NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. ® UMI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with with permission permission of the of copyright the copyright owner. owner.Further reproductionFurther reproduction prohibited without prohibited permission. without permission. “MEN OF COLOR, TO ARMS!”: REMEMBERING TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE AND THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR By Matthew J. Clavin Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Chair: in Alan Andrew Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences .5* t - i__________________ Date 2005 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3182552 Copyright 2005 by Clavin, Matthew J. All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3182552 Copyright 2005 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © COPYRIGHT by Matthew J. Clavin 2005 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. For the loves of my life, Gladys, Madeline, and Joey Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. “MEN OF COLOR, TO ARMS!”: REMEMBERING TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE AND THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR BY Matthew J. Clavin ABSTRACT Haiti’s Declaration of Independence at the opening of the nineteenth century marked the end of a slave rebellion of unprecedented size and scope. It was the culminating event of a racial and social revolution, which had a profound impact on the slave societies of the Atlantic world. The effect of the Saint Domingue, or Haitian Revolution, on the United States was in particular tremendous. This was especially the case during the Civil War, when the American people at last confronted the racial paradox that defined their short history. Public memory of the Haitian Revolution aided in the construction of two competing and racialized national identities during the war. African Americans and their radical white allies used the Haitian Revolution and especially the indomitable black slave general Toussaint Louverture, to reinvent the United States, imagining it as an enlightened, multiracial, and colorblind society in which African Americans figured prominently as citizens, soldiers, and men. Conversely, white ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. southerners employed the iconic event in the construction of a Confederate nation, which was committed above all else to defending the institution of slavery and perpetuating white racial supremacy. This project explores the ways various publics appropriated opposing narratives of the Haitian Revolution, through an examination of three major Civil War-era debates: (1) violent abolitionism and secession; (2) black soldiery; and (3) emancipation. Popular attention to the Haitian Revolution at the revolutionary and transforming time of the Civil War reveals much about the construction and uses of historical memory, as well as its role in conceptions of national identity. That this milestone in African American history meant so much to the American people at such a defining moment illuminates moreover the significance of black history and culture in the making of America. The brutal and bloody war that ended slavery in the United States sparked an outpouring of public remembering of past people and events. It was in remembering Toussaint and the Haitian Revolution that the American people learned as much about themselves as they did about the slave revolt that took place on Haiti more than a half-century before. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements Only those who have written a doctoral dissertation can appreciate the time, effort, and assistance that goes into such an undertaking. While it is impossible to mention all of the teachers, librarians, archivists, and friends that helped me complete this long journey, I will never forget them. My greatest debt is to Karin Wulf, for her guidance as both a scholar and advisor. The manuscript would not exist without her. Nor would it appear in its current form without the assistance of three scholars who have led a tidal of wave of historians into the field of Atlantic history. Ira Berlin, Douglas Egerton, and Alison Games are in addition to being gifted intellectuals, gracious mentors who have deeply affected both my thinking and writing. I would like to thank Alan Kraut especially, for our laid-back conversations on history and graduate school. Both his teaching and scholarship have made a lasting impression. I would like to thank Andrew Lewis and the entire faculty of American University for providing support in every form imaginable. Thank you also to Tyler Anbinder, Steve Balia, and Richard Stott at George Washington University, and William Hudon, James Sperry, and George Turner of Bloomsburg University for inspiring me to follow my dreams, no matter how far fetched. Joshua Greenberg’s friendship has along with his advice and experience been invaluable, and for this I will always be grateful. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Since the day I first arrived on the campus of American University, the institution liberally supported my research, writing, and travel initiatives. The Department of History, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate Leadership Council have all provided significant financial support. Numerous libraries and archives across the United States provided invaluable assistance. The Cosmos Club of Washington, D.C. gave me my first research grant, and without it, I would not have known whether this topic was worthy of pursuing. The intellectual and financial support I received from the American Antiquarian Society, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Library Company of Philadelphia, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, Massachusetts Historical Society, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Virginia Historical Society enabled me to imagine, research, and write this dissertation. I am thankful for every day I spent at these wonderful centers of learning, and am eager to return to each of them. Finally, I would be remiss to thank those people who ultimately provided me with the inspiration to complete this enterprise, the men and women who throughout history defied convention in recognizing the commonality and fighting for the equality of all people. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................................................viii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1 PART ONE: RACE, SECTION, AND REBELLION: OPENING THE CIVIL WAR OF WORDS 2. “THE INEFFACEABLE CHARACTERS OF BLOOD”: ABOLITIONISTS AND THE SEMIOTICS OF BLACK REVOLUTION.......................................... 31 3. “HORRORS OF ST. DOMINGO”: MEMORY AND THE MAKING OF THE CONFEDERATE NATION.............................................................................65 PART TWO: “MEN OF COLOR, TO ARMS!”: DEBATING BLACK SOLDIERS 4. “WILL THE BLACKS FIGHT”: HISTORY, HAITI, AND THE ARGUMENT FOR BLACK SOLDIERS........................................................................................ 96 5. AMERICAN TOUSSAINTS: BLACK SOLDIERS, BLACK MEMORY, BLACK MEN.......................................................................................................................... 129 PART THREE: EMANCIPATION AND THE SECOND HAITIAN REVOLUTION 6. “HAS THE STORY NO LESSON FOR US?”: HAITI AND THE REINVENTING OF AMERICA............................................................................ 169 7. “A REPETITION OF SAN DOMINGO”: CONFEDERATES, COPPERHEADS, AND THE HORROR OF EMANCIPATION.......................................................207 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.