Death, Freedom, and Decolonial Sovereignty: Rereading Jean-Jacques Dessalines’s Revolutionary ethic "Liberté ou la Mort" in the Context of Haitian Independence.
Document Type
Presentation
Location
Magnolia Room, LSU Student Union / Zoom
Start Date
5-3-2026 3:20 PM
End Date
5-3-2026 3:40 PM
Abstract
More than two centuries after Haiti declared its independence in 1804, the revolutionary ideals that founded the nation still resonate throughout its political, cultural, and intellectual history. Some of these principles prompt reflection on whether the Haitian Declaration of Independence aims to elevate individual pride and praise or to serve collective glory. Drawing on Dessalines’s speeches collected in the volume “Haiti and the Atlantic World,” edited by Julia Gaffield, I examine how this influential, academic collection places Haiti at the center of Atlantic history and continues to shape Haiti’s national identity. Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758–1806), one of the Haitian revolutionary leaders, declared that: “It is better to die than to live under French domination,” after defeating the French army. This proclamation reveals a revolutionary ethic that equates freedom with existential dignity and demonstrates a radical refusal to accept French imperialist rule as compatible with human life. So, I ask to what extent does Dessalines’s statement justify revolutionary violence as a necessary response to French colonial rule and oppression? How does this declaration redefine what it means to be “free” from slavery? And is death, in Dessalines’s view, a form of both physical and spiritual liberation from the dehumanizing system of slavery? To answer these questions, I will examine the racial tension, the violence, and the anti-colonial tone that characterizes the declaration, as set out in the Independence Act, to determine whether personal pride is connected to collective moral duty. I will also show how the declaration shapes national identity through shared suffering and shared vengeance.
Death, Freedom, and Decolonial Sovereignty: Rereading Jean-Jacques Dessalines’s Revolutionary ethic "Liberté ou la Mort" in the Context of Haitian Independence.
Magnolia Room, LSU Student Union / Zoom
More than two centuries after Haiti declared its independence in 1804, the revolutionary ideals that founded the nation still resonate throughout its political, cultural, and intellectual history. Some of these principles prompt reflection on whether the Haitian Declaration of Independence aims to elevate individual pride and praise or to serve collective glory. Drawing on Dessalines’s speeches collected in the volume “Haiti and the Atlantic World,” edited by Julia Gaffield, I examine how this influential, academic collection places Haiti at the center of Atlantic history and continues to shape Haiti’s national identity. Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758–1806), one of the Haitian revolutionary leaders, declared that: “It is better to die than to live under French domination,” after defeating the French army. This proclamation reveals a revolutionary ethic that equates freedom with existential dignity and demonstrates a radical refusal to accept French imperialist rule as compatible with human life. So, I ask to what extent does Dessalines’s statement justify revolutionary violence as a necessary response to French colonial rule and oppression? How does this declaration redefine what it means to be “free” from slavery? And is death, in Dessalines’s view, a form of both physical and spiritual liberation from the dehumanizing system of slavery? To answer these questions, I will examine the racial tension, the violence, and the anti-colonial tone that characterizes the declaration, as set out in the Independence Act, to determine whether personal pride is connected to collective moral duty. I will also show how the declaration shapes national identity through shared suffering and shared vengeance.
Comments
Mawuli is a PhD student and serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of French and Francophone Studies at Louisiana State University. He has also received the prestigious Hoguet Alexander Major Memorial Scholarship. Hailing from the Volta Region of Ghana, Mawuli earned a Master’s in Global French Studies with an emphasis on Second Language Acquisition from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA. Additionally, he holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the University of Winneba and a Bachelor of Arts in French and Information Studies from the University of Ghana. His research focuses on modern Francophone literature and culture from the 20th and 21st centuries, especially West African, Caribbean, and Indonesian Francophone stories, gender and sexuality issues, and postcolonial migration. Currently, his work investigates themes of hope and disillusionment in Sub-Saharan African youths’ risky coastal migration journeys to Europe, while also analyzing the socio-political forces behind these movements.