The Fear of French Negroes: Transcolonial Collaboration in the Revolutionary Americas

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

The Fear of French Negroes flashpoints The series solicits books that consider literature beyond strictly national and disciplinary frameworks, distinguished both by their historical grounding and their theoretical and conceptual strength. We seek studies that engage theory without losing touch with history and work historically without falling into uncritical positivism. FlashPoints aims for a broad audience within the humanities and the social sciences concerned with moments of cultural emergence and transformation. In a Benjaminian mode, FlashPoints is interested in how literature contributes to forming new constellations of culture and history and in how such formations function critically and politically in the present. Available online at http://repositories.cdlib.org/ucpress. Series Editors: Ali Behdad (Comparative Literature and English, UCLA); Judith Butler (Rhetoric and Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley), Founding Editor; Edward Dimendberg (Film & Media Studies, UC Irvine), Coordinator; Catherine Gallagher (English, UC Berkeley), Founding Editor; Jody Greene (Literature, UC Santa Cruz); Susan Gillman (Literature, UC Santa Cruz); Richard Terdiman (Literature, UC Santa Cruz) 1. On Pain of Speech: Fantasies of the First Order and the Literary Rant, by Dina Al-Kassim 2. Moses and Multiculturalism, by Barbara Johnson, with a foreword by Barbara Rietveld 3. The Cosmic Time of Empire: Modern Britain and World Literature, by Adam Barrows 4. Poetry in Pieces: César Vallejo and Lyric Modernity, by Michelle Clayton 5. Disarming Words: Empire and the Seductions of Translation in Egypt, by Shaden M. Tageldin 6. Wings for Our Courage: Gender, Erudition, and Republican Thought, by Stephanie H. Jed 7. The Cultural Return, by Susan Hegeman 8. English Heart, Hindi Heartland: The Political Life of Literature in India, by Rashmi Sadana 9. The Cylinder: Kinematics of the Nineteenth Century, by Helmut Müller-Sievers 10. Polymorphous Domesticities: Pets, Bodies, and Desire in Four Modern Writers, by Juliana Schiesari 11. Flesh and Fish Blood: Postcolonialism, Translation, and the Vernacular, by S. Shankar 12. The Fear of French Negroes: Transcolonial Collaboration in the Revolutionary Americas, by Sara E. Johnson The Fear of French Negroes Transcolonial Collaboration in the Revolutionary Americas Sara E. Johnson university of california press Berkeley • Los Angeles • London University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England© 2012 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Johnson, Sara E. (Sara Elizabeth) The fear of French negroes : transcolonial collaboration in the revolutionary Americas / Sara E. Johnson. p. cm. — (Flashpoints ; 12) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-520-27112-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Blacks—Caribbean Area—History—19th century. 2. Blacks—Gulf Coast (U.S.)—History—19th century. 3. Blacks—Race identity—Caribbean Area—History— 19th century. 4. Blacks—Race identity—Gulf Coast (U.S.)—History—19th century. 5. Blacks— Migrations—History—19th century. 6. Haiti— History—Revolution, 1791–1804—Influence. I. Title. F2191.B55J65 2012 305.896'969729—dc23 2012005111 Manufactured in the United States of America 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on 50–pound Enterprise, a 30% post-consumer-waste, recycled, deinked fiber that is processed chlorine-free. It is acid-free and meets all ansi/ niso (z 39.48) requirements. this book is made possible by a collaborative grant from the andrew w. mellon foundation. For my Egun For Kenneth and Carolyn For Julián and Amaya This page intentionally left blank ...