Haiti's Influence on Antebellum America: Slumbering Volcano in the Caribbean (review)

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS185 have come before it, is a study of means and ends. Because he discusses antislavery in its broadest terms over a long period of time, he has a hard time sustaining a tight argument. Gerteis does include an excellent discussion of Lydia Maria Child, whose writing illustrates the power ofdomestic values translated into public policy, in addition to a fine synopsis of the development ofthe antislavery argument that swung between the demands of morality and utility of "creative destruction." Like the careers ofhis subjects, Gerteis's conclusion does not live up to its initial promise, and seems disappointingly vague. Reluctant to focus primarily on politics, Gerteis tries to relate the ascendency ofthe utilitaritarian aspects of antislavery over the moral to the developing sensibilities of the middle class during the latter decades of the nineteenth century and the creation of private and public spheres. Romantic moral reform, he contends , retreated in the nonconfrontational realm of domestic virtue, while preoccupation with productive relations between labor and capital seized the public mind justifying competition and acquisition ofthe postwar era. Nevertheless, Morality and Utility is a fine addition to the literature ofthe middle period, a well researched and thoughtful book ofparticular interest to the nineteenth century specialist. Barbara L. Bellows Middlebury College Haiti's Influence on Antebellum America: Slumbering Volcano in the Caribbean . By Alfred N. Hunt. (Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1988. Pp. 196. $25.00.) In a wide-ranging study Alfred N. Hunt concludes that the slave rebellion in Haiti made a substantial impact on life in antebellum America. He shows that the revolution in Saint Domingue frightened Southern planters, and the model of Haiti's race war became an important point of reference for both defenders and critics ofslavery. Many Southerners cited the frightening stories ofbloodshed in Haiti to insist that whites could not co-exist with "uncivilized" free blacks, and they spoke of the poor economic picture in Haiti after its independence to argue that abolition could bring ruin upon the South. These twin fears of race war and economic disaster represented cornerstones in Southern thinking; as Southerners contemplated the awful image of Haiti, they became more hostile toward proposals for gradual emancipation. On the other hand abolitionists pointed to the example of Saint Domingue to argue that resistance to emancipation was foolish, because it would eventually bring a terrible day of slave vengeance. Hunt also looks beyond this familiar story to examine connections that are less well recognized. He discusses, for instance, the significant role of white and free black refugees who escaped to the American South. Between 1 79 1 and 1 808, thousands ofthese émigrés moved to New Orleans, Charles- 186CIVIL WAR HISTORY ton, Mobile, and other locales. As sugar planters, journalists, educators, musicians, actors, comedians, and craftsmen, they made substantial contributions to their new societies. Migration also occurred in the other direction (although in much smaller numbers). Some American blacks tried to settle in Haiti, but disease and other problems often made their experiences tragic. Hunt also considers the interesting perpectives on Toussaint L'Ouverture in antebellum America. Abolitionists, ofcourse, described the black revolutionary as a hero, but a number of Southerners also were impressed with his example. They admired his "conservative" tactics (p. 87) and praised him for initiating a tough policy of forced labor after emancipation that returned black laborers to the fields. Finally, Hunt shows that American blacks drew considerable pride from the example of Haiti. They appreciated the story of slaves overthrowing their masters and resisting attempts by various European armies to suppress them, and they treated the example of Haitian independence as a symbol that inspired feelings of black nationalism. The author's approach to his subject, searching out virtually every major reference to Haiti in the thinking of leading black and white figures of the 1791-1861 period, becomes a little tedious. We learn that Haiti was on the minds of many of the principal actors in the drama over Southern slavery, but the author offers few new insights for connecting the story of Haiti to the causes of secession and the Civil War. He does, however, present a useful overview of the subject...