A Pact with the Devil

Race relations were unusually complex in Saint Domingue. The enslaved population was the largest in the Caribbean, about ,, which was nearly twice that of Jamaica, the Caribbean colony with the second largest number of slaves. Since the European settlers only numbered about 40,, the French colonists established a three-tiered racial hierarchy, in which a small class of free people of color, known as gens de couleur , occupied a middle position between the enslaved Africans and the European planter class.

The goal, of course, was to create a social and political "buffer" between the slaves and the settlers.

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Until the s, this strategy was quite successful. There was little, if any, violent resistance in Saint Domingue, and the French reaped unimaginable profits from their Caribbean colony. Given these circumstances, it is natural to wonder how the Revolution in Haiti began. Political conflict emerged when the gens de couleur , the free Black population, began to pressure the colonial government for equal rights. In the midst of this political power struggle, a revolt erupted in August of under the leadership of a slave named Boukman, a reputedly influential man who used the religion of Vodun to inspire followers.

Vodun is essentially a blending of African spiritual beliefs with Catholicism. Significantly, it was this use of African spirituality that prompted Pat Robertson to describe the Haitian Revolution as "a pact with the Devil," since the Haitian Revolution began immediately after one of Boukman's spiritual ceremonies. Enslaved Africans, armed with machetes, began beating drums, chanting, and marching from plantation to plantation, killing, looting, and burning the cane fields.

Beginning with 12, followers, Boukman's revolt quickly blossomed into the largest, bloodiest slave uprising in history. By the end of September, over a thousand plantations had been burned, and hundreds of Whites had been killed. The gens de couleur soon joined the rebels, and violence continued to spread. After months of fighting and bloodshed, it became clear that the revolt had become impossible to control. In , Louverture gained control of the government and declared an end to slavery.

But the country was not yet free.

Deal with the Devil - Wikipedia

Over the next several years, both the French and Spanish attempted to re-impose European control and ensure the system of slavery would continue. In one of these conflicts, in , the French captured Louverture who died in while in French custody.

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Naturally, the French hoped that by capturing Toussaint, they would "chop the head off the rebellion," but that did not happen. Members of the gens de couleur who interestingly enough, had fought on the side of the American rebels in the Revolutionary War rose to power to replace Louverture. By , the Black rebels successfully defeated the French, and their new leader, Jean Jacques Dessalines, either killed off or drove out all the remaining Europeans colonists. In , Haiti declared its independence and announced the formation of the first independent Black republic in the Western Hemisphere.

After significant political turmoil in the wake of the revolution, Jean Pierre Boyer became the president of Haiti from to and Haiti settled into a brief period of political stability. The Haitian Revolution has been referred to as the "Vietnam of its day"—the story of an underfunded, militarily inexperienced group of insurgents who managed to defeat one of the world's strongest powers. In essence, a band of former slaves defeated Napoleon's army—the army that had inspired fear across Europe—and drove them out of Haiti.

The legacy of the Haitian Revolution has played a significant role in determining Haiti's destiny ever since. Although the Haitian Revolution was celebrated in some quarters, the saga of a successful slave rebellion and the subsequent establishment of an independent Black republic caused outrage around the world and ultimately caused Haiti to become one of the most hated and persecuted countries in history.

Immediately after Haiti's declaration of independence in , the newly formed Black republic served as a beacon of hope to people of African descent around the world. From their perspective, Haiti represented the ultimate victory over slavery and the culmination of Black political autonomy.

Is evolution a pact with the devil?

During the revolution, enslaved people had thrown off their shackles and declared their right to self-determination. Once Haiti became a sovereign nation, it appeared to be a living manifestation of what Black people throughout the African Diaspora had hoped to achieve and was celebrated widely in abolitionist circles.

Clearly, however, this vision of Haiti was not universally—or even broadly —embraced. Although the Haitian revolution was inspiring to the opponents of slavery, it was not well-received by the major slaveholding nations—the United States, England, and obviously France—and sent shock waves around the world. In slaveholding countries, the idea of an independent Black republic composed of former slaves was not only repugnant but threatening.

After all, such a reality shook the very foundations that the fragile system of slavery was based upon. If Haiti could have a successful slave rebellion, couldn't the same thing happen elsewhere? Perhaps in their very midst? And, ultimately, it was the system of slavery that provided the political and economic foundation of their societies.

Even worse, as some leaders admitted, the reality of Haiti challenged the other central component of slavery—White supremacy. Political leaders around the world announced their feelings about this matter openly. As Napoleon explained in the midst of the war in Haiti, "My decision to destroy the authority of the Blacks in Saint Domingue Haiti is not so much based on considerations of commerce and money…as on the need to block forever the forward march of Blacks in the world. Other nations agreed, and imposed diplomatic and economic sanctions on the newly formed Republic. These embargoes froze Haiti out of the global economic market, and denied the burgeoning nation diplomatic participation in the international political scene.

In , shortly after the outbreak of the Haitian revolution, George Washington's administration contributed significant funds to assist French planters in their fight against the Black rebels, and from that time an unwillingness to accept the reality of a free Black nation marred the U. There was a brief period, in which John Adams's administration offered some support to Toussaint Louverture in hopes that Louverture would contain French military operations in the rest of the Atlantic World.

However, once Haiti gained full independence, the U. Thomas Jefferson, for example, believed that Haiti should be under French control, and openly encouraged Napoleon to re-conquer the island. After Haiti declared its independence in , Jefferson was deeply troubled and suspended all diplomatic and commercial relations with the former colony. Although the United States eventually re-opened trade relations and benefited from their commercial relationship, the government still refused to open diplomatic ties or formally acknowledge Haiti's independence.

The United States did not agree to recognize Haiti diplomatically until —nearly 60 years after Haiti gained its independence. Undoubtedly, Southern politicians' and slaveholders' desires drove U. In the wake of various slave revolts in the United States, Southerners worried that recognizing Haiti would be a tacit endorsement of slave rebellion and therefore ferociously opposed the idea of establishing formal diplomatic relations with the Black republic.

Current Events in Historical Perspective gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Stanton Foundation. Skip to main content. It was also believed that some people made this type of pact just as a sign of recognizing the devil as their master, in exchange for nothing. Nevertheless, the bargain is considered a dangerous one, as the price of the Fiend's service is the wagerer's soul. The tale may have a moralizing end, with eternal damnation for the foolhardy venturer.

Conversely, it may have a comic twist, in which a wily peasant outwits the devil, characteristically on a technical point. The person making the pact sometimes tries to outwit the devil, but loses in the end e. Immune to the death penalty, he commits murder, but is sentenced to life in prison. It was usually thought that the person who had made a pact also promised the demon to kill children or consecrate them to the devil at the moment of birth many midwives were accused of this, due to the number of children who died at birth in the Middle Ages and Renaissance , take part in Witches Sabbaths , have sexual relations with demons, and sometimes engender children from a succubus , or an incubus in the case of women.

The pact can be oral or written. The mark could be used as a proof to determine that the pact was made. It was also believed that on the spot where the mark was left, the marked person could feel no pain. A written pact consists in the same forms of attracting the demon, but includes a written act, usually signed with the conjurer's blood although sometimes was also alleged that the whole act had to be written with blood, meanwhile some demonologists defended the idea of using red ink instead of blood and others suggested the use of animal blood instead of human blood.

These acts were presented often as a proof of diabolical pacts, though critics claim there is no proof of whether they were authentic, written by insane persons believing they were actually dealing with a demon, or just were fake acts presented by the tribunals of the Inquisition. Usually the acts included strange characters that were said to be the signature of a demon, and each one had his own signature or seal.

Books like The Lesser Key of Solomon also known as Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis give a detailed list of these signs, known as diabolical signatures. The Malleus Maleficarum discusses several alleged instances of pacts with the Devil, especially concerning women. It was considered that all witches and warlocks had made a pact with some demon, especially with Satan. According to demonology , there is a specific month, day of the week, and hour to call each demon, so the invocation for a pact has to be done at the right time.

Also, as each demon has a specific function, a certain demon is invoked depending on what the conjurer is going to ask. In the narrative of the Synoptic Gospels , Jesus is offered a series of bargains by the devil, in which he is promised worldly riches and glory in exchange for serving the devil rather than God.

After Jesus rejects the devil's offers, he embarks on his travels as the Messiah [3] see Temptations of Christ. The predecessor of Faustus in Christian mythology is Theophilus "Friend of God" or "Beloved of God" the unhappy and despairing cleric, disappointed in his worldly career by his bishop, who sells his soul to the devil but is redeemed by the Virgin Mary. A ninth-century Miraculum Sancte Marie de Theophilo penitente inserts a Virgin as intermediary with diabolus , his "patron", providing the prototype of a closely linked series in the Latin literature of the West.

In the tenth century, the poet nun Hroswitha of Gandersheim adapted the text of Paulus Diaconus for a narrative poem that elaborates Theophilus' essential goodness and internalizes the seduction of good and evil, in which the devil is magus , a necromancer. As in her model, Theophilus receives back his contract from the devil, displays it to the congregation, and soon dies. The term "a pact with the devil" is also used metaphorically to condemn a person or persons perceived as having collaborated with an evil person or regime. An example of this is the Nazi-Jewish negotiations during the Holocaust , both positively [18] and negatively.

A Pact with the Devil

However, Rudolf Kastner was accused of negotiating with the Nazis to save a select few at the expense of the many. According to some, the term served to inflame public hatred against Kastner, culminating in his assassination. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.