Earlier than gaining its independence, Haiti was often known as Saint-Domingue, a French colony that was the main exporter of sugar and occasional within the 18th century.
“The richest colony on the planet, richer than america on the time, was run by a Black man who was an ex-slave,” mentioned Haitian writer Daniel J.D. Bayard. “Clarify that!”
Exploring the period from 1771 to 1845, Bayard’s five-book narrative, Triumph to Tragedy, does simply that. Curious to know what actually went on within the 1700s, Bayard started his decade-long analysis course of searching for his household roots. Throughout the Jean Worth-Mars Cultural Group’s “Salon du Livre Haïtien de Miami,” Bayard shared with BLACK ENTERPRISE how he traced again to his first ancestor, Philippe Bayard, born in 1689 in Lille, France, who arrived in Saint-Domingue as a younger boy in 1710.
E book One: Intrigue-Romance-Betrayal And The Haitian Revolution 1771-1793 begins the journey of two lovers, Jean Baptiste Bayard and Marie Jasmine, navigating their lives by way of the primary slave rebellion of 1791. “There have been Black troopers from the colony that really fought within the American Revolution,” mentioned Bayard, whose ancestor was a type of troopers. “America had an enormous drawback as a result of it didn’t have sufficient sailors. So, guess who they had been hiring? Ex-slaves. Think about younger Black boys pulling into Charleston, South Carolina, or Savannah, Georgia, with cash of their pockets, speaking to the slaves working the dock. Slave homeowners had been petrified as a result of they didn’t need their slaves to revolt like Haiti.” In Triumph to Tragedy, readers will uncover how Haitian generals, troopers, businessmen, and property homeowners outmaneuvered a number of the strongest armies on the planet.
E book Two: The Rise of Toussaint Louverture 1793-1799 continues the saga, introducing Haitian hero Toussaint Louverture, the first-born son of a West African prince. Louverture grew to become Governor-Basic of Saint-Domingue and led France in its defeat of the Spanish Colonial Military. Bayard described Louverture as “one of the excellent people on the planet” who established army and political management over the colony and dominated his rivals.
In E book Three: The Fall of Toussaint and Rise of Dessalines 1799-1804, readers strategy the takeover of Jean-Jacques Dessalines after Toussaint was arrested and murdered in France as Napoleon Bonaparte urged to re-enslave the island. Nevertheless, based on Bayard, if Bonaparte had been “good, he would have labored with Toussaint who was working an excellent colony on the time, however as a substitute he wished to exchange him with a white authorities.” E book three leads into the Haitian Civil Conflict, the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the start of Haiti’s Republic in 1804.
By E book 4: The Conflict of Pétion and Christophe 1804-1820, readers will discover a brand new period for the brand new nation of Ayiti. As Commander of the Revolutionary Military, Dessalines assembled 40,000 women and men to defeat Napoleon’s French Military. He was joined by Christophe and Basic Alexandre Pétion. Readers will observe the principle characters of Triumph to Tragedy as they face the aftermath of liberation. When Dessalines was assassinated, Christophe sought final rule, with the roadblock of the Senate enforced by Pétion. “I didn’t know what actual conversations the characters had been having, however I did a whole lot of analysis on their personalities,” Bayard mentioned.
Triumph to Tragedy emphasizes the meals, tradition, households, and highly effective girls of Haiti like Suzanne Simone Louverture, Marie-Claire Heureuse Dessalines, Marie-Louise Christophe, and Marie-Madeleine “Joute” Lachenais. To finest painting the books’ contents, Bayard selected the work of longtime pal and Haitian artist Carl Craig. Describing his artwork type as symbolic expressionism, Craig’s cowl designs merge complexity and ease to have a good time the individuals of Haiti. “Since we began on this challenge, I’ve been completely consumed by this work as a result of I consider what he’s providing will not be solely details and historical past, but in addition his household story,” Craig advised BE. Lunches with Bayard spanned a number of hours to debate tales within the books. “We each notice there’s an significance for the story of Haiti to be advised. He introduced out issues that different historians have didn’t convey forth,” mentioned Craig.
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The March 29 ebook truthful marked the primary time the North Miami Public Library hosted the Jean Worth-Mars Cultural Group’s occasion at its Miami location. Bayard was amongst a number of Haitian authors featured on the occasion, together with filmmaker and philanthropist Langlichmie Normile, playwright and humanities advocate Jean Mapou, novelist Kettly Mars, and author Lyonel Gertes.
Bayard and Craig are scheduled to look in La Romana, Dominican Republic, on the Casa de Campo resort for the Oct. 3 launch of E book 5, which covers the years 1820-1845. Readers will proceed by way of the saga as Haiti takes over the Dominican Republic from 1822-1844, uncovering stunning particulars of the Dominican Conflict of Independence in opposition to Haiti. Discover character visuals, buy the books, and discover out extra about Haiti’s historical past on the Triumph to Tragedy web site.
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