Context and Explanation For Political Cartoon
The roots of the Haitian Revolution sprung from the Age Of Enlightenment. It was in this period that the wild notions of Liberté, égalité, and fraternité were loudly espoused to all who could hear. The Enlightenment was an overhaul of previous philosophy and science, favouring evidence over intuition, and logic over belief. According to Tom Standage, it was in this time that Halley discovered his comet, and Newton formulated the mathematics of gravity(160-161). In the political and philosophical sphere, John Locke and Marie Arout de Voltaire were reformulating what rights humans were truly born with(166). Locke, in particular, was an important figure for the French and Haitian Revolutions. According …show more content…
After successfully revolting and instituting a new nation, the people of Haiti were left with a ‘what now?’ situation. As Laurent Dubois describes, their answer lead to a series of tragedies. After Haiti declared itself as a new nations, neighbouring nations constantly threatened it. This spectre of invasion lead to two negative effects: the overspending on the military, and subsequent underspending on infrastructure and education; and the centralization of power into the Haitian head of state(5-7). In fact, the despotism of the emperor was set into place in Haiti’s constitution where it decreed that the emperor makes and enforces all laws, has the sole authority over state funds, has the sole authority to make peace or war, and has the sole authority to distribute the army and the navy(194). This absolute power, coupled with the emperors ability to decide his own successor(193) lead to a chain of despotic rulers that sent the nation into destitution. Along with internal forces, external forces ruined Haiti as well. In 1825, France demanded 3 billion dollars in debt from Haiti for the compensation of slave holders. Haiti could not pay the debts at …show more content…
I chose to center it around the judge to imply that these reparations are the only just way for France to repay for its crimes. I also drew the judge and his judge stand to be visually large to accentuate the length of the list of crimes and to create a sense of these crimes looming over France. The length of the list is accentuated to impart to the reader how terribly France has destroyed Haiti. The Haitian flag bleeding across the crimes and into the French flag is meant to symbolize how France relied on the abuse and murder of countless Haitian slaves. I want the cartoon to impart to the reader that what France did ‘killed’ Haiti and that they should have to pay for their actions. Finally, the booming voice of the judge is meant to show how ironic France was in its treatment of Haiti. France used the philosophy of John Locke to justify its revolution, but did not use the same logic when treating Haitian slaves. Frenchmen stole Haitian’s labour and their property but served no punishment nor payed any reparations - the response that John Locke recommended. In total, my cartoon shows that Haiti truly does deserve reparations from France because France demolished Haiti and its future, and because the philosophy they hold would require them to pay
The roots of the Haitian Revolution sprung from the Age Of Enlightenment. It was in this period that the wild notions of Liberté, égalité, and fraternité were loudly espoused to all who could hear. The Enlightenment was an overhaul of previous philosophy and science, favouring evidence over intuition, and logic over belief. According to Tom Standage, it was in this time that Halley discovered his comet, and Newton formulated the mathematics of gravity(160-161). In the political and philosophical sphere, John Locke and Marie Arout de Voltaire were reformulating what rights humans were truly born with(166). Locke, in particular, was an important figure for the French and Haitian Revolutions. According …show more content…
After successfully revolting and instituting a new nation, the people of Haiti were left with a ‘what now?’ situation. As Laurent Dubois describes, their answer lead to a series of tragedies. After Haiti declared itself as a new nations, neighbouring nations constantly threatened it. This spectre of invasion lead to two negative effects: the overspending on the military, and subsequent underspending on infrastructure and education; and the centralization of power into the Haitian head of state(5-7). In fact, the despotism of the emperor was set into place in Haiti’s constitution where it decreed that the emperor makes and enforces all laws, has the sole authority over state funds, has the sole authority to make peace or war, and has the sole authority to distribute the army and the navy(194). This absolute power, coupled with the emperors ability to decide his own successor(193) lead to a chain of despotic rulers that sent the nation into destitution. Along with internal forces, external forces ruined Haiti as well. In 1825, France demanded 3 billion dollars in debt from Haiti for the compensation of slave holders. Haiti could not pay the debts at …show more content…
I chose to center it around the judge to imply that these reparations are the only just way for France to repay for its crimes. I also drew the judge and his judge stand to be visually large to accentuate the length of the list of crimes and to create a sense of these crimes looming over France. The length of the list is accentuated to impart to the reader how terribly France has destroyed Haiti. The Haitian flag bleeding across the crimes and into the French flag is meant to symbolize how France relied on the abuse and murder of countless Haitian slaves. I want the cartoon to impart to the reader that what France did ‘killed’ Haiti and that they should have to pay for their actions. Finally, the booming voice of the judge is meant to show how ironic France was in its treatment of Haiti. France used the philosophy of John Locke to justify its revolution, but did not use the same logic when treating Haitian slaves. Frenchmen stole Haitian’s labour and their property but served no punishment nor payed any reparations - the response that John Locke recommended. In total, my cartoon shows that Haiti truly does deserve reparations from France because France demolished Haiti and its future, and because the philosophy they hold would require them to pay