. To the community of Haitian studies scholars, especially Gina Athena Ulysse, Grégory Pierrot, Chantelle Verna, Matthew Smith and Colin Dayan: Mèsi! You provided a sounding board or a much-needed fresh perspective during some challenging moments. And I must thank the brilliant Charlot Lucien, whose work appeared in my life and within the life of this book, at a critical moment. I am honoured to include your craft. I received valuable assistance from the kind and giving folks at the British Library (past and present) affiliated and/or leading the Latin American and Caribbean and American (& Australasian) collections. Thank you, Philip Hatfield, Carole Holden and Beth Cooper. • x • Acknowledgements I would like to thank the editors of American Studies, Ecocriticism, and Citizenship: Thinking and Acting in the Local and Global Commons and Routledge University Press for providing me a space to work on content that has been adapted for chapter 2. I would also like to acknowledge the Journal of American Studies and Cambridge University Press for originally publishing content that has been adapted for chapter 3. Further material in chapter 3 is adapted from “Migrating Images of the Black Body Politic and the Sovereign State: Haiti in the 1850s” by Karen N. Salt in Leigh Raiford and Heike Raphael-Hernandez, eds. Migrating the Black Body: The African Diaspora and Visual Culture, pp. 52–70 © 2017. Reprinted with permission of the University of Washington Press. I have a steady crew of folks who’ve fed me pistachios, listened to my whining or stood with me on sandy shores as we felt the land and whispered to the seas. Elizabeth DeLoughrey, Hsinya Huang and Joni Adamson— sisters in the wind. Love and light. I must thank Charles Forsdick for his openness, his clarity and his patience as I worked through particularly entangled aspects of this project. To Alison Welsby and the fantastic team at Liverpool University Press: immense gratitude. Alison has been a rock through this process. And I must thank the clear and purposeful anonymous reviewers who provided me with support, guidance, focus and perspective. And, finally, to my family. To Liam, Moira and Seamus (and now Hazel, Gwen and Vivienne): you’ve seen this project grow along with your lives and families. Thank you for always asking about its progress and for loving me even when I am a bit in my head. To David: we often joke about you keeping me fed, but your support is more than that. You’ve watched me move through this project and academia. You’ve listened to the despair and the frustrations. You’ve helped me celebrate the milestones. You’ve walked this journey with me and I thank you for the care with which you love me and the joy that you bring to my life.