Description
The abolitions of slavery in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue in 1793 and in revolutionary France in 1794 were the first dramatic blows against an institution that had shaped the Atlantic world for three centuries and affected the lives of millions of people. Based on extensive archival research, You Are All Free provides the first complete account of the dramatic events that led to these epochal decrees, and also to the destruction of Cap Francais, the richest city in the French Caribbean, and to the first refugee crisis in the United States. Taking issue with earlier accounts that claim that Saint-Domingue's slaves freed themselves, or that French revolutionaries abolished slavery as part of a general campaign for universal human rights, the book shows that abolition was the result of complex and often paradoxical political struggles on both sides of the Atlantic that have frequently been misunderstood by earlier scholars.
The events leading to the abolition of slavery in the French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1793, and in France.
About the Author
Jeremy D. Popkin, T. Marshall Hahn Jr Professor of History at the University of Kentucky, has written numerous books on the French and Haitian Revolutions and on the subject of autobiographical literature, including Revolutionary News: The Press in France, 1789-1799 (1990), History, Historians and Autobiography (2005), and Facing Racial Revolution: Eyewitness Accounts of the Haitian Revolution (2007). He has been a visiting Professor at the College de France (2009) and Brown University (2005) and held numerous fellowships, including awards from the J. S. Guggenheim Foundation, the National Humanities Center, the Fulbright Program, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the Newberry Library.
Reviews
'This is an impeccably researched and narrated history of the Saint-Domingue Revolution, which pivots on the destruction of the city of Cap Francois on the journee of June 20, 1793. It compellingly takes issue with a number of leading historiographical perspectives and for that reason alone deserves attention.' Seymour Drescher, University of Pittsburgh
'The events of 1793 were a watershed moment in the history of slavery and democracy. Popkin's deeply researched and fascinating account of this transformative moment is a major contribution to the existing literature on the history of the Haitian Revolution and on emancipation in the Atlantic world.' Laurent M. Dubois, Duke University
'Grafting original research in the colonial archives onto an extensive background in French Revolution scholarship, Jeremy Popkin has quickly established himself as one of the leading analysts of the Haitian Revolution. You Are All Free serves up a vivid and finely detailed investigation of a key turning point in Atlantic world history.' David Geggus, University of Florida
'Brilliantly written and tightly argued, this book will compel readers to rethink the history of Haiti, the French Revolution, and the abolition of slavery.' Lynn Hunt, Eugen Weber Professor of Modern European History, University of California, Los Angeles
Awards
Winner of J. Russell Major Prize, American Historical Association 2011 and David Pinkney Prize, Society for French Historical Studies 2010.
Book Information
ISBN 9780521517225
Author Jeremy D. Popkin
Format Hardback
Page Count 440
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 700g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 29mm
The events leading to the abolition of slavery in the French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1793, and in France.
About the Author
Jeremy D. Popkin, T. Marshall Hahn Jr Professor of History at the University of Kentucky, has written numerous books on the French and Haitian Revolutions and on the subject of autobiographical literature, including Revolutionary News: The Press in France, 1789-1799 (1990), History, Historians and Autobiography (2005), and Facing Racial Revolution: Eyewitness Accounts of the Haitian Revolution (2007). He has been a visiting Professor at the College de France (2009) and Brown University (2005) and held numerous fellowships, including awards from the J. S. Guggenheim Foundation, the National Humanities Center, the Fulbright Program, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the Newberry Library.
Reviews
'This is an impeccably researched and narrated history of the Saint-Domingue Revolution, which pivots on the destruction of the city of Cap Francois on the journee of June 20, 1793. It compellingly takes issue with a number of leading historiographical perspectives and for that reason alone deserves attention.' Seymour Drescher, University of Pittsburgh
'The events of 1793 were a watershed moment in the history of slavery and democracy. Popkin's deeply researched and fascinating account of this transformative moment is a major contribution to the existing literature on the history of the Haitian Revolution and on emancipation in the Atlantic world.' Laurent M. Dubois, Duke University
'Grafting original research in the colonial archives onto an extensive background in French Revolution scholarship, Jeremy Popkin has quickly established himself as one of the leading analysts of the Haitian Revolution. You Are All Free serves up a vivid and finely detailed investigation of a key turning point in Atlantic world history.' David Geggus, University of Florida
'Brilliantly written and tightly argued, this book will compel readers to rethink the history of Haiti, the French Revolution, and the abolition of slavery.' Lynn Hunt, Eugen Weber Professor of Modern European History, University of California, Los Angeles
Awards
Winner of J. Russell Major Prize, American Historical Association 2011 and David Pinkney Prize, Society for French Historical Studies 2010.
Book Information
ISBN 9780521517225
Author Jeremy D. Popkin
Format Hardback
Page Count 440
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 700g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 29mm
