At first glance Thomas Jefferson's presidential actions concerning the Haitian Revolution seem to denote racially motivated decisions predicated upon fear. However, through a deeper analysis of primary documents, Jefferson's position appears more economically and politically ambitious. By 1791, the French colony of Saint Domingue held the title of the richest colony in the Caribbean and the world's leading producer of sugar. In addition, Saint Domingue consumed about sixteen percent of all of America's exports. Jefferson's personal opinions concerning revolution and trade on the island of Saint Domingue contradict the statements of his administration. Partisan politics manifested a stern voice within the Republican Party that cried out for an end to all trade with the island. Thomas Jefferson's republican and revolutionary ideals of freedom, as well as the ideals of many Americans, became transformed by the social transgression of the Caribbean blacks against white hegemony. Their actions, along with press accounts, become "grotesque" in comparison to pure republican and revolutionary ideals. Jefferson, though publicly in tune with the wishes of his party, used his chief advisors to carry out a foreign policy that appeased the South and allowed for continued trade with Saint Domingue. Contemporary historians often categorize Jefferson's foreign policy concerning Haiti as a completely racist agenda. For example, historians frequently cite Jefferson as having said he would, "reduce Toussaint to starvation," but in reality this excerpt comes from a report sent by Louis Pinchon, the French chargé d'affaires, to his superiors. While labeling this report false seems excessive, ignoring the possibility of exaggeration by Pinchon and placation by Jefferson becomes a dangerous oversight. Through a fresh analysis of primary documents, especially those used out of context, an understanding emerges that portrays Jefferson not as a racial equalitarian or as "a man intellectually undone by his negrophobia," but as a political figure who acknowledges the republican values inherent in revolution and, at the same time, the necessity of economic prosperity to sustain the United States.

La présente étude, consacrée au droit international de l’environnement dans le cadre du système juridique angolais, s’intéresse à l’élaboration, l’introduction, ainsi qu’aux conditions d’application du droit international de l’environnement dans l’ordre juridique angolais. Après avoir analysé tant les modalités que les obstacles qui se posent à l’ouverture de l’Angola au droit international conventionnel de l’environnement, l’étude interroge l’effectivité et la pertinence des dispositifs internationaux et nationaux mis en œuvre pour assurer l’application du droit international de l’environnement dans ce pays et définir un régime de responsabilité adéquat pour assurer la réparation des dommages causés à l’environnement. / This study, devoted to the international law of the environment within the Angolan legal system, is interested in the development, the introduction, as well as the conditions of application of the international law of the environment into the Angolan legal order. After reviewing both the terms and the obstacles facing the opening of Angola to conventional international law of the environment, the study questions the effectiveness and the relevance of international and national features implemented to ensure the international environmental law enforcement in this country and to set an appropriate liability regime, in order to ensure the repair of damage to the environment.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

L'évaluation de la résistance à l'ouverture des mailles dans les filets de pêche est un enjeu important pour l'évaluation de la sélectivité des chaluts, et plus largement des engins de pêche. Les objectifs de cette thèse sont de développer et d'évaluer une méthodologie pour l'évaluation de la résistance à l'ouverture des mailles dans les filets. Différentes méthodes existent déjà (Sala et al., 2007, Priour and Cognard, 2011, Balash, 2012, De la Prada and Gonzales, 2013). Notre objectif est de proposer une méthode expérimentale simple et ne nécessitant pas d'équipements coûteux pour pouvoir être déployée facilement dans les laboratoires et dans l'industrie de la pêche, combinée avec un modèle numérique capable de représenter le comportement mécanique non-linéaire d'un filet. Le filet, constitué de fils tressés ou toronnés, en Polyéthylène ou Polyamide, présente une structure complexe. De plus, les filets peuvent être soumis à de grandes déformations. Afin d'étudier la réponse mécanique des filets à différents types de sollicitations et de créer une base de données expérimentale, de nombreux essais ont été effectués sur un large éventail de filets de pêche. Plusieurs méthodes numériques pour l'évaluation de la résistance à l'ouverture des mailles à partir de données expérimentales ont été développées. Ces travaux offrent une avancée scientifique pour l'évaluation de la résistance à l'ouverture des mailles : malgré le comportement mécanique visco-élasto-plastique des échantillons de filet, une méthodologie plus simple et plus précise que celles existantes, basée sur un dispositif expérimental simple et un modèle éléments finis libre de droits, est présentée. / The evaluation of the mesh resistance to opening in fishing nets is an important issue to assess the selectivity of trawls, and more broadly of fishing gear. The objectives of this thesis are to develop and to assess a methodology for the evaluation of the mesh resistance to opening in netting structures. Several methods are already proposed (Sala et al., 2007, Priour and Cognard, 2011, Balash, 2012, De la Prada and Gonzales, 2013). This thesis aims at proposing a simple experimental test that does not require expensive devices to be easily spread in laboratories and in the fishing industry, a simple test combined with a numerical model able to represent the non-linear mechanical behaviour of a tested netting panel. The netting structure, constituted of braided or stranded twines, made of Polyethylene or Polyamide, is complex. Moreover, the fishing nets can be subjected to large deformation. In order to study the mechanical response of netting samples to different types of solicitations and to obtain experimental data, numerous experimental tests were performed on a large range of netting samples. Several numerical methods for the evaluation of the mesh resistance to opening using experimental data were developed. This work offers scientific advance for the evaluation of the mesh resistance to opening: despite the visco-elasto-plastic mechanical behaviour of netting samples, one more accurate and simpler methodology than the existing ones, based on a simple experimental set up and on a free of rights finite element model, is presented.