Modern World 10

Unit 2 – Age of Revolutions

Case Study - Haitian Revolution

Part One: Geography (label the countries listed on the right)

 Haiti
 Turks and Caicos Islands
 Bahamas
 Puerto Rico
 Grenada
 U.S. Virgin Islands
 Cuba
 Cayman Islands
 Jamaica
 Dominican Republic
 Barbados
 Trinidad and Tobago

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Part II: Timeline

Timeline Follow Up:

1. Read through the timeline. Why is the Haitian Revolution sometimes considered two revolutions? They first fought off the
slave masters in 1971, but also fought off france again in 1802.
Part III: Context Notes – Big Picture
—Notes:

1. Key Context #1: European Colonization of the Americas

a. European colonization - practice of one people/country settling in a foreign area for the purpose of…
i. Acquisition of political and social control over the colonized population.
ii. Economic exploitation: All wealth goes to the colonizers and back to the colonizing country.
iii. Done through forceful domination

2. Key Context #2: Exchange & Enslavement of Africans

a. Over 400 years, more than 15 million men, women, children
i. As the horrific Triangle Trade continues, info is spread across the Atlantic
ii. Enlightenment Ideas
iii.
1. Independence of 13 British Colonies
2. Overthrow of French monarchy.
3. Establishment of equal rights for all

3. Haitian Revolution Background

a. French colony Saint-Domingue (future Haiti), 1659 to 1804.
When did the HR happen?
a. August 22, 1791-1804
b. For reference, Louis XVI & family flee Paris but are caught near the Austrian border, June 21, 1791
By this point, centuries-old empires destroyed / defeated
a. Enlightenment changed ideas about who should control government.
b. (outside of MWH) American Revolution defeats Britain
c. (in U2) French Revolution defeats the French monarchy

4. Important Context:
a. Slave labor + Sugarcane and coffee = $$$$$
b. Approx. 500,000 Africans were enslaved by 1791 to labor on plantations
c. By 1789 – 1/3 of all French trade profits
French Revolution
d. Revolutionary ideas spread rapidly.
e. Ideas of liberty and equality; slavery outlawed
f. All of this = freedom for Haiti.
Part IV: Social & Economic Systems (use this link - World History: The Modern Era Topic Essentials ([Link])
“Race, Class, and French Revolution”

1. Under French dominion, who ruled Saint-Domingue (Haiti)?: Grand blancs

Recreate the pyramidal hierarchy
2. Describe who the creoles were? Where were they located in the social hierarchy?:
They were people with French blood and were 2nd in the hierarchy.

3. Describe the mulatto population. Where were they located in the social hierarchy?:
They were the natives and were 3rd in the hierarchy.

4. Where were the enslaved Africans on the social hierarchy?: They were the 4th.

5. What was the situation of the enslaved population in Haiti?: They were treated poorly,
often being lashed and whipped.

6. What were some restrictions for mulattoes?: Couldn’t marry a person of another race.

7. What was the effect of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in Haiti?:

1. Look at Source One: What happens to sugar

prices in England over the years 1600-1850?

2. Look at Source Two: What happens to sugar

consumption in England over the years 1600-
1850?
3. How will that impact the following:
a. European role in Latin America?
b. The importance of slave labor?
Part V: History of Saint Domingue (Modern Day Haiti)
In the 17th century, the French began to settle Hispaniola, eventually taking over the northwestern part of the island. The
Treaty of Ryswick (1697) divided the island between the French in the west ("Saint-Domingue," present-day Haiti) and the
Spanish in the east ("Santo Domingo," present-day Dominican Republic). The French planted sugar, coffee, cotton, and indigo in
huge plantations, worked by enslaved Africans. Their plantation system proved enormously profitable. By 1789, trade with
Saint-Domingue made up 67% of all French export and import trade.

French slavery was brutal, with torture and beatings commonplace. Though more than 1 million enslaved people had been
brought to Saint-Dominque by 1789, only 452,000 survived. In addition, 39,000 white and 27,000 mixed race people (gens de
couleur) completed the population.

1. Who owned the island of Haiti before its independence?

France

2. Who owned the Dominican Republic? Spain

3. What crops was grown here through slave labor? Sugar,

coffee, cotton, and indigo.

At the other end of the social spectrum, enslaved Africans had no rights. From the earliest days, some fought back, escaping
into the mountains and building secret, free settlements. Known as Maroons, they fought guerrilla battles against the French
and, in 1786, were granted freedom and their own territory. In addition to the free Maroons, a small number of freed Black
people lived in cities and towns, where their rights were strictly limited.

Gens de couleur, or people of mixed race, were the children of enslaved people and slaveholders. Often these children were
freed and educated in France. Some gens de couleur owned their own plantations and held slaves, while some remained
enslaved themselves. Wealthy French colonists sometimes chose to marry women from this class in preference to poor white
women.

In 1791, Boukman, a voodoo priest, began a slave uprising that included a vow of death to all white people. The Haitian
Revolution had begun. By August, an estimated 10,000 slaves and 2,000 white people were dead, and more than 1,000
plantations lay in ruins. In September, the French National Assembly revoked the decree granting rights to multiracial people,
and the revolt spread. Political and military alliances among the enslaved, free Black people, Maroons, multiracial people, rich
white people, poor white people, plantation owners, and townspeople shifted rapidly back and forth.

France sent 6,000 soldiers and new commissioners to Saint-Domingue with instructions to restore order and then to grant equal
rights to all free people, including those of mixed race and free Black people.

Touissaint L’Ouverture

Toussaint L'Ouverture was the dominant figure in the largest slave revolt in the Western hemisphere and the only one to be
fully successful. He rose from enslavement to the military and political leadership of the Haitian struggle for independence
during the French Revolution. He abolished slavery and established an autonomous nation based on the concept that all men
should be equal.

By 1796, L'Ouverture was the leading figure on Saint-Domingue. He was named deputy governor and proved to be an excellent
military leader. The French-educated, mixed blood class sought to replace the largely destroyed white class and take control of
the colony. L'Ouverture, however, limited them for the most part to the southern peninsula of the island. Many of his black
officers took over the abandoned plantations and revived their production, using compulsory, but paid, labor of former slaves.

In early 1802, Napoleon I sent a military expedition to reassert French control over Saint-Domingue. In a brief but costly
campaign, L'Ouverture was defeated and exiled to France. Many blacks had turned against L'Ouverture during the fighting.
Once the campaign ended, however, they quickly realized that the French planned to reestablish slavery. Under the general and
future monarch of Haiti, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, combatants of all colors united to expel the French. The colony was declared
free on November 29, 1803, and given the name of Haiti to emphasize the break with European colonialism.

The first modern black state had been established. Much of the credit for laying the groundwork belongs to L'Ouverture, who
demonstrated that blacks were capable of self-rule. He never saw the fruit of his labors, however. He died in prison in France
on April 7, 1803.
 1. What role did Touissaint L’Ouvertuere play in the Haitian Revolution? He was a governor and military leader during the
fight and was a key member of the revolution.

2. What is the connection to the French Revolution and Napoleon? Napoleon sent the forces to put the people of Saint-
Domingue back in their place.

Part VI: The Haitian Constitution of 1801

HAITIAN CONSTITUTION OF 1801

The representatives of the colony of Saint-Domingue, gathered in Central Assembly, have arrested and established the
constitutional bases of the regime of the French colony of Saint-Domingue as follows:
TITLE I
Of the Territory

Art. 1. – Saint-Domingue in its entire expanse, and… adjacent islands form the territory of a single colony, which is part of the
French Empire, but ruled under particular laws…
TITLE II
Of the Inhabitants

Art. 3. - There cannot exist slaves on this territory, servitude is therein forever abolished. All men are born, live and die free
and French.
Art. 4. – All men, regardless of color, are eligible to all employment.
Art. 5. – There shall exist no distinction other than those based on virtue and talent, and other superiority afforded by law in
the exercise of a public function.
The law is the same for all whether in punishment or in protection.
TITLE III
Of the Religion
Art. 6. - The catholic, apostolic, roman faith shall be the only publicly professed faith…
TITLE V
Of Men in Society

Art. 12. – The Constitution guarantees freedom and individual security. No one shall be arrested unless a formally expressed
mandate, issued from a functionary to whom the law grants the right to order arrest and detention in a publicly designated
location.
Art. 13. – Property is sacred and inviolable. All people, either by himself, or by his representatives, has the free right to dispose
and to administer property that is recognized as belonging to him. Anyone who attempts to deny this right shall become guilty
of crime towards society and responsible towards the person troubled in his property.
1. Find one section that connects to the Enlightenment? Explain the connection.

2. Find one section that connects to the French Revolution? Explain the connection.

3. Find one section that connects to the future Napoleonic Code. Explain the connection.
Legacy: Choices Program | What were the major legacies of the Haitian Revolution for Haiti? - Choices Program
1. What is the first legacy of the Revolution in Haiti?

2. How is the legacy of Haiti related to decisions that could be made today?

[Enrichment – Optional]
Part VII: Clips - Toussaint L’ Ouverture Video (PPT) & Legacy Clip
3. What and who were the primary money-makers of this French colony? (the crops and the human capital)

4. What role did Toussaint L’Ouverture play in the Haitian Revolution (so far)?