Since my last post, I have not changed my research question. It remains: “How did French and Spanish colonizers in Colonial Hispaniola create differing conceptions of race?” This question is significant because it has had a lasting affect on interstate relations on the island, and because it emphasizes the importance of the creation racial hierarchies is Latin America. I’m particularly interested in learning about how each colonial entity viewed mixed-race children, as this question is important to understanding colonialism throughout the world at large.
Primary:
Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric-Louis-Élie. “Description…of the French Part of the Island of Saint-Domingue.” Slave Revolutions in the Caribbean 1789-1804: A Brief History with Documents, edited by Laurent Dubois and John D. Garrigus, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006, pp. 57-62.
Raimond, Julien. “Observations on the Origin and Progression of the White Colonists’ Prejudice against Men of Color.” Slave Revolutions in the Caribbean 1789-1804: A Brief History with Documents, edited by Laurent Dubois and John D. Garrigus, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006, pp. 78-82.
Secondary:
Eller, Anne. We Dream Together: Dominican Independence, Haiti, and the Fight for Caribbean Freedom. Durham & London: Duke University Press, 2016.
Gates, Henry Louis. “The Dominican Republic: ‘Black behind the Ears.’” In Black in Latin America. New York: NYU Press, 2011, pp. 119-145.
Howard, David. Coloring the Nation: Race and Ethnicity in the Dominican Republic. Oxford: L. Rienner Publishers, 2001.
Matibag, Eugenio. Hatian-Dominican Counterpoint: Nation, State, and Race on Hispaniola. New York: Palgrave, 2003.
This is a great question– I also think it’ll be interesting to see how the European colonizers’ conceptions of race differed and had a long-term impact on racial dynamics within Colonial Hispaniola. I think it could also potentially be cool to look into the norms/ideas among the people of Hispaniola with regard to race prior to the arrival of colonizers and see if the prejudices that were associated with skin color in the West were completely foreign to the native people of Hispaniola.
This seems like a really interesting idea, and I think the implications of this are really improtant. I feel like primary source documents that illustrate the European’s perspective will be really crucial, but I think that sources that show how the natives felt about race could be really interesting as well.
I really like this research topic and I think it has important long term effects in modern day Hispanola. I spent a week in high school at a school in the Dominican Republic and one of the things they mentioned to us were the tensions between students from the DR and students from Haiti which is mainly focused on racial differences. Looking at all three perspectives, Haitian, Dominican and European, should help to create a full view and hopefully help explain the continuous tensions that exist.
Excellent research question! I see that you’ve found Gates’ article. You might also enjoy his short documentary on Haiti and the DR when you have time: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/black-in-latin-america/
(I think you can also watch it if you know someone with Amazon prime)