Haitian Revolution DBQ

During the Enlightenment, philosophes argued that all men have the right to revolt. They also discussed natural law and how all men have inalienable rights. Following this, many nations revolted against their governments in order to create a new one that gave more rights to the people. These ideas from the Enlightenment became important to the citizens of every nation. Even though some revolutions were not entirely successful, they all were clearly motivated by similar issues. Although revolutions are led by different groups and social classes, they all have a common goal of escaping an oppressive government that restricts the rights of the people. The oppressive governments and the lack of rights during this era inspired people to revolt …show more content…
Document 3 is an image of the Haitian Revolution from the French perspective. It clearly makes the Haitians out to be irrational and radical. This is a good representation of how the French government was reacting, because they wanted to control the Haitians during the Revolution. The French didn’t seem to care that the Haitians were being used as slaves in inhuman conditions. Another place this ignorance is present is in John Adams’ letter to James Sullivan. Adams states “shall we say that every individual of the community… must consent to every act of legislation? No, you will say, this is impossible” (Document 6). Adams clearly doesn’t think that giving rights to every single person is a realistic idea. Like the French who simply didn’t care that they were oppressing the Haitians, Adams doesn’t seem to care about the citizens who he believes shouldn’t have a voice in the government. John Adams has this opinion because he was a rich white man during this time. It was a crazy idea to think women or peasants could have a say in the government, and this is reflected in his letter where he states those “who are destitute of property are too little acquainted with public affairs to form a right judgement” (Document 6). He looks down upon the ideals of revolutions during this time because he doesn’t believe everyone should have rights. Lastly, this opposition to the ideas of the revolutions is present in a speech given by Albert Brown, an American politician. Brown’s speech takes a different path than the others; he seems to feel threatened, because these revolutions may spark one in America. He talks about the North “accumulating power” and how they will “emancipate the slaves” (Document 5). One ideal of the other revolutions was the freeing of slaves. Brown fears that this will happen in America as well, and as a wealthy