Silencing the Past

“Silencing the Past” by Michael-Rolf Trouillot begins with the story of the Hatian Revolution. Hatians fought against the French, who ruled over Haiti, and eventually won Haiti’s independence in 1804. The lesser known part of the war was what the author calls “the war within the war” (pg 40). The war within the war was mainly fought by creoles and black former slaves from the Congo, who were unhappy about the revolutionary hierarchy. Their leader was Sans Souci, and he has been effectively erased from history. Trouillot uncovers Souci’s achievements–“Colonel Sans Souci was not the leader of an impromptu or marginal rebel band, but an early leader in the slave uprising, and later, a high-ranking officer in Louverture’s army.” (pg 54) and then uses this example of the unknown side of the Hatian Revolution to explain the practice of “silencing” in history.

Silencing is the practice of leaving out certain parts of history when recording or archiving that effectively erases people or events. Trouillot argues that silences are inherent in history because something is always left out while something else is recorded (pg 49). He says that although enlargment of an empirical base (while recording history) can lead to the production of better, more accurate, and more inclusive history, it can also lead to problems because “all sources occupy competing positions in the historical landscape.” (pg 50) Therefore, because all sources are competing, some will inevitably still be left out, and their contents silenced.

Trouillot uses the example of not recording births and deaths of slaves in the American South and the Caribbean. He says that “Both births and deaths were actively silenced in the records for a combination of practical reasons inherent in the records.” Slavery and racism were the context in which these silencings occured, but not the reason for them (the silencings) (pg 51).

After he had killed Sans Souci, the leader of the rebellion, King Christophe I built a palace called Sans Souci. Trouillot makes the point that in historical narratives, “Every mention of Sans Souci the palace…effectively silences Sans Souci the man, his political goals, his military genius” (pg 48). Perhaps this Hatian history is inaccurate because historical narratives are based on Western conventions and procedures. Many Hatians couldn’t write, or couldn’t understand French. Therefore, they who knew what actually happened, who were there during the revolution, were excluded from recording and archiving their history. (pg 55)

Trouillot emphasizes the extent and impact of silencing parts of history with this particularly powerful quote: “Henry I killed Sans Souci twice: First, literally, during their last meeting; second, symbolically, by naming his most famous palace Sans Souci…It erased him from Christophe I’s past, and it erased him from the future.”  (pg 59)

I thought this reading was extremely interesting and informative. I can honestly say that I didn’t know anything about the practice of silencing, but now, looking back through my historical education, I can see traces of it. For example, in elementary and high school, I learned almost nothing in my history classes about prominent American black leaders or accomplishments. I learned about Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr., the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement, but never read a book by a black author in any of my English literature classes or learned about the black soldiers who fought in the American Revolution. Because this oppressed group didn’t have access to the groups who recorded history, or didn’t have the education or opportunities to contribute to the historical narrative, or were rejected from the archiving of history because they were deemed second class citizens, their contributions to history have largely been silenced.

Although, as Trouillot says, giving voice to the silenced parts of history and constructing a new narrative is extremely difficult and labor intensive, it must be done. We would all be better citizens if we knew the truth about our history.