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The Haitian Revolution

The Haitian Revolution

The Haitian Revolution defeated the French Empire, abolished slavery, and shook the foundations of the Atlantic slave economy. But the struggle didn’t end there.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.

Key Ideas

Think about the following questions as you watch the video


  1. 01:39 What were the main social classes in Saint-Domingue, and why was this social pyramid unstable?
  2. 02:48 What was life like for an enslaved person in Saint-Domingue?
  3. 04:08 What was the goal of the revolutionaries in the revolution’s early days?
  4. 05:42 Who was Toussaint Louverture, and why did he fight first with the Spanish and then with the French?
  5. 06:41 How did enslaved people learn about revolutionary ideas?