The first three chapters of The Black Jacobins set the stage: the brutality of slavery (The Property), the arrogance of the planters (The Owners), and the hypocrisy of revolutionary France (Parliament and Property). Now, in Chapter 4, the story erupts.
“The San Domingo Masses Begin” is where the enslaved of Saint-Domingue stop waiting and start acting. The Haitian Revolution moves from whispers and Vodou ceremonies to fire and war. C.L.R. James takes us directly into the first great uprising one of the most extraordinary moments in human history.
The Weight of Chains
By 1791, the enslaved Africans of Saint-Domingue numbered nearly half a million. They had endured decades of torture, overwork, and humiliation. Death was constant. Families were torn apart. Survival itself was a daily act of resistance.
But James reminds us: they were not broken. They carried memories of Africa songs, languages, rituals, and dignity. In secret gatherings, they kept alive the idea that they were more than “property.” These invisible bonds would soon become the foundation for revolution.
Bois Caïman: A Night of Fire and Faith
On the night of August 14, 1791, in a wooded area called Bois Caïman, enslaved leaders gathered. It was not in a palace or parliament, but under the cover of night, in the rhythms of Vodou drums.
A priest named Dutty Boukman led the ceremony. Accounts describe him calling upon the enslaved to rise against their masters, swearing an oath of unity. A sacrifice was made, and a pact was sealed: they would burn the plantations, kill the masters, and claim their freedom.
Europe saw only “superstition.” But James shows it was political organization in disguise the enslaved were uniting, planning, and preparing for war.
The First Flames
Days later, the revolt began. Plantations across the northern plain of Saint-Domingue went up in fire. Cane fields burned, great houses were destroyed, and the enslaved struck with fury.
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Masters were killed or driven out.
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Hundreds of plantations collapsed within weeks.
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Shockwaves reached Cap-Français, the colony’s capital.
For the first time, the enslaved majority had thrown off the mask of submission. The revolution was no longer a dream it was burning reality.
Organization in Rebellion
What shocked the planters and French officials was not just the violence, but the discipline. This was not random chaos.
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Leaders coordinated attacks across wide regions.
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Slaves used signals drums, horns, and messengers to strike simultaneously.
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They spared some whites who were known to be less cruel.
James emphasizes: the enslaved were already acting as an army, not a mob. Their knowledge of terrain, their endurance, and their unity made them a formidable force.
A World in Shock
News of the uprising spread like wildfire. In Paris, revolutionaries were stunned. In Britain and Spain, rival empires watched with interest, hoping to benefit from France’s turmoil.
The planters screamed for more troops and harsher measures. But they could not undo what had begun. Once half a million human beings refused to be property, no army could fully cage them again.
Lessons from the First Rising
James underlines a crucial truth: the enslaved had waited and watched as whites and mulattoes fought over rights. They had seen liberty debated in Paris while denied in Saint-Domingue. When they rose, it was not in imitation of the French Revolution, but in fulfillment of a deeper, more urgent demand: freedom for themselves.
This was the true meaning of revolution not words in parliament, but fire in the cane fields.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 4 marks the birth of the Haitian Revolution. It is the moment when the enslaved seized history with their own hands. From here on, the revolution cannot be stopped. Leaders will rise, battles will be fought, but the fundamental truth has been established: those who were property are now insurgents, warriors, revolutionaries.
Chaos Decoder Insight
Revolution does not begin in parliaments. It begins in whispers at night, in rituals of faith, in the fire of fields where the oppressed decide they will die as men and women, not live as property.
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