The Universal Spirit of Freedom: Haiti and England in a Contemporary Interpretation of the Atlantic Revolutions (1791-1816)

• Grant number: 25/04078-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Modern and Contemporary History
• Principal Investigator: Daniel Gomes de Carvalho
• Grantee: Felipe Oliverio Bergonso
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This paper, using the approach of the Intellectual History, aims to analyze the works of Captain Marcus Rainsford (1758-1817), considering them as contemporary interpretations of the Age of Atlantic Revolutions. From this perspective, the study seeks to understand the different notions of revolution in the author's works and his concept of the "spirit of freedom" (in his own terms). The proposal is a comparative analysis of the British writer's texts on the English Revolutions and the Haitian Revolution, situating them within their respective linguistic and historical contexts, while shedding light on the historiographical problem of the global nature of the revolutions at the end of the Early Modern Era. The author of the sources is especially interesting as he was a witness to the Independence of the United States and Haiti. His writings reflect a nearly universal revolutionary conception, which is why this work defends Rainsford as both an interpreter and contemporary protagonist of the "transatlantic" nature of the Atlantic Revolutions. To achieve this, it is essential to view his writings not as passive rhetoric but as forms of action that actively (work-like) circulate through historical times. The paper also aims to use these works to challenge the idea of the Haitian Revolution as an "unthinkable" event while it was occurring.