Ben Franklin's World 433 Entangled Revolutions: Haiti, France, and the American Revolution
13 snips
Feb 10, 2026 Ronald Angelo Johnson, historian and Baylor chair who studies early America and Haiti, connects the American and Haitian revolutions. He traces 1763's Atlantic shifts, Saint-Domingue’s social upheavals, French strategy, and the 1779 arrival of Black Chasseurs in Georgia. Short, sharp stories reveal how revolutions circulated across the Atlantic and reshaped each other.
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Blame Shifted To Black Populations
- Local white planters blamed the Black population for imperial burdens, arguing they had already 'done their part' in earlier wars.
- That rhetoric shifted fiscal and military obligations onto Black people, deepening local racial tensions.
News Flow Linked Revolts Across The Atlantic
- Newspapers and informal networks moved news between Saint-Domingue and British North America, spreading protest tactics and ideas.
- Revolts and riots in one colony were read and debated in the other, creating cross-imperial awareness.
1769 Multiracial Revolt Preceded Lexington
- Ronald Angelo Johnson highlights a 1769 multiracial revolt in Saint-Domingue led by men of color with white subordinates.
- This uprising predated and paralleled North American riots, showing early cross-colonial unrest.
