- The Haitian Revolution is a problematic term, one that I use with some caution. When used haphazardly, it becomes this sweeping term that devours everything in its path and then spits out all sorts of stupid conclusions.
- Misapplied, it creates all sorts of minefields: it collapses what should be expanded; erases what should be highlighted; it creates intentionality where none exists.
- What you end up with at times is a kind of torturous Bed of Procrustes, making strange bedfellows of cause and effect.
- The Haitian Revolution was a liquid, not a solid. And as such, it ought to be framed as a continuous set of processes: this happened, followed by that, and then that; this event is connected to that one; this individual made these decisions in this or that context, which then resulted in that… .
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