Part III of my Haitian Revolution series, wherein my students wonder why the French Revolution gets 90+ pages in their textbook and the Haitian Revolution gets only half a page.
My district has these but I’ve never used the Toussaint one, just because I’d rather focus on French and US actions after the Revolution. I do like the critique of toussaints decision to put Haitians back to work in the sugar fields (to be good French citizens) though. I might work that one in next year.
Fascinating and very depressing. The British were no better than the French. The British government compensated former slave owners, not the slaves. The UK government finished off paying for that in 2015 https://taxjustice.net/2020/06/09/slavery-compensation-uk-questions/
And the British Royal Family is still shying away from an actual apology for the Transatlantic slave trade. Prince William on a visit to Jamaica said (more or less) that slavery was very sad, but… and our close neighbors in Haiti continue to struggle in the quicksand created by all that history. They are living out that history… THANK YOU so much jenna (and the NYT) for opening people’s (and your students’) eyes.
OMG, I'll have to look up his comments and share them with my students. I'm reading THE FRAUD now and realizing how much I don't know much about Jamaican history...but that's one of the reasons I love your Substack!
One of my recent orchestra conductors is Haitian. He is amazing. He has music in his Bones. We played a Haitian traditional tune for the concert. I loved the song!
Thank you so much for sharing this history of Haiti being exploited by France and Citigroup. That is horrible! I hope the debt is paid off now? When did it get paid off?
I get so mad reading about what the Western world has done to the rest of the planet! This is honestly staggering!
It’s crazy! And so much shady stuff has gone done in my own lifetime!
Have you used any of the DBQ Project materials? They have a great DBQ on Toussaint Louvertoure.
How Should We Remember Toussaint Louvertoure?
https://www.murrieta.k12.ca.us/cms/lib/CA01000508/Centricity/Domain/1739/Student%20Toussaint%20Louverture%20with%20questions.pdf
My district has these but I’ve never used the Toussaint one, just because I’d rather focus on French and US actions after the Revolution. I do like the critique of toussaints decision to put Haitians back to work in the sugar fields (to be good French citizens) though. I might work that one in next year.
Jenna, I just read this good profile in Trail Runner, and it made me think of this post, so I thought you'd like to read it: https://www.trailrunnermag.com/people/gregory-gourdet-runner-chef/
Thanks for sharing! And perfect timing because I'm headed to Portland in a couple weeks! Hopefully I can get a reservation in his restaurant :)
Fascinating and very depressing. The British were no better than the French. The British government compensated former slave owners, not the slaves. The UK government finished off paying for that in 2015 https://taxjustice.net/2020/06/09/slavery-compensation-uk-questions/
And the British Royal Family is still shying away from an actual apology for the Transatlantic slave trade. Prince William on a visit to Jamaica said (more or less) that slavery was very sad, but… and our close neighbors in Haiti continue to struggle in the quicksand created by all that history. They are living out that history… THANK YOU so much jenna (and the NYT) for opening people’s (and your students’) eyes.
OMG, I'll have to look up his comments and share them with my students. I'm reading THE FRAUD now and realizing how much I don't know much about Jamaican history...but that's one of the reasons I love your Substack!
One of my recent orchestra conductors is Haitian. He is amazing. He has music in his Bones. We played a Haitian traditional tune for the concert. I loved the song!
Thank you so much for sharing this history of Haiti being exploited by France and Citigroup. That is horrible! I hope the debt is paid off now? When did it get paid off?
I appreciate my conductor more now.