Week 5: Thursday's Posts=)

The Abolition of Slavery
The article described the abolition of slavery during the National Convention. The blacks and people of color finally freed from slavery and oppression. They were also given an equal rights like other French. It seems that the French Revolution benefited the slaves and people of color in Saint Domingue, although it caused turmoil in the government. Alas, it was going to take time to implement the abolition. There were some colonists in Saint Domingue who still refused to acknowledge the new government. They would not really care about the abolition or free rights whatsoever.

Letters
At first I didn't really understand the first letter. When I read the next letter, I understand that Thomas Jefferson worried of slave uprising in America due to success the slave revolution in Saint Domingue. It might cause turmoil in America since they also practiced slavery. The slaves might be induced by the events in Saint Domingue and rebel against the country. Indeed, there was already a real insurrection in Virginia. We can see how America was really afraid of slaves uprising; that they even consider to transport slaves guilty of insurgency to out of U.S. ; also Thomas Jefferson seems to abhor the slaves and had prejudices on them by calling them "the cannibals of the terrible republic".

Constitution of the French Colony of Saint-Domingue
I think the new constitution for Saint Domingue was pretty fair. It was much better than Code Noir and also the ill-advised law for the free colored people. Slavery was abolished forever and children born in marriage had the same right as the ex-slaves and free colored people. Moreover, they were eligible for all positions. No more racial stratification. However, I don't really agree with Title 6: Of Cultivation and Commerce. It seems that the ex-slaves were not able to fly high and prove themselves in other skills; except the Governer (Toussaint Louverture). They had to work in the same plantation and were forbade to introduce the same crops. They technically became slaves again except the name was changed to "worker" and they had equal rights.

The Haitian Declaration of Independence
The declaration was full sense of pride and I really like it. They must feel great after being able to be independent and freed of French. It is also a new resolution to better themselves and the country so that other nations would not look them down espescially France. The slaves might be cheering upon the declaration. There are some sentiments of hatred against the French. It can't be denied that because of French, they suffered and had to be slaves. Besides, even after the slaves revolution and French had given them equal rights, they were actually being used by the French as "slaves" again.Then, the people who fight against the French were claiming their right to have some power in the new nation. Fortunately, they were not so greedy to spread their powers in Santo Damingo or else they would be similar to French and other European countries: A colonizer. Finally, what's mine is mine! (haitian proverb)

The Haitian Constitution
I think some of the law was too strict, hard to implement and also a bit ambiguous. In article 8, "in cases of bankruptcy or business failure, Haitian citizenship is suspended" and in article 11, "everyone must know a mechanical trade". This is too harsh and hard to implement for a new born country. It would take some time before their economic condition became very stable. Moreover, most of the citizens were slaves before. They only have experiences in agriculture and not in trading. Besides, previously the French did not allow them to do any trade in the market. Instead of helping the nation economically, the two articles could cause the economic condition become worse than before. In article 14, "all Haitians will henceforth only be known generically as Blacks". I wonder how the colored people would think since some of them were really proud of their race and did not consider themselves part of the Black's lineage. Would it inflict a civil war between the Black and the mulatto? And then, article 9 was a bit ambiguous. "No one is worthy of being a Haitian if he is not a good father,..". How do we define good father or husband and what is their duties? They should elaborate more about it. Although, there were some ambiguity and problems with the constitution, it still helped the nation and the citizens to learn about their limits and rights. It could be improved when they gain more experiences in leading a nation.

Week 5: Tuesday's Posts

Observations on the Origin and Progression

Julien Raimond was a free colored people and he was an advocate of granting political rights to free coloreds. He explains the history of free colored people. I think this article portrays a different side from The Code Noir. In this article, he says that a free colored child was not treated as slave and received love from the father while in the code, the child from a woman slave should follow the mother's lineage. They even received inheritance and formal education. I was surprised that the white men in the island preferred marrying women of color over white women. These sparked jealousy of the whites woman and whites man which leads them to introduce ill-advised laws. Free colored were forbade to get education in France and live there; they had to drop their European name; they were forbade to dress like whites. Everything was to restrain free colored people from progressing and to imply that they were different from the whites (French). They were just a low slaves. Throughout the article, we probably can sense that the writer is hinting that free colored was different from the slaves. He refuses to acknowledge he is part of the slaves' lineage. He is different. He belongs to the whites.

History of the Revolution of Saint-Domingue

The description of the revolt was very detailed. Indeed, it conforms the short biography of Dalmas; his work provides one of the most detailed descriptions of the meetings. The revolt must be due to the ill treatments the slaves received from the colonists and their masters. He describes that before the revolt, the slaves were carrying a ritual ceremony. He appears to have prejudices upon the slaves by making fun of the ritual and calling them ignorant and stupid. It also appears that the slaves treasured their own cultures and faiths. In a way, they were reasserting their own identity.

Reports from the Insurrection

The reports were from the Philadelphia General Advertiser. I think it was a complicated situation since some of the whites and mulattos joined the slaves and the others supported the colonist. Besides, some of the slaves were helping their masters. Perhaps some of them who allied with the slaves espescially the mulattos, received the same ill-treaments like the slaves; and the slaves who helped the masters were treated well. It might also suggests that the slaves (helping the masters) felt some sense of belongings being with the masters. At first, the revolts was unorganized and they didn't have supplies of weapons. Over time, it became more organized and they had supplies of weapons from the Spain.

Week 5: Monday's posts

The Code Noir

The Code Noir was issued in 1685 to replace the piecemeal local laws; it remained the foundation for the legal framework of French Caribbean slavery through the early years of Haitian Revolution. Most of the codes were trying to control the slaves while a few of the codes were trying to preserve the slaves' right. The slaves were not allowed to practice any religion accept several religions; they were not allowed to gather . Maybe this is to hinder any assembly of the slaves as well as the union of them. Besides, the slaves were not allowed to do trade. It caused the slaves to be economically dependent upon their masters and the French. The other code that struck me the most is that the slaves cannot married without the consent from their masters. The number of slaves had increased that the number of slaves was more than the colonist's; thus, the colonists were trying to restrain increase in the population. Although some of the codes preserved the slaves' right, but we can sense that the colonists were controlling their movement and implying that they were just slaves; probably to abstain any slave revolt.

Description.. of the French Part..

The writing was very descriptive and in a "scientific" manner. He describes the freedmen as lazy and love to rest although they had several skills which might surpass the whites. I was not from that time to judge if they were really lazy; but it seems that the writer had some prejudice upon them and implied that they would not have any accomplishment. And from the discussion in class, he was very fascinated with people of different race. The way he paints the mulatress at times, was very descriptive; at other times, it was rather sensual. Maybe because of translation or lacks of vocabulary. He also paints the ritual ceremonies of the negres "carefully" but again, he has some prejudices and opinions about them. He said the ritual was dangerous and it was ridiculous.

Letter to Those Who Love Mankind

The writer realized that the oppression and racial stratification upon the people of color would cause the destruction of the colonist in St. Domingue. Their population had increased over time and they can easily rebel against the colonist. Besides, the oppression towards the slaves would uprise revolts. People of color might easily destroy the colonists if they accomplice with slaves.

Week 4 Posts

Intro words of Batswana
It seems that the Africans did not have the drive to dig their own histories until recently. But it is better late than never. The primary sources from the Native Africans point of view was pushed aside by those in power. Maybe, that is the reason why some of the sources are bias or have a Eurocentric view. For instances, Cortes claimed that he was viewed as God by the Aztecs. However, there were no primary source from the Aztecs perspective to validate the claim. This is might be due to the ignorance of importance of primary sources. Back to the text, before people were more concerned of the conflict and oppression, disclosing of the violence during colonization rather than wanting to know the African-centered historical perspective. It is good to know that people care about their societies. I think by reading and examining the News of Batswana, maybe it will enlighten us about the African's cultures and how they think. Some of the writing in the news were trying to promote the British and might be a bias but it would be interesting.

Kgabo Tebele Motswasele
The letter was written to tell the colonizer about their difficulties speaking using one language. The writer presents his idea in a very refined way; maybe to not offend other Africans and the colonizer. It is hard for them to speak in just one language since all tribes have their own languages and dialects which can invite clashes and discrimination between the Africans. Plus, there will be language barrier between the people of the same group. Instead of using their own language, they need to converse using the one language which they just started to use. Furthermore, the use of their own tribes language will become lessen and might disappear if they did not practice it in daily life and they might lose their identity which distinguish them from other tribes. However, I believe the colonizer has a hidden agenda by introducing the use of one language. They might want to control the Africans. When the colonizer choose the Selthaping language of this particular tribe, the tribe might think they are far superior than others and the colonizer viewed them as very important. In a way, the British might actually want the tribe to submit themselves to them and be on their side. Furthermore, the colonizer wanted to prevent the unification of African and rebel against them. Does anyone have other opinions?Feel free to comment.

Letter from March 1890
This letter is writing in regards how Africans dress their children and justifies it by using Christianity as analogy. This letter tries to say that the Africans do not really practice what they have learned. Although, some of the Africans became the believers of Christ, they did not practiced it within the family members. It was the same as how to dress the children. The Africans learned how to dress properly like the British but they did not dress their children accordingly. They still adopted their own "clothes" which were not really considered as perfect dress. I think the writer of this letter has become adopted of British cultures and way of life. The person became a believer of Christ and wore British clothes. Maybe he has worked under the British in the mines. Besides, if we look at the date, this was during the second Anglo-Boer War. Maybe the writer was trying to put British in a positive light and he or she was a supporter of British. It validates what we learned in the class, that the Batswana were trying to promote British using the news so that the British would see them in a new light and consider them as a part of the community.

Bogadi (Bridewealth)
Bogadi is amount of money or property paid to the bride by the groom to ratify a marriage or also known as bride wealth. There were various opinions about Bogadi. Even a European was interested with this ritual and asked the significance of bogadi from the natives. However, he thought that the Bogadi was against the Christianity since the groom's families used their daughter (Gift from the Christ) to earn money. There were a lot of reply letters regarding the comment about bogadi by the natives. Some agreed with him by saying that the ritual was not suitable to be practiced in Christianity and called the believers who still practiced it behind the curtain as thieves. Besides,some compared it to buying. It seems that the British had a very big influences on their daily lives and cultures. They became a devoted Christian and adopted some of British cultures. But I think that some were trying to flatter the British while some were curious and care if it was against their religion. However, some of them were really trying to enlighten the British of the significance of Bogadi. It symbolizes marriage and they said it is similar to standing at the altar and putting a ring. I think debating about Bogadi is not really a big issue since it is still being practiced in various parts of the world and in other religions. For instances, Muslim pays mahr (bridewealth) to the bride as a token of appreciation and providing certain guarantees to the bride. Besides, it is also practiced in Chinese culture called Ti Qin and in Thailand and many other cultures and regions. In a way,it helps the British and us to learn more about the cultures of the aborigines rather than being keep in dark. It also helps the British to erase the prejudice they have against the aborigines. Besides, the Africans were able to make people known about their opinions of certain issues in their cultures, traditions or even in political issues even though the newspaper had some pro-British sentiments.

Pass Laws

It is mentioned that the pass law is very useful to "regulate the movement of labor and attempted to coordinate the labor and attempted to coordinate the labor supply and demand. It was used in agriculture and mines. Depending on the situation, it enables the Africans to seek employment (prevent the growth of unemployment) and on other situation it attempts immobilize the laborers. However, this law is actually imposed so that British had the control and power over the cheap labor market which only benefited the British and the mining companies. Furthermore, it also in a way restricts the indigenous tribes' power and the British were able to claim lands. The laws helps to cover the forced labor system which replaced the slavery systems. A person who violates the law by failing to take up employment will be punished which can lead to compulsory labor; hence,once again benefited the company. Although it is said that the laborer has the freedom of choosing their work, in actual it was very limited. It is sad that the natives had very little freedom to choose their work and migrate to other areas in their very own land.

Week 3: A Commonwealth of Thieves

This book compiled with fulls of facts. I wonder how long did Keneally spend his time to write it as accurate as possible; and in the meantime he's trying to present it in like an adventure fiction. I assume he wants to make it accessible for every reader regardless of their knowledge in history. Then, when I looked at the bibliography section, there were a pile of sources used in rewriting the history. For instances, primary sources, secondary sources and electronic sites. Considering the amount of the sources used, there must be a lot of viewpoints, different interpretation and probably bias; however, he managed to keep the bias as little as possible and uses the information objectively. Instead, he let us to ponder by ourselves if what British was doing at that time was cruel or not and so forth.

"Terror of the Law" & Crime Rate
I think in the first chapters mostly, Keneally focuses more on daily life in London such as the crime rate and the law. The crime rate was very high that there were not enough space to place the convicts. They even had to use boats to place the prisoners. This is probably due to the exist of inequalities in distribution of wealth. Furthermore, for just a very petty crime, the punishment was severe enough to make the convict be executed or transported to outside of England. It also depends on the legislators. If they feel that the criminals should be executed, it shall be done; if for a same crime, they sent them to the prisons, and it shall be done. It was very unpredictable. However, the legislators' duty to impress others by the "terror of law" failed. In fact, like what we learned in the class, the crime rate kept increasing, a lot of convicts were executed every week and it became an entertainment program for the underclass as well as the upperclassman.

Prisoners & Population
I was surprise when Keneally mentioned that there were taproom in the prisons, access to prostitutes and most important, prisoners can pay the warder for a comfortable lodging and and services. Besides, there were a lot of visitors which then led the warder to charge them for entrance. It seems that the government was using an easy way to make money and the punishment given to the convicts did not have any impact. While reading the book, I think that British was very desperate to sentence the convicts to death or transported them outside of England. It seems England was running out of land, and implied that the population was very high that London became overcrowded. Perhaps, staying in the prison or settling down in British colonies might be a better choice. The overpopulation might also serve the purpose of colonization. Claim more lands and transfer their people there.

The Expedition and Arthur Phillips
Keneally puts Phillips in a good way even though he is writing about Phillips coming to colonize his country. I also searched about Keneally and apparently he is a strong advocate of Australian Republic, which wants to severe the ties with British Monarchy. In a way, he tries to keep bias as little as possible although he seems to not like British very much. A couple of instances which put Arthur in a positive light: he treated everyone equally- no matter who breaks the law, they would be beaten. He took care of his crewman by getting them food and clothing. He befriended the aborigines ( Bennelog). There are few situations which put him in a negative way. The way he punished the convicts (if I'm correct) using irons. Then, when the British government said the expedition was successful despite of 30 people died, was kind of upsetting. However, if we were to compare the number of death during this expedition and the number of convicts executed, it is a very small number. Besides, we can relate to the contribution of scientists -determining the longitude- which benefited the voyage and the government.

The Aborigines
The aborigines killed their infant. They were lacked of food and unable to feed their children; hence, kill them. It seems cruel. However, if we compared them with people who buried their daughters alive because of pride and shame, it seems less brutal. Beside, natives woman traded sex for food like bread.
Although I had difficult time cramming all the facts into my heads, it was interesting for a history books and very well-written. I also thinks the notes and index in the last few pages come in handy. If we forgets which chapter was about the crime rates, we can just check at the notes or the index. This is going to help me a lot in writing Paper one! Sorry if it's too long.=)