# The Common Wind

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{{Short description|2018 nonfiction book by Julius S. Scott}}
{{Infobox book
|name         = The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution
|image        = The_Common_Wind_cover.jpg
|caption=
|author       = Julius S. Scott
|cover_artist =
|country      = United States
|language     = English
|genre        = [Nonfiction](/source/Nonfiction) [social science](/source/social_science)
|publisher    = [Verso Books](/source/Verso_Books)
|release_date = 2018
|media_type   = Print ([Hardcover](/source/Hardcover))
|pages        = 272
|isbn         = 9781788732475
|isbn_note    = 
}}

'''''The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution''''' is a 2018 book by [Julius S. Scott](/source/Julius_S._Scott), based on his influential but previously unpublished 1986 [Duke University](/source/Duke_University) doctoral dissertation. The book traces the circulation of news in African diasporic communities in the Caribbean around the time of the [Haitian Revolution](/source/Haitian_Revolution), and links the "common wind" of shared information to political developments leading to the abolition of [slavery in the British and French Caribbean](/source/slavery_in_the_British_and_French_Caribbean).

==Summary==

The book's title comes from an 1802 [William Wordsworth](/source/William_Wordsworth) sonnet devoted to [Toussaint Louverture](/source/Toussaint_Louverture).<ref name=sinhanation>{{cite magazine|magazine=[The Nation](/source/The_Nation)|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/julius-scott-the-common-wind-book-review/|title=The Mobile Resistance|first=Manisha|last=Sinha|authorlink=Manisha Sinha|date=May 20, 2019|access-date=July 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705074331/https://www.thenation.com/article/julius-scott-the-common-wind-book-review/|archive-date=July 5, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In Scott's book, "the common wind" refers to the shared information communicated among African diasporic communities by African-Americans who worked in ships, docks, and ports around the time of the [Haitian Revolution](/source/Haitian_Revolution). Scott reconstructed the flow of this information through archival research and documentary analysis of newspapers, shipping records, and both official and unofficial correspondence. The book describes the system by which black sailors, slaves and freemen in the Caribbean carried "ideas, news, and rumors of equality and liberation from port to port".<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Journal of Haitian Studies|title=''Haitian Connections: Recognition after Revolution in the Atlantic World'' by Julia Gaffield (review)|first=Margaret|last=Wilson Gillikin|volume=23|number=1|date=2017|page=183|doi=10.1353/jhs.2017.0012|s2cid=158658284 }}</ref> While Scott's analysis centers on [Saint-Domingue](/source/Saint-Domingue), [Jamaica](/source/Colony_of_Jamaica), and [Cuba](/source/Captaincy_General_of_Cuba), it also incorporates material about other ports in what he calls the "masterless" Caribbean, such as [Martinique](/source/Martinique), [Trinidad](/source/Trinidad), and [Grenada](/source/Grenada).<ref name="lightfootahr">{{cite journal|title=''The Common Wind'': A Masterful Study of the Masterless Revolutionary Atlantic|journal=[The American Historical Review](/source/The_American_Historical_Review)|last=Lightfoot|first=Natasha|volume=125|number=3|date=2020|pages=926–930|doi=10.1093/ahr/rhaa192}}</ref>

Despite increased efforts by colonial powers to minimize the flow of information about slavery in the New World, African diasporic communities in the Caribbean learned about slave uprisings and efforts to re-enslave emancipated freemen of African descent.<ref name=raceclassreview>{{cite journal|journal=[Race & Class](/source/Race_%26_Class)|date=2019|title=The Common Wind: Afro-American currents in the age of the Haitian Revolution|first=Anita|last=Rupprecht|volume=61|number=1|pages=87–91|doi=10.1177/0306396819856212|s2cid=198736125 }}</ref> Fugitive slaves and freemen became links in a communication network that connected multiple islands within the region.<ref name=erlacs2019>{{cite journal|journal=European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies|title='The birthday of a new world is at hand': New scholarship on the Age of Revolutions|first=Evan C.|last=Rothera|volume=108|issue=108|pages=281–288|date=2019|doi=10.32992/erlacs.10579|doi-access=free}}</ref> As a consequence of the "common wind" of information, these communities developed an autonomous political identity that was more radical than those in African diasporic communities in Europe or the American colonies.<ref>{{cite journal|title=How the West was One: On the Uses and Limitations of Diaspora|journal=[The Black Scholar](/source/The_Black_Scholar)|volume=30|issue=3/4|date=2000|pages=31–35|first=Robin D. G.|last=Kelley|doi=10.1080/00064246.2000.11431106 |s2cid=147460561 }}</ref> This communication across national and geographic boundaries "contributed to the destabilization and eventual collapse of the slave system".<ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Journal of Caribbean History|title=A Multifunctional Space: The Uses of Rituals among Enslaved and Freed Afro-Caribbean Peoples|first=Edwina|last=Ashie-Nikoi|volume=39|issue=1|date=2005|page=92}}</ref>

== Background ==

Scott researched and wrote ''The Common Wind'' as his [Duke University](/source/Duke_University) PhD dissertation. After spending time in North Carolina preparing for field research, in February 1982 he started examining archives of the British [vice admiralty court](/source/vice_admiralty_court) in [Kingston, Jamaica](/source/Kingston%2C_Jamaica), then proceeded to [Port-au-Prince, Haiti](/source/Port-au-Prince%2C_Haiti) in April 1982 to study Haitian archives.<ref name=woodforum2019>{{cite web|url=https://networks.h-net.org/node/116796/blog/test-blog/3473234/h-haiti-forum-common-wind-honor-julius-scott|title=Doing Real Research: How Julius Scott Hooked a Marlin, in ''Forum on the Common Wind: In Honor of Julius S. Scott''|website=H-net: H-Haiti|first=Peter H.|last=Wood|editor1-first=Julia|editor1-last=Julia Gaffield|editor2-first=Marlene L.|editor2-last=Daut|year=2019|access-date=January 12, 2020|authorlink=Peter H. Wood}}</ref>  He submitted his completed dissertation in 1986.<ref>{{cite thesis|type=PhD|last=Scott III|first=Julius Sherrard|date=1986|publisher=[Duke University](/source/Duke_University)|title=The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution}}</ref>

As an unpublished dissertation ''The Common Wind'' was cited hundreds of times in scholarly literature.<ref name=che>{{cite news|url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/An-Underground-Sensation/245000|title=An Underground Sensation Arrives|work=[Chronicle of Higher Education](/source/Chronicle_of_Higher_Education)|first=Tom|last=Bartlett|date=November 2, 2018|access-date=December 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217062844/https://www.chronicle.com/article/An-Underground-Sensation/245000|archive-date=December 17, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In ''[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))'', historian [Vincent Brown](/source/Vincent_Brown_(historian)) called the dissertation "so exciting, original, and profound" that it inspired "an entire generation to create a new field of knowledge about the past".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5157662/black-history-month-books-2018/|magazine=[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))|title=9 Books to Read for Black History Month, According to Scholars|first=Sarah|last=Begley|date=February 15, 2018|access-date=December 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208112900/http://time.com/5157662/black-history-month-books-2018/|archive-date=December 8, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The dissertation was the subject of a 2008 conference at the [University of Michigan](/source/University_of_Michigan) titled "The Common Wind: Conversations in African American and Atlantic Histories" that reviewed its impact on the fields of [African-American history](/source/African-American_history) and Atlantic studies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.umich.edu/facultyhome/lawslaveryfreedom/Documents/The%20Common%20Wind.pdf|title=The Common Wind: Conversations in African American and Atlantic Histories|website=Law in Slavery and Freedom Project|publisher=[University of Michigan](/source/University_of_Michigan)|date=November 14, 2008|access-date=December 3, 2018}}</ref> Eugene Holley, writing in ''[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)'', described the dissertation as "renowned for its creativity, imaginative research and graceful prose".<ref>{{cite interview|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/78658-spreading-the-news-of-freedom-pw-talks-to-julius-s-scott.html|first=Julius S.|last=Scott|interviewer=Eugene Holley Jr.|title=Spreading the News of Freedom: PW talks to Julius S. Scott|work=[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)|date=November 21, 2018|access-date=December 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121203039/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/78658-spreading-the-news-of-freedom-pw-talks-to-julius-s-scott.html|archive-date=November 21, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Publication ==

Scott first submitted his dissertation manuscript to [Indiana University Press](/source/Indiana_University_Press), but the submission was rejected.<ref name=nytstone>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/obituaries/julius-scott-dead-common-wind.html|title=Julius S. Scott, Influential Historian of the Caribbean, Dies at 66|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|first=Sam|last=Roberts|date=December 16, 2021|access-date=March 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216191130/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/obituaries/julius-scott-dead-common-wind.html|archive-date=December 16, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> Shortly after completing his degree, he initially signed a contract with [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press) to publish the dissertation in book form,  but did not agree with suggestions for revision and opted not to publish the book.<ref name=che /> Aside from a selection from one chapter of the dissertation reprinted in the 2010 volume ''Origins of the Black Atlantic'', which Scott co-edited,<ref>{{cite book|title=Origins of the Black Atlantic|publisher=Routledge|date=2010|chapter="Negroes in Foreign Bottoms": Sailors, Slaves, and Communication|last=Scott|first=Julius S.|editor1-first=Laurent|editor1-last=Dubois|editor2-first=Julius S.|editor2-last=Scott|pages=69–98|isbn=9780415994453}}</ref> the dissertation remained unpublished until a [Verso Books](/source/Verso_Books) editor, referred by another historian, offered to publish the text with minimal revisions.<ref name=che />

==Reception==

Reviews of the 2018 book were generally favorable, and reflected the dissertation's influence on the field of Atlantic history. In ''[The Nation](/source/The_Nation)'', historian [Manisha Sinha](/source/Manisha_Sinha) described the broad influence of Scott's work on American historiography, observing that the "history of the black Atlantic as it is currently known would simply not have been possible without Scott’s immense contributions".<ref name=sinhanation /> The ''[Los Angeles Review of Books](/source/Los_Angeles_Review_of_Books)'' praised the quality of Scott's writing, but also attributed the book's scholarly influence to Scott's unique ability to find evidence of hidden and ephemeral communications within sources that deliberately concealed those communications.<ref name=larb>{{cite news|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/currents-of-revolution-on-julius-s-scotts-the-common-wind/|title=Currents of Revolution: On Julius S. Scott's "The Common Wind"|work=[Los Angeles Review of Books](/source/Los_Angeles_Review_of_Books)|first=Malkah|last=Bressler|date=March 21, 2019|access-date=April 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418213035/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/currents-of-revolution-on-julius-s-scotts-the-common-wind/|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In ''[Public Books](/source/Public_Books)'', Mary Caton Lingold favorably noted that Scott organized the book around historical stories and events rather than academic debates.<ref name=lingoldpb>{{cite web|url=https://www.publicbooks.org/how-haiti-got-free/|title=How Haiti Got Free|first=Mary Caton|last=Lingold|work=[Public Books](/source/Public_Books)|date=April 16, 2019|access-date=January 11, 2010}}</ref>

Criticism of the book focused on its lack of updates since the dissertation was written. Writing for ''[The New York Review of Books](/source/The_New_York_Review_of_Books)'', [David Bell](/source/David_Bell_(historian)) suggested that Scott could have done additional research in French archives to expand the book's treatment of [Saint-Domingue](/source/Saint-Domingue), particularly how its residents received news from other areas.<ref name=nyrb2019>{{cite magazine|magazine=[The New York Review of Books](/source/The_New_York_Review_of_Books)|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/12/19/the-contagious-revolution-haiti/|url-access=subscription|first=David A.|last=Bell|authorlink=David Bell (historian)|title=The Contagious Revolution|date=December 19, 2019|access-date=December 31, 2019}}</ref> In ''[The Journal of American History](/source/The_Journal_of_American_History)'', Ashli White similarly noted that the book did not address more recent scholarship in the field or incorporate new research or sources, but concluded that the book nevertheless "offers fresh insights with each rereading".<ref name=jah2019>{{cite journal|journal=[The Journal of American History](/source/The_Journal_of_American_History)|date=December 2019|title=The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution. By Julius S. Scott|first=Ashli|last=White|doi=10.1093/jahist/jaz567|volume=106|number=3|page=760}}</ref>

In 2019, the [Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition](/source/MacMillan_Center_for_International_and_Area_Studies) gave ''The Common Wind'' a Special Achievement Award at its annual Frederick Douglass Book Prize ceremony.<ref name=macmillan2019>{{cite web|url=https://macmillan.yale.edu/news/yale-announces-2019-frederick-douglass-book-prize-winner|title=Yale announces 2019 Frederick Douglass Book Prize Winner|website=[MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies](/source/MacMillan_Center_for_International_and_Area_Studies)|publisher=[Yale University](/source/Yale_University)|date=November 12, 2019|access-date=December 29, 2019}}</ref> Scott also received the 2019 Stone Book Award and $25,000 in prize money from the [Museum of African American History](/source/African_Meeting_House), with one prize juror describing the book as "vital for how we think about so many things".<ref name=nytstone /><ref name=maah>{{cite web|url=https://www.maahstonebookaward.org/winners|title=MAAH Stone Winners|work=MAAH Stone Book Award|publisher=[Museum of African American History](/source/African_Meeting_House)|access-date=March 23, 2022}}</ref> The following year, the [Caribbean Philosophical Association](/source/Caribbean_Philosophical_Association) gave ''The Common Wind'' its annual Frantz Fanon Outstanding Book Award.<ref name=cpaapa>{{cite web|url=https://blog.apaonline.org/2020/02/04/cpa-2020-awards/|title=Caribbean Philosophical Association's 2020 Award Winners|website=Blog of the [American Philosophical Association](/source/American_Philosophical_Association)|last=Gordon|first=Lewis|date=February 4, 2020|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Common Wind}}
Category:2018 non-fiction books
Category:History books about the Haitian Revolution
Category:Books about African-American history
Category:Verso Books books

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Common Wind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Common_Wind) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Common_Wind?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.