Island Beneath the Sea

Central to the novel’s events are the social and political changes taking place in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, located in modern-day Haiti. The novel opens in the 1770s, when Saint-Domingue was France’s most profitable colony, producing a variety of goods for export around the world, most notably sugarcane but also cocoa, coffee, and indigo. The economy was based on a system of slavery, with European enslavers bringing tens of thousands of captive African people to the Caribbean island each year to engage in forced labor. Due to widespread diseases, strenuous working conditions, and the brutality of the enslavers, many of these enslaved people died within a few short years of arriving in Saint-Domingue.

Several distinct social classes emerged, based on economic and racial divisions. The grand blancs, or rich whites, were aristocratic French citizens who owned the sugar plantations; many hoped to turn a quick profit before returning to France. The petits blancs, or poor whites, included merchants, tradespeople, and overseers. A third category included free people of color, also known as the affranchis, many of whom shared European and African ancestry. Though these people were not enslaved, they notably lacked political rights and were limited in their career choices. Some of the affranchis were property owners who identified culturally with France and sought to uphold the system of slavery.

By the time of the French Revolution in 1789, there were about half a million enslaved people in Saint-Domingue, along with 24,000 affranchis and more than 30,000 European colonists. As in France, tensions between social classes led to a series of escalating conflicts, starting in 1791. Some fugitives from slavery, known as Maroons, took refuge in the mountains and fought guerilla warfare against the colonial militia. Many of these Maroons participated in Voodoo religious ceremonies that featured inspiring, revolutionary rhetoric. Meanwhile, though the affranchis secured some additional social and political privileges from political leaders in France, the European colonists were slow to implement reforms, setting the groups at odds with each other. As the colony split into factions, various other countries, including Spain and England, became involved in the hopes of furthering their economic interests.

During the mid-1790s, Toussaint Louverture, who was formerly enslaved, rose to prominence as leader of the revolutionaries. After slavery was formally abolished, Toussaint encouraged formerly enslaved people to return to work under new conditions. However, in 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte sent additional troops to the island in an attempt to reinstate slavery. During the ensuing struggle, Toussaint was captured and sent to prison in France, where he died.

In 1803, the revolutionary army defeated the French army, who withdrew. On January 1, 1804, the former colony declared independence from France under the name of Haiti, which was the name of the island used by its original, indigenous inhabitants—the Arawak, who were themselves enslaved and largely eradicated centuries earlier by Spanish colonists. France would not formally recognize the new nation until 1825. The Haitian Revolution is widely regarded as one of the most significant uprisings by self-emancipated people in history, and it sent shockwaves throughout the other counties and colonies where slavery was practiced. Island Beneath the Sea offers a personal look at the way these changes may have affected individuals.