The Uses of Vastey: Reading Black Sovereignty in the Atlantic Public Sphere

Abstract

By looking at largely contemporaneous nineteenth-century writing about Vastey from England, the United States, and France, this chapter examines how Baron de Vastey’s writings became the signs and symbols of the promises of black sovereignty in the Atlantic World. The author also shows the way in which Vastey’s ideas positively inflected international attitudes towards Haitian independence. By reading reviews of Vastey’s works, Daut argues, we can see how journalists, politicians, scientists, and abolitionists used Vastey’s writing to make the case for Haitian sovereignty.