The Haitian Revolution and Haiti’s Paper War

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Analysis of the Sources
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Haiti is a unique example of the post-colonial states’ development. Not only was it the first state to achieve independence from the European colonial regime, but it was also the case of a victory against slavery and discrimination (River, 2020). Two sources have been chosen within the framework of the current analysis of Haitian history: The Haitian Revolution and Haiti’s Paper War. Despite sharing a common topic and chronologically overlapping, these sources provide a different value for individual readers and the current historical vision of the matter, with the latter having the upper hand in terms of objective contribution.

Analysis of the Sources

Primary and Secondary Types

The narratives presented in The Haitian Revolution and Haiti’s Paper War differ in many aspects. First of all, there is the type difference – the former is a primary source, and the latter is a secondary source. Primary sources focus on information from direct sources, such as documents and testimonies (Terrell, 2022). It can be said that they provide a first-hand interpretation of events. In turn, secondary sources rely on the already conducted research regarding the topic – papers, statistics, and documentaries (Terrell, 2022). In other words, they can be considered a second-hand interpretation since they collect already interpreted evidence.

Structure and Purpose

In many ways, the choice of information to work with has dramatically influenced the narrative structure and purpose. In this context, The Haitian Revolution represents the genuine narration of historical events. It follows the chronological development of the Haiti region, providing readers with the general picture and substantiating it with dates, facts, and numbers. It becomes apparent from the text that the main purpose of the book is to introduce readers to the topic and educate them on its peculiarities. Haiti’s Paper War follows the chronological flow of events as well; however, it does not simply depict events but also offers a thorough analysis. In particular, apart from scholarly texts, it includes evidence from various non-scientific sources, such as newspapers and literature. Consequently, it merges the included perspectives, views, and opinions and looks for connections, parallels, and causal relationships. This way, it pursues the goal of triggering the readers’ critical thinking while also providing the author’s interpretation of various findings.

Chronology

Lastly, the sources differ in the chosen chronological span of events. The Haitian Revolution began with the arrival of Columbus in Haiti, and the most notable historical events up to the present day are listed (River, 2020). In this context, Haiti’s Paper War focuses on the events following the Haitian Revolution of 1804 and finishes at present (Stieber, 2020). Even though the books chronologically overlap in their narration, they provide readers with a significantly different experience due to their content and purpose uniqueness.

Value

Overall, Haiti’s Paper War proves to be much more specific than The Haitian Revolution in terms of conveyed knowledge. This peculiarity can be viewed as its strength and weakness simultaneously, depending on the reader. In case a reader does not possess sufficient knowledge regarding the history of Haiti, they might find themselves unwillingly siding with the author’s opinion presented in the text. However, given that readers is proficient in the matter, they will find Haiti’s Paper War a valuable asset that significantly contributes to the modern understanding of historical events.

Haiti’s Paper War

As a piece of analytical research, Haiti’s Paper War has a vast potential to influence the already established knowledge and vision of Haitian history. In particular, the author highlights a contradiction between the perceived nature of the Haitian revolution – liberal and universal – and an overly authoritarian state development afterward. Consequently, Stieber (2020) focuses on defining and evaluating various factors that influenced Haiti’s gradual development from a post-colonial state to a self-proclaimed empire and, finally, to the republic it was initially intended to be.

Contribution to Understanding

The main contribution to an existing interpretation of historical events is the inclusion of Haiti’s historiographic and literary sources. According to Stieber (2020), the Haitian revolution of 1804 should not be considered the decisive factor in the country’s political organization. Instead, she claims that the 19th century, in general, and the Civil Wars, in particular, resemble the fundamental political, regional, and intellectual factors that eventually produced the Haitian republican plurality (Stieber, 2020). Stieber (2020) provides numerous pieces of evidence that, despite the Civil war ending in 1820 and leaving behind a republican government, the interchanging secessionist regimes and constant public instability almost destroyed the republican vision in the country. Overall, the author’s main claim is that the Haitian post-colonial development into a republic was far more complex than initially anticipated. Numerous details enclosed in Haiti’s Paper War serve as missing puzzle pieces to the general picture of a contemporary understanding of the historical research question.

Conclusion

The Haitian Revolution and Haiti’s Paper War both concern the topic of Haitian historical development but serve different purposes, leading to unequal contributions. The former is a narration purposed to introduce and educate readers on the general vision of the Haitian revolution and development. In turn, the latter encourages readers to question the established understanding and provides evidence to trigger critical thinking and broaden the vision, which makes it more valuable from the scholarly perspective.

References

River, C. (2020). The Haitian revolution: The history and legacy of the slave uprising that led to Haiti’s independence. Independently published.

Stieber, C. (2020). Haiti’s paper war post-independence: Writing, Civil war, and the making of the republic, 1804–1954. New York University Press.

Terrell, S. R. (2022). Writing a proposal for your dissertation: Guidelines and examples. Guilford Publications.

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