To preserve the gains of the revolution, while restoring social order. Like
Bonaparte in France, Toussaint wants to "end" the revolution. ---- In the springof 1801, Toussaint Louverture, in a hurry to consolidate his work, had a
Constitution for Saint-Domingue drawn up. It is the gesture of a builder who now
sees himself as a "father of the nation», But also a challenge to the metropolis,
faced with a fait accompli. The Constituent Assembly, composed of 10 members
approved by Toussaint, is dominated by white and mulatto planters. She gave birth
to a text which, validated by Toussaint, was to be promulgated in Cape Town, then
in all the parishes of the country, with great publicity and solemn ceremonies.
Daughter of ten years of revolutionary convulsions, but tailor-made for the
strong man of the moment, the Constitution of 18 Messidor Year IX (July 7, 1801)
is at once autonomist, revolutionary and anti-racist, bourgeois and Caesarean,
militarist and clerical .
Constitution of 18 Messidor Year IX (PDF to download)
Autonomist. It is stipulated there that Saint-Domingue "is part of the French
Empire" but is endowed with "particular laws" (art. 1).
Revolutionary. "There can be no slaves in this land; servitude is there forever
abolished. All men are born, live and die free and French" (article 3).
Antiracist. Any citizen "whatever his color, is eligible for all jobs" (art. 4).
In reality, however, social mobility is prohibited for black farmers who are
attached to the land.
Bourgeoise. The Constitution guarantees private property (art. 75) to a
possessing class that has become multicolored, and subjects the cultivators to it
by stipulating that they form a "family" whose "owner of the land" is "the
father" (art. 15). The "cultivation regulations" of October 1800 and February
1801 are engraved in Constitution (art. 16).
Cesarean section. Like the Consulate regime, established in France by Bonaparte,
the Louverturian regime is akin to Caesarism: the Constitution stipulates that
Toussaint will remain governor "for the rest of his glorious life" (art. 28) and
that he will have power. exclusive choice of his successor (art. 30).
After that, the governor's mandate will be for a period of five years. The
governor appoints "to all civil and military employment" (art. 34), including in
each municipality (art. 49), has the power of "censorship" over any printed
matter (art. 39), and he alone can propose laws (art. 19) to the Central
Assembly, which has 10 deputies.
Militarist. After Toussaint's successor, the governor will be appointed by the
"Central Assembly" and by "the meeting of active army generals and departmental
commanders in chief" (art. 32).
Clerical. Breaking with the French Revolution, the Constitution of Saint-Domingue
proclaims Catholicism the official religion (art. 6), prohibits divorce (art. 10)
and subordinates the ecclesiastical apparatus to the authority of the governor
(art. 8). Voodoo, considered uncontrollable, has been prohibited since January 1800.
Guillaume Davranche (UCL Montreuil)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Dossier-Revolution-haitienne-La-Constitution-louverturienne-de-1801
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