User:Emilyrosenthal/La Mulâtresse Solitude

Lead
La Mulâtresse Solitude (circa 1772 – 1802) was a historical figure and heroine in the fight against slavery on French Guadeloupe. She has been the subject of legends and a symbol of women's resistance in the struggle against slavery in the history of the island. Though little is recorded about the Guadeloupean woman Solitude, she is highly regarded as a figure helped lead the insurrection culminating in the battle of Matouba against the reinstating of slavery in Guadeloupe in 1802.

Article body
Early Life

Many sources hypothesize about the unknown early life of the girl who became Solitude. While it is only speculation, it is widely believed that she was the product of a rape by a Frenchman on a slaveship that brought her mother to the Caribbean. Her mother is said to have passed away when she was only eight years old. It has been said that she escaped slavery together with her mother while she was still alive, joining a maroon community in the hills of Guadeloupe with other Black people who had escaped their captors.

Auguste Lacour

The only recorded mention of Solitude comes from Auguste Lacour in his book Historie de la Guadeloupe, an exploration of the administrative archives on the 1802 rebellion against the reinstatement of slavery. Originally written in French, he says this about the maroon leader: ''« La mulâtresse Solitude, who came from Pointe-à-Pitre to Basse-Terre, was then in the Palermo camp. She let her hatred and fury burst out on all occasions. She had rabbits. One of them having escaped, she armed herself with a pin, ran, pierced him, lifted him up, and presented him to the prison women: « Here, » she said, « by mixing with her words the most offensive epithets, this is how I will treat you when it is time! » And this unfortunate woman was about to become a mother! Solitude did not abandon the rebels and remained close to them, like their evil genius, to excite them to the greatest crimes. Finally arrested in the company of a gang of insurgents, she was sentenced to death, but the sentence had to be postponed. She was supplicied on 29 November, after her delivery. »''

Battle of Matouba

On May 21, 1802, General Richepance stormed the fort where refugees Delgrès, Ignace, and their men were. On May 22, before the bombing, Ignace and Delgrès exited by the postern gate of Galion. The bridge over the river Galion was to become a marking point of this fight. Ignace, having gone on the road to Pointe-à-Pitre, died in battle. Delgrès went to Matouba, on the way to Saint-Claude.

On May 28th, along with 400 others Delgrès and Solitude were in a losing battle against the French armies and decided to blow themselves up with gunpowder in efforts to kill as many French soldiers as possible.

Solitude survived the battle and bombing of May 28, 1802, but was imprisoned by the French. Because she was pregnant at the time of her imprisonment, she was not to be hanged until November 29 of the same year, one day after giving birth.

Other Works

Solitude's story, though not formerly recorded, inspired Andre Schwarz Bart to expand on the tale in a novel entitled, La Mulatresse Solitude. The novel is not considered a historical resource, but rather a work of historical fiction, hypothesizing and detailing the lives of Solitude and her mother, Bayangumay.

Tribute

Solitude's story is widely known throughout the Caribbean and France, inspiring many different artists and institutions to pay homage to her life. She represents the greater women's struggle against slavery, and for that she is commemorated in many different ways.

References