Slavery
Cultural Contact in Southern Africa: Law, Slave Women and Children
Although marriage was not forbidden between Europeans and slaves or other non-Europeans, it was quite rare and entailed a drop in social status for the European. Nevertheless, sexual relationships occurred—sometimes coerced, sometimes by mutual agreement.
Cultural Contact in Southern Africa: Law, Alcohol Sale
The following law suggests that slaves and Khoikhoi were considered particularly prone to alcohol addiction. There is some anecdotal evidence that this was a common stereotype held by Europeans at the Cape.
Cultural Contact in Southern Africa: Will, Laurens Verbrugge and Beletje Frederikszoon
Laurens Verbrugge and Beletje Frederikszoon were ordinary people from Holland who settled in Stellenbosch (near Cape Town) and took up farming there. Though not wealthy, they did own slaves and had sufficient property that they felt the need to draw up a will when Beletje became ill.
The Pennsylvania Gazette: U.S. Vigilance (13 December 1797)
The Haitian uprising stoked the fears of whites in the United States that a similar uprising would occur among enslaved populations in their country.
The Pennsylvania Gazette: Unrest Continues (28 September 1796)
This newspaper details how despite the abolition of slavery in Haiti, turbulence continued in many parts of the colony. The French relied on local generals, including Toussaint L’Ouverture, to try to restore order.
The Pennsylvania Gazette: Free blacks and mulattos flee (4 December 1793)
Along with whites, free blacks and mulattos were also among those who fled the Haitian uprising. Mulattos could own slaves and plantations, and many of them did. Free blacks often manned the militias used to hunt down runaway slaves.
The Pennsylvania Gazette: White Refugees (17 July 1793)
This newspaper article reports sympathetically on the situation of the white refugees fleeing Haiti because of uprising. The articles details how the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia met the influx of these refugees.
The Pennsylvania Gazette: Blame Now Falls (16 May 1792)
The blame for the Haitian Revolution now falls, at least according to the author of this letter, on the "blood–thirsty aristocracy," which has created dissensions among the French. The author also expresses alarm at the thought of the revolt spreading to other islands in the Caribbean.
The Pennsylvania Gazette: Magnitude of the Insurrection (12 October 1791)
The magnitude of the Haitian insurrection quickly became clear as alarmed observers related that considerable armies were being raised to fight the rebels. It is noteworthy that such reports even to northern U.S. newspapers expressed little sympathy for the rebels.
The French Return from An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti
In this excerpt, Rainsford continues to exhalt the qualities of L’Ouverture while criticizing French behavior in the attempted reconquest of the island under Napoleon.