A majority of Haiti’s revolutionaries were African-born slaves.

Evidence

The precise, that is historical, relationship of the maroons to the Haitian revolution is still a matter of debate—particularly so among Haitian historians. Some traditions hold that the maroons played no role in the revolution at all. Others declare that the maroons were “the principal origin of the rising of 1791.” If it were not Haiti about which the controversy revolved, the debate might have very well been settled by the available evidence. After all, voodoo, which James termed “the medium of the conspiracy” (of 1791), had also inspired earlier maroon revolts, the most important of which had occurred barely thirty years before under the guide of Mackandel; two of the Revolution’s first leaders were maroons: Boukman “a fugitive slave from Jamaica,” and Jean François “who had spent the last few years prior to 1791 as a maroon”; and, as well, when in late August, mulattos of the Western Province too rose up against the French, we know that they enlisted maroons whom they termed “the Swiss,” (and whom they would eventually betray). — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 733 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Most Saint-Domingue slaves were African-born by the late eighteenth century; Eighteenth-century slave revolts were led mainly by African-born slaves; Maroons were integral participants in the genesis of the Haitian Revolution — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 733 (+3 more)

Related

• Maroons were integral participants in the genesis of the Haitian Revolution (similarity 0.91)
• Maroon growth came chiefly from slave rebellions and escapes. (similarity 0.88)
• The African-born majority of Haitian slaves shaped the coming revolution (similarity 0.86)
• The Haitian Revolution was itself largely an African revolution (similarity 0.86)
• Most Saint-Domingue slaves were African-born by the late eighteenth century (similarity 0.85)
• Contemporary slaves understood Haiti’s revolution better than later historians would. (similarity 0.85)
• Saint-Domingue’s slaves were mostly African, making the revolution partly an African revolution (similarity 0.85)
• Caribbean rebels consciously modeled their revolts on the Haitian revolution (similarity 0.83)
• Haitian slaves transformed themselves into organized armies under radical leadership. (similarity 0.82)
• More than half of the colony’s population was Africa-born on revolution’s eve (similarity 0.82)
• Haitian slaves were not a Marxian proletariat yet shared its historical formation (similarity 0.82)
• Haitian slaves matched Europe’s revolutionary wars in capacity and heroism (similarity 0.81)
• Slave societies across the Americas watched the 13-year Haitian Revolution with opposite emotions. (similarity 0.81)
• The Haitian Revolution uniquely made slaves, not owners, its protagonists (similarity 0.81)
• News of the Haitian Revolution inspired slaves across the Americas to revolt (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Maroons were integral participants in the genesis of the Haitian Revolution #expands (0.45) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 733
• Plantations concentrated slaves from particular African regions in large numbers. #expands (0.45)
• Cuba’s sugar boom replaced Haiti using massive new slave imports #expands (0.35)
• Haitian Creole emerged from mingling French dialects with African languages. #expands (0.30) — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 159