1. Aim: Did the revolution in Haiti represent the true embodiment of the French Revolution?

2. I Causes of the Haitian Revolution
A) Haiti was a French colony “St. Domingue”. African slaves grew sugar cane and coffee. Though illegal, Vodoo was practiced which gave the slaves a form of cultural and spiritual expression against their oppressors.
What is Voodoo?
Combined elements of Roman Catholicism and tribal religions of western Africa. Worshiped a high god, Bon Dieu, and their ancestors.

3. “Zombies” Have Their Origin in Haiti
“Haitian slaves believed that dying would release them back to lan guinée, literally Guinea, or Africa in general, a kind of afterlife where they could be free. Though suicide was common among slaves, those who took their own lives wouldn’t be allowed to return to lan guinée. Instead, they’d be condemned to skulk the Hispaniola plantations for eternity, an undead slave at once denied their own bodies and yet trapped inside them—a soulless zombie.” The Tragic, Forgotten History of Zombies by Mike Mariani
'The Zombies'​​ by Hector Hyppolite, which hangs in the Museum of Haitian Art of St. Peter College in Port-au-Prince

4. I Causes of the Haitian Revolution
B) Following the French Revolution, the slaves took advantage of the political turmoil and began the Haitian Revolution August 22, Killed whites and destroyed plantations C) Bands of runaway slaves (maroons) hid in the mountains and forests. But they lacked leadership.

5. II Toussaint L’Ouverture
A) Toussaint L'Ouverture was a former slave. He joined with the Spanish army against the French. When France abolished slavery, he switched sides. B) 1800 Toussaint became dictator and ended slavery. BUT needing money he re-imposed the plantation system using freed slaves as forced labor.
“I was born a slave, but nature gave me a soul of a free man….”

6. Toussaint L’Ouverture Continued…
C) In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte restored slavery to the West Indies. Toussaint was exiled to France, but the fighting continued. D) Jean-Jacques Dessalines lead a revolt following the capture of L’Ouverture. January 1, 1804, Haiti declared itself a nation, free of slavery.

7. III Outcomes
A) Land redistribution ends the plantation system, subsistence farming begins. B) Haiti, the richest colony in the world, becomes one of the poorest nations on earth.
On left: Earthquake On right: Rebuilt Market, Port au Prince

9. Legacy:
Independence Continues to Spread in the New World!

10. Summary Questions
1. How influential was the Enlightenment and French Revolution on the Haitian Revolution? 2. How did the Haitian Revolution begin? 3. Why did Napoleon try to reinstate slavery in Haiti? 4. How did Toussant L’Ouverture impact the Haitian Revolution? 5. What were the outcomes of the Haitian Revolution? 6. If you were a slave living in Haiti, would you have risked your life to revolt? Why or why not?

11. Key Vocabulary
Jean-Jacques Dessalines Haitian Revolution Maroons St. Domingue Toussaint L’Ouverture Voodoo