2023 Honorable Mention, Isis Duarte Book Prize, Haiti/ Dominican Republic section (LASA)

After revolutionary cooperation between Dominican and Haitian majorities produced independence across Hispaniola, Dominican elites crafted negative myths about this era that contributed to anti-Haitianism.

Despite the island's long-simmering tensions, Dominicans and Haitians once unified Hispaniola. Based on research from over two dozen archives in multiple countries, Siblings of Soil presents the overlooked history of their shared imperial endings and national beginnings from the 1780s to 1822. Haitian revolutionaries both inspired and aided Dominican antislavery and anti-imperial movements. Ultimately, Santo Domingo's independence from Spain came in 1822 through unification with Haiti, as Dominicans embraced citizenship and emancipation. Their collaboration resulted in one of the most unique and inclusive forms of independence in the Americas.

Elite reactions to this era formed anti-Haitian narratives. Racial ideas permeated the revolution, Vodou, Catholicism, secularism, and even Deism. Some Dominicans reinforced Hispanic and Catholic traditions and cast Haitians as violent heretics who had invaded Dominican society, undermining the innovative, multicultural state. Two centuries later, distortions of their shared past of kinship have enabled generations of anti-Haitian policies, assumptions of irreconcilable differences, and human rights abuses.

About the Author

Charlton W. Yingling is an assistant professor at the University of Louisville. He coedited the book Free Communities of Color and the Revolutionary Caribbean.

Reviews
Yingling's Siblings of Soil is a history of the Haitian Revolution and its aftermath that focuses on the militaristic, religious, and kinship ties between Haitians and the Spanish side of the island. Grounded in astonishing archival research that spans Europe, the Caribbean, the United States, and Australia, Siblings of Soil demonstrates how African descendants across Hispaniola collaborated across time to ultimately unify the island under Haiti in 1822. This contribution centers the whole island in the broader historical literature on the Age of Revolutions. It moreover is a poignant reminder of a bygone era of cooperation in the forging of an independent, anti-slavery, and anti-colonial Black state. The Isis Duarte Book Prize committee commends Siblings of Soil for its extraordinary research and timely innovation. * Isis Duarte Prize Committee, Haiti/ Dominican Republic section of the Latin American Studies Association *
Yingling . . . masterfully [argues] that the Dominican Republic did not gain independence from but rather separated itself from Haiti. He also provides pertinent examples of Dominican influence on Haiti in its early years and of collaborative efforts between the two 'siblings.' . . Importantly, Yingling locates Santo Domingo in the historiography of the Age of Revolutions. Haiti, at least, has received more recognition in this era given the significance of the Haitian Revolution. . . This well-researched book incorporates archival material from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, France, Spain, Cuba, and Vatican City. . . Highly recommended. * CHOICE *
Siblings of Soil successfully delineates the importance of an archivally grounded understanding of the history of the island and is a notable contribution to the historiographical effort, expanding how we under-stand the revolutionary age to have been lived. * H-Net Reviews (H-Caribbean) *
[Siblings of Soil] is a welcome contribution to a range of historiographies, and it sheds light on a too-often overlooked part of the Age of Revolutions . . . Yingling has produced a significant work that belongs in the libraries of scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. * H-Net Reviews (H-Slavery) *



Book Information
ISBN 9781477326091
Author Charlton W. Yingling
Format Hardback
Page Count 368
Imprint University of Texas Press
Publisher University of Texas Press
Weight(grams) 594g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 38mm