Rieth 1 Christina Rieth HIST 212 12 March 2012 From the Ground Up: Developing New French and

Haitian Governments during the Late 18th and Early 19th Century Following the French Revolution of 1789, new figures rose to power and realized that the days of the monarchy were over; to ensure prosperity, a new structure of government that represented all the men of France had to be established. However, there were numerous ways to approach this situation. The Declaration of the Rights of Man provides a one alternative to absolutist, pre-Revolutionary France. The declaration, which was proposed by Duke Mathieu of Montmorency (Friedland 9), contains a basic foundation for the new government, seeks to extend rights to the previously underrepresented majority, the Third Estate (113), and encourages all citizens to actively participate in politics under a National Assembly (6). Olympe de Gouges, author of The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, seeks to correct and complete what she claims is missing from The Declaration of the Rights of Man. Unfortunately, the syntax of both declarations leaves them subject to interpretation and conflict. Across the Atlantic Ocean in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (later known as Haiti), the Haitian Constitution of1801 by Toussaint Louverture clearly aims to end slavery and provide freedom for citizens of all colors, but it also avoids the language used in the French declarations and speaks in a cautious manner. Before analyzing the text of the French declarations, it is important to notice that there were many authors contributing to The Declaration of the Rights of Man and another author contributing to The Declaration of the Rights of Woman. This in itself reflects the flow of new ideas coming from many sources, which foreshadows trouble. The Declaration of the Rights of

Rieth 2 Man, written in 1789, and The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, written in 1791, assure hope for the French citizens, but the promises assured in each document could only be kept a few years. Not only were the ideas within both documents fairly new to the citizens of France, but they were also unclear. By 1793, widespread political participation was soon stripped (Friedland 279, 280). Rather than set France up for success, these two declarations set France up for disaster. The authors of The Declaration of the Rights of Man sought to denounce any hint of preRevolutionary absolutist, but they overcorrected the problem in the process. Several articles within the declaration regarding political participation are broad and subject to interpretation, which led to much discord for the next several years. Article 6 states that every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation (Montmorency). This sentence itself points towards inefficiency: it does not clarify whether both systems of political participation are welcome simultaneously or not or if one system of political participation is preferred over the other. Article 10 states, No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions (Montmorency), followed by Article 11: the free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man (Montmorency). Without any conditions to this clause, this not only lead to an unlimited amount of political expression, but it also lead to disorganization during meetings and discussions. One example of this chaos is what Arthur Young describes while observing a debate among French deputies: The spectators in the galleries are allowed to interfere in the debates this is grossly indecent; it is also dangerous. (Friedland 180) Without restrictions, it became quite difficult for the French to contain and filter the circulating political speech.

Rieth 3 Rather than contribute positively towards the new political system in France, Olympe de Gouges unexpectedly adds another conflict. De Gouges, like many women after the French Revolution, demanded equality in several aspects, including property, and politics, and paternity. The Declaration of the Rights of Man only called for universal mens suffrage (Friedland 282), and a womans only opportunity to participate in politics was through political clubs (178). She also calls the women of France to wake up and join [men] to all the activities of man through national education, the restoration of morals, and conjugal conventions (de Gouges). She expresses frustration anger and manipulates The Declaration of the Rights of Man in a satirical manner. Many articles in The Declaration of the Rights of Woman are nearly verbatim to those in the Rights of Man. Article 1 in The Declaration of the Rights of Man states, Men are born and remain free and equal in rights (Montmorency), while Article 1 of The Declaration of the Rights of Woman states, Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights (de Gouges). Only two years after the beginning of the French Revolution, the demand to be constituted into a national assembly (de Gouges) may have come on too strong and too soon. French political figures were still trying to figure out how citizens were represented, rather the specifics of whom. She also uses strong language, calling men bizarre, blind, bloated with science and degenerated (de Gouges). Lastly, she concludes by saying, Add this to the marriage of priests and the strengthening of the king on his throne, and the French government cannot fail (de Gouges). This final sentence immediately dissuades French Catholics and the supporters of the new French government. Two years after The Declaration of the Rights of Woman was published, de Gouges was arrested for treason and executed under the rule of the National Convention.

Rieth 4 Before even delving into the content of the Haitian Constitution, its best to look at who wrote it: Toussaint Louverture was an ex-slave, a military leader in the Haitian Revolution, and the first Governor of the colony of Saint-Domingue (Trouillot 37, 38). His background and achievement assured him popularity among the Haitian citizens. In the same way that The Declaration of the Rights of Man sought to extend rights to men in the Third Estate, The Haitian Constitution primarily seeks to end slavery and extend rights to citizens of all colors. However, the language and conditions of the Haitian Constitution were more pre-Revolutionary and far less radical. In the first sentence, the authors of the document refer to themselves as representatives of the colony of Saint-Domingue (Louverture), rather than an independent, sovereign nation. This wording may have been chosen carefully in order to maintain economic security and relations with France. In Title VI: Of Cultures and Commerce of the Haitian Constitution, Article 14 states that The colony being essentially agricultural (Louverture). By doing so, it asserts its duty as a colony by providing solely agricultural goods and not allowing other sectors, such as the industrial sector, to be established on the colony. In Title VII: Of the Legislation and Legislative Authority, Article 25 states that the hearings shall not be public (Louverture). Here, Louverture chooses not to risk combining theater and politics as their French counterparts did following the Revolution. Rather than have turn politics into a spectacle with an audience, they enclose the political walls and immediately establish representative democracy through a Governor, Central Assembly, and mayors, all with distinct levels of authority. The clarity of the extension of rights and the language within the three documents determined how difficult the process would be to apply the new form of government within these French nations. Although France struggled more than Haiti after the French Revolution, France

Rieth 5 also left opportunities for correction and revision, and France also provided a foundation for its Atlantic colony.

Rieth 6 Works Cited De Gouges, Olympe. Declaration of the Rights of Woman. France, 1791. Print. Duke Mathieu of Montmorency. Declaration of the Rights of Man. France, 1789. Print. Friedland, Paul. Political Actors: Representative Bodies and Theatricality in the Age of the French Revolution. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2002. Print. Louverture, Toussaint. Haitian Constitution of 1801. Saint-Domingue, 1801. Print. Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Boston: Beacon, 1997. Print.