Historical Footnotes (+ Bonus Sketches!):

Can you draw Haiti, in a military uniform during the Haitian Revolution? Thank you very much for wonderful and historical art

“The Good Lord who created the sun which gives us light from above, who rouses the sea and makes the thunder roar–listen well, all of you–this god, hidden in the clouds, watches us. He sees all that the white people do. The god of the white people demands from them crimes; our god asks for good deeds. But this god who is so good demands vengeance! He will direct our hands; he will aid us. Throw away the image of the god of the whites who thirsts for our tears, and listen to the voice of liberty which speaks in the hearts of all of us.”

The Haitian Revolution took place between 1791 and 1804, and was an insurrection by the slaves of Saint Domingue, now Haiti, against French colonial rule. To this day, it is considered the only successful slave rebellion, establishing an independent society of liberated slaves.

Historical Footnotes (+ bonus sketches!):

I TRIED ON THE LIGHTING.... I TRIED

The quote from before is Dutty Boukman’s speech, one of the early leaders of the Revolution. Born in Senegambia, he was captured, enslaved, and sent to the new World, where he ended up in Haiti as a carriage driver and a vodou priest. He played a key role in northern Haiti, where he presided over a religious ceremony in 1791 that would kick off the revolution. He is said to have give this speech during the ceremony!

You’ll notice that her uniform looks remarkably similar to those of the American Revolution. This is because the two events took place very close to one another- in fact, many of the freed people of color in Haiti had served in the American Revolution themselves.  

Women played a large role in the Revolution. People like Suzanne Belair had leadership positions in the army, as well as countless other women who served integral roles in the information networks that organized the rebellion.

I probably should’ve added golden embroidery on her collar and wristcuffs but I legit forgot IM SORRY

This was the original sketch for this, cuz I wanted to try to doing more dynamic poses, but it just didnt feel right to me? Part of the reason I took so long to do this was because I took months to mull over it until I had a better vision of what I wanted!

sketch I did to get her features down!