Description
Book SynopsisShortly after winning its independence in 1804, Haiti's leaders realized that if their nation was to survive, it needed to build strong diplomatic bonds with other nations. This book documents the rise and fall of the campaign for black emigration to Haiti, drawing on a variety of archival sources to share the rich voices of emigrants themselves.
Trade ReviewThis period of Haitian history is notoriously difficult to study due to the scarcity of primary sources, but Fanning skillfully uses American newspaper publications for evidence of the motives, demographics, and experiences of the migrants as well as the political and economic incentives of those promoting the movement. * Journal of American Ethnic History *
In this concise study of early nineteenth-century African American migration to Haiti, the only free nation at that time committed to anti-slavery and racial equality, Sara Fanning opens a new window on American views toward the black republic as both a haven for urban free blacks seeking refuge from racial oppression at home, and as a potential solution to the twin problems of U.S. slavery and abolition. Using various ship records, contemporary correspondence and memoirs, the book traces the crossings of individual African American exiles and offers for the first time an inside view of life in Haiti for these & political pilgrims. The book makes a much needed contribution to the history of race relations in the early national periods of the first two independent republics of the Americas. -- Carolyn Fick,Concordia University
Most Americans know about the & return to Africa movement among free blacks in the US, which resulted in the formation of a new African nation, the Republic of Liberia, in 1847. Probably far fewer know about the slave rebellion against French colonial masters. To African Americans in the early 19thcentury, Haiti embodied racial equality and freedom from intense, institutionalized racial discrimination and insufferable white supremacy. Fanning provides the first comprehensive account of this forgotten chapter in US and African American history. * Choice *
[]Caribbean Crossingdeserves to be read because of its clarity, its methodology, and its multidimensionality. * The Journal of Southern History *
Caribbean Crossingis worth reading for those interested in Haitian history and as a case study in the pitfalls of racial migration. * The Journal of American History *
Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1 Migration to Haiti in the Context of Other Contemporary Migrations 17 2 Haiti's Founding Fathers 25 3 Boyer's Recognition Project 41 4 The Marketing of Haiti 59 5 Push and Pull in Haitian Emigration 77 6 Haitian Realities and the Emigrants' Return 99 Conclusion 119 Notes 125 Index 159 About the Author 169
