Reclaiming revolution: William Wells Brown's irreducible Haitian heroes

Abstract

This article examines black abolitionist William Wells Brown's 1854 lecture St. Domingo: Its Revolutions and its Patriots, juxtaposing Brown's history of the Haitian Revolution against those printed in publications such as the American DeBow's Review and the British Anti-Slavery Reporter. The staggered, often contradictory nature of the multiple insurrections and uprisings occurring in Haiti complement Brown's own interest in fragmented narratives, and allow him to offer a model for black revolutionary activity contained not in a singular moment or figure, but instead spread across multiple revolutions and revolutionaries. Following Brown's logic opens up the possibility of developing an international revolutionary continuum deeply dependent upon black liberatory goals. A host of events could subsequently re-emerge as part of such a continuum, including but certainly not limited to the American Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and an internationally inflected American Civil War.