African Americans historically reinterpreted the Declaration of Independence, drawing inspiration from Haiti to seek emancipation despite the contradiction of American slavery.

<p>For African-Americans, the Declaration of Independence was nothing but a “thin veil to cover the crimes” of slavery, as Frederick Douglass put it. Inspired by Haiti’s Declaration of Independence, free and enslaved Black people in the US found themselves subverting America’s founding document to achieve their own emancipation.</p>