The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution by Julius S. Scott

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution by Julius S. Scott Ronald Angelo Johnson The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution. By Julius S. Scott. London: Verso, 2018. ISBN 978-1-78873-247-5. 272 pp. $34.95 hardcover, $24.95 paperback. Rarely have so many scholars owed as much to one historical study as they do to The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution. When Julius Scott completed his doctoral dissertation at Duke University in 1986, his research spurred some of the most influential works on the Age of Atlantic Revolutions over the subsequent three decades. Thirty-two years after Scott's doctoral defense, the work was formally published for the first time; reading the book now, one can see glimpses of the classic works produced upon its foundation, including books by Ada Ferrer, Jane Landers, Matthew J. Smith, Rebecca Scott, and Jean Hébrard.1 This study links life in British-, French-, and Spanish-controlled territories of the Caribbean and South America through the Haitian Revolution. In each of the five chapters of captivating storytelling, the author weaves the region's disparate languages and societal practices into a cohesive narrative of collective strides toward freedom, involving peoples of different ethnic groups. His analysis of ruling practices blurs the lines of demarcation between the colonized territories to identify "Afro-America," a region in constant protest against European economic oppression and cultural subjugation. The book emphasizes the cosmopolitan environments of Caribbean port cities to illuminate the interconnectedness among peoples under the control of the planter class across the territories. According to Scott, "Larger cities like Kingston, Cap Français, and Havana could properly be termed capitals of Afro-America. . . . [T]he growing coastal cities nurtured the most complex patterns of mobility and presented the most vexing problems of control for all the colonial powers" (15). As imperial gains expanded the economic importance of urban areas, the hustle and bustle of port cities provided safe haven for fugitive freedom seekers and attracted upwardly mobile free people of color for generations. Chapter 1 introduces readers to ventures toward greater liberty across the eighteenth century. European slaveholders, governors, and merchants believed themselves to be the "masters" of Afro-America. Yet an unquenchable desire for freedom showed itself in the ingenuity and grit of the region's marginalized inhabitants. The ubiquitous presence of involuntary bondage and its inhumane effects on the lives of the enslaved permeate Scott's narrative. Still, the hope and promise of lives beyond slavery are never far from the book's primary subjects. Musicians, maroons, and marauders, they all understood their value as human citizens. The [End Page 156] cruelties and injustices inflicted upon these populations could not dampen their spirit striving to be free. Scott focuses the reader's attention on the constant drive toward freedom demonstrated by individuals as well as groups. Prior to 1986, much of the historical scholarship published in North America about the Haitian Revolution and about European enslavement of Black people in the Atlantic World gave preference to the English-language writings of elitist, European intellectuals. The Common Wind employs the resourcefulness of marginalized peoples across the Caribbean as the historical lens through which to bring into view the injustices of the Atlantic trade system based on stolen lives and labor. Scott observes, "The activities of runaway slave communities in Jamaica did not go unnoticed in nearby Cuba, underscoring the fact that the histories of the maroon societies in the two islands in the eighteenth century were closely intertwined" (11). Across the rest of the book, the author does not segregate the Caribbean into different sectors and does not present a collection of loosely related case studies. Instead, he treats the Caribbean as the Caribbean, a cooperative system of lives and commerce linked together across different islands and territories. One of Scott's greatest contributions to the historical profession remains his revelation of "the common wind," the regional network of communication that existed in varying forms from Caracas, Venezuela, to Charleston, South Carolina. He reminds readers, "The books, newspapers, and letters which arrived with...