The Early Haitian State and the Question of Political Legitimacy by James Forde

Author:James Forde
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030526085
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

British Reactions to the Emergence of a New World King

When news emerged of the coronation of a black king in the Caribbean—and one who apparently styled himself on the British sovereign—British conservative newspapers reacted negatively to news that their own cherished form of monarchy had been mimicked. If Christophe had hoped that his turn to monarchy would increase his popularity in Britain, and that this would translate into diplomatic recognition of Haiti from the British government, this initially backfired in the British press.72 British newspapers sneered at the “spectacle” of a black monarchy and the presence of a “sable monarch”. Christophe’s blackness reduced him to a primal and volatile figure who was said to be “thirsting after the baubles of regal splendour”.73 For others—such as the loyalist York Herald —Christophe’s kingly status made a mockery of the traditional form of monarchy on which Britain had been built. His adoption of monarchical practices was apparently “amusing enough”, but much more serious for the newspaper was when “this would-be-Sovereign had the audacity to rise up, and drink to—‘His Brother the King of Great Britain.’”74 For the Herald, copying Britain’s form of governance was one thing, but to allude to any closeness or direct alignment between the Haitian and British monarchies was a step too far and too close for comfort. Reports claimed that the Haitian king was not only violent but a “determined enemy” of the British, and some publications even very publicly wished for “an end to the Imperial Government of St. Domingo, and its sable Dukes, Count Marshals &c.”75 According to newspapers such as the Observer , Christophe’s followers affectionately referred to their monarch as the “‘Avenger of the African Race’”, thereby depicting the presence of a black sovereign as a potential threat to British interests in the Caribbean.76 Other reports looked to continue the narrative that Haiti would inspire the slaves of Britain’s colonies to revolt as Christophe was said to have been looking to export the spirit of the Haitian Revolution throughout the Caribbean.77

The rhetoric found in reports such as these, and the lack of positive reactions to his coronation, certainly point to a reluctance among the British press to conceive of and accept a black monarch. Indeed, at times these reports directly expressed indignation at the subversion of racial hierarchy that the Haitian monarchy represented. As with British depictions of Dessalines, however, these reports cannot be read only through the prism of a British fear of the presence of a black imperial sovereign. They also need to be considered in conjunction with the anxieties of a British population that continued to debate the concept of legitimate political rule—a debate that had been sparked by the upheaval of traditional hierarchies throughout Europe and the formidable rise of Napoleon. Despite rare exceptions, British radicals and reformers largely ignored the Haitian monarchy in their writing, perhaps because they thought it best to avoid the issue of a post-revolutionary society apparently choosing to style itself on the very monarchy they opposed.78

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