Revolutions

This chapter showed the stark differences between the various Atlantic Revolutions. The most interesting to me was the Haitian Revolution. The revolution was not only political but social as well, as the white ruling elite were killed or driven off and replaced with people of African and mixed ancestry. I did not know that Hati comes form the language of the native people of the Island, it is sad that so many diverse cultures were destroyed as a result of contact with the Europeans. It is amazing that a nation of mostly slaves totally transformed their Island nation and freed themselves from French control. The French has not let go of their former colonies easily, so the Haitian Revolution is especially amazing. The book also brings up an interesting point about Napoleon:that he transformed equality while taking away liberty. Since the days of the ancient Greeks balancing equality with liberty has always been hard. Napoleon seems to have left a lasting legacy with his legal and social reforms in France, albeit at the cost of untold numbers in lives across the globe on his military campaigns.