The Haitian Revolution: the enslaved people who won a nation

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to E. Card A, from the Declaration of Independence (1776), quoted exactly: "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed". Many of the American leaders who signed it were slaveowners. Card B, a summary in our words, written today: The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 says in its first article that men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Women were denied political rights. Slavery in the colonies continued until French agents ended it in Saint-Domingue in 1793 and the Convention abolished it everywhere on February 4, 1794. The enslaved people of Saint-Domingue had risen up in August 1791. Card C, a summary in our words, written today: Haiti's independence was declared in 1804, and slavery stayed abolished there. The United States recognized Haiti in 1862, after American leaders had reacted to it for decades with ambivalence. Card D, a summary in our words, written today: In 1825 France's king agreed to recognize Haiti's independence on condition that Haiti pay 150 million francs to former colonists. A treaty in 1838 cut the sum to 90 million francs. Historians differ on how long the payments lasted. Card E, two readings written for this sheet, not quotations from any historian. Reading X: The Haitian Revolution carried the ideas of 1776 and 1789 to their conclusion by applying liberty and equality to enslaved people. Reading Y: The revolt was driven by the enslaved people's own aims and experience; the ideas of Philadelphia and Paris are not needed to explain it.

2. 1.

   Card B: the French declaration of 1789 says men are born free and equal in rights. Card C: Haiti ended slavery. Ari compares them. Which statement is sound?

   • France's principle already ended slavery in 1789, so Haiti merely repeated French law in the colony
   • The two cannot be compared, since a founding document and a revolt are different kinds of thing
   • Haiti's step came from American ideas, since the American declaration came earlier in date order
   • France set a principle that its colonies contradicted until 1793; Haiti applied it to the enslaved
3. 2.

   Cards A, B and C date from 1776, 1789 and 1804. Bo says each revolution borrowed from the one before. What do the dates allow?

   • They show borrowing, since each revolution followed the last in date order and used similar words
   • They rule out borrowing, since the three revolutions took place on different sides of the Atlantic
   • They allow borrowing but cannot show it; evidence of what leaders read or said would be needed
   • They show Haiti borrowed from France alone, since French law applied to the colony before 1804
4. 3.

   Card A speaks of the consent of the governed; card C says the United States recognized Haiti in 1862. Esme calls that a contradiction. What is the careful reply?

   • It is no contradiction, since recognizing a state is a separate act from declaring a principle
   • It shows the declaration meant to exclude Haiti, since Haiti was already left out in 1776
   • It shows the signers did not believe the principle they wrote, since many of them were slaveowners
   • It shows the principle was applied unevenly, but the cards give no reasons beyond ambivalence
5. 4.

   Jun asks which fact in card B favors reading Y over reading X.

   • The rising of August 1791 came before the Convention's abolition of 1794, so action came first
   • The 1789 declaration says men are born free and equal in rights, which supplies the principle
   • Women were denied political rights under the 1789 declaration, which shows its limits to readers
   • The Convention's abolition of 1794 shows France led the way toward ending slavery in its colonies
6. 5.

   Kira asks what readings X and Y would both accept. Which fact is shared?

   • The enslaved people of Saint-Domingue rose in 1791 and founded Haiti, whatever their reasons
   • The rising was independent of any earlier idea, since the enslaved acted on their own experience
   • The rising failed until the Convention abolished slavery in 1794, when France took the lead
   • The rising was caused by the French declaration of 1789, since the rising came two years later
7. 6.

   Luz wants to decide between X and Y. Which new evidence would help most?

   • The text of the Declaration of Independence, since it names the principle that reading X depends on
   • Letters, speeches or pamphlets by the revolt's leaders from 1791 to 1804 saying what they cited as their aims
   • The treaty of 1825 with France, since it shows what France thought of Haiti once the revolt was over
   • The total of sugar exported in 1789, since exports show how rich the colony was before the revolt
8. 7.

   Card D: France demanded 150 million francs in 1825, cut to 90 million in 1838. Milo says the debt explains Haiti's later poverty. What is the careful reply?

   • It shows the revolution failed, since independence was recognized after Haiti agreed to pay
   • It explains the poverty fully, since a debt that large leaves no room for any other cause to matter
   • A heavy burden that fits a link, but card D does not measure it, and card C shows other limits
   • It cannot matter, since the sum was cut by 60 million francs in 1838 and so became a minor sum
9. 8.

   Card D: France recognized Haiti in 1825; card C: the United States in 1862. Noah says France was harsher than the United States. Is that fair?

   • Not as stated: France demanded payment, but the United States waited 58 years with no terms given
   • No, since France recognized Haiti first, 21 years after independence, which makes France the kinder
   • Yes, since a demand for payment is a harsher act than a delay in recognition by a government
   • No comparison is possible, since the two cards come from the histories of different countries
10. 9.

    Tala says Haiti was the sole revolution of its age to end slavery. What do the cards show?

    • The claim is right, since slavery continued under the 1789 declaration, so no revolution had yet ended it
    • The claim is wrong, since the American declaration also ended slavery wherever its leaders governed
    • Not as stated: the Convention abolished slavery in 1794; Haiti made abolition last and founded a state
    • The claim is right, since the Convention's law of 1794 was not applied in the colonies of France
11. 10.

    Zee says the revolutions of 1776, 1789 and 1791 were each fought for liberty. Which statement keeps the comparison honest?

    • Liberty was a slogan without content, since leaders used the word to cover their self-interest in each case
    • The three meant the same thing by liberty, since each declared it in a founding text and fought a ruling power
    • Each invoked liberty for different people: many signers kept slaves, women lacked a vote, Haiti ended slavery
    • Haiti alone used the language of rights, since the American and French texts avoided it in their declarations