The Haitian Revolution: the enslaved people who won a nation

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D. Card A, an adapted summary in our words, written today, of Toussaint L'Ouverture's constitution of 1801: It declared that slavery was forever abolished in Saint-Domingue. It named Toussaint governor for life. It kept the colony part of the French empire. It required plantation workers to stay on their estates. By 1800, plantations were producing one-fifth of their 1789 output. Card B, a summary in our words, written today: The French Convention abolished slavery in all French colonies in 1794. In 1802 Napoleon reestablished slavery in colonies still under French control. His forces captured Toussaint and sent him to prison in France. The fighting in Saint-Domingue went on. In 1804 the former slaves established the independent republic of Haiti. Card C, a summary in our words, written today, from the State Department's Office of the Historian: French defeat in Saint-Domingue led to the Louisiana Purchase. American leaders, many of them slaveowners, reacted to the revolution with ambivalence. The United States did not recognize Haiti until 1862. Card D, a note from the sheet: Leaders' letters and speeches of 1801 are not included in these cards.

2. 1.

   Card A: the 1801 constitution abolished slavery, named Toussaint governor for life and kept the colony French. Ari calls it a declaration of independence. What fits?

   • No, since the constitution restored slavery on estates so that the colony could stay French
   • Yes, since a governor for life with command of the colony already means that it rules itself
   • No, since a constitution written by a colony still under France cannot count as a real document
   • Not quite: it ended slavery and gave Toussaint power but kept the colony in the French empire
3. 2.

   Card A: output was one-fifth of 1789 levels by 1800, and the constitution kept workers on estates. Bo asks what explains that rule. Which reading is supported?

   • It was copied from the French law of 1794, since that law also concerned plantations and workers
   • It was meant to restore slavery, since workers who cannot leave an estate are the same as the enslaved
   • A government with low output may have tied workers to estates to raise revenue; the card gives no motive
   • It shows Toussaint wanted planters to grow rich, since the estates belonged to planters before the revolt
4. 3.

   Esme compares the 1801 constitution with Napoleon's step of 1802. Which statement about order is sound?

   • The constitution abolished slavery in 1801 in French colonies everywhere, so Napoleon undid it everywhere
   • Napoleon's step ended slavery in the Americas, since it led to Haiti's independence in 1804
   • The constitution came first and abolished slavery in Saint-Domingue; Napoleon then tried to restore it
   • Napoleon's step came first in 1801 and the constitution answered it with an abolition of slavery
5. 4.

   Card B: Toussaint was captured in 1802, yet the fighting went on and Haiti became independent in 1804. Jun says the capture ended the revolution. What is supported?

   • Leaders did not matter, since the revolt succeeded even though Toussaint sat in a French prison
   • Toussaint directed the fighting from prison in France until 1804, since card B says it continued
   • The revolt went on after the capture and won in 1804, so the capture did not end it
   • The capture caused independence, since the fighting went on afterward and ended in the victory of 1804
6. 5.

   Card B says the Convention abolished slavery in 1794 and Napoleon reestablished it in 1802. Kira asks what the change shows.

   • French policy stayed fixed, since the law of 1794 was still in force when Napoleon acted in 1802
   • French policy reversed within eight years while the people of Saint-Domingue kept resisting restoration
   • France did not mean abolition, since a law that can be overturned in eight years was a pretense
   • Napoleon's ambition explains the change, since the Convention's law ended when he took power
7. 6.

   Luz asks what the phrase "colonies still under French control" in card B implies for Saint-Domingue in 1802.

   • Slavery had not been abolished in Saint-Domingue, since the wording names no exception for the colony
   • France lost the colony in 1802, since the fighting went on and the republic dated from that year
   • Napoleon succeeded in Saint-Domingue, since his forces captured Toussaint and sent him to prison
   • France could restore slavery only where it held power, so in Saint-Domingue it had to win control by force
8. 7.

   Card C: American leaders, many of them slaveowners, felt ambivalence, and recognition came in 1862. What does Noah learn about American attitudes?

   • Plain hostility, since recognition took 58 years and the revolution was made by enslaved people
   • Mixed feelings, with slaveholding a likely link; the card does not rank the reasons
   • Indifference, since the Louisiana Purchase was the single concern of the United States in Haiti
   • Full support, since the United States had also won independence from a European power in 1783
9. 8.

   Ren says, "The Haitian Revolution was just about ending slavery." What do cards A and B show?

   • The claim is wrong, since the revolution had little to do with slavery and more to do with trade
   • The claim is right, since both cards open with the abolition of slavery and describe nothing else
   • The claim cannot be tested, since neither card states the rebels' aims in their own words, just actions
   • Abolition came with a claim to govern: Toussaint's constitution, resistance to 1802 and independence in 1804
10. 9.

    Tala says France gave Saint-Domingue freedom, so Haiti was France's gift. Which part of card B weakens that claim?

    • Toussaint's capture in 1802, which shows that France controlled the colony throughout the revolt
    • France abolished slavery in 1794, tried to restore it in 1802, and met resistance that continued
    • The republic founded in 1804, which shows that France recognized Haiti as soon as it was founded
    • The Convention's law of 1794, which shows that France gave freedom to the people of the colony
11. 10.

    Card D notes that Toussaint's letters and speeches of 1801 are missing. What would Zee learn from them?

    • Whether Toussaint meant the constitution as a step toward independence; his words would show
    • Whether Toussaint wrote the constitution himself, since letters would settle who held the pen
    • How much sugar the colony exported in 1801, since a governor's letters would list the exports
    • What Napoleon planned for 1802, since the letters of a governor would reveal a rival's orders