Lesson video

Hi there.

I'm Mr. Roberts, and thanks for joining me for today's history lesson, where my job will be to guide you through our history resources.

I'll be making sure that by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to securely meet our lesson objective.

By the end of our lesson today, you'll be able to explain Napoleon's role in the Haitian Revolution and his attempts to re-establish enslavement.

There are four key terms that we need to become familiar with to get the most out of our lesson today.

Elites refers to the group of people at the top of the social hierarchy with power and authority.

Galvanizing involves the strengthening of a person's determination.

Lieutenants is a term used to describe the people that support the leader or general of an army.

And grand blancs were the elites of French origin in the colony of Saint-Domingue, home of the Haitian Revolution.

Our lesson today on Napoleon and the re-establishment of slavery will be in three parts, and we'll begin by learning about Toussaint L'Ouverture and the threat posed to his movement by Napoleon.

Toussaint L'Ouverture was the charismatic and skilled leader of the revolt of enslaved peoples of the French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1791.

He defeated both the French elites on the Caribbean island he called home, and then the British forces who subsequently invaded in an attempt to re-establish slave plantations.

France had actually abolished slavery throughout its empire in 1794, and as a result, ended up assisting their former enemy, L'Ouverture, in resisting this British invasion.

France now sought to work with Toussaint L'Ouverture as governor of Saint-Domingue until political chaos back in France in the following year put an end to this.

In 1799, French Army general Napoleon Bonaparte seized power from the French Directory in Paris and turned his attention towards reasserting control over all French territories, Saint-Domingue included.

Napoleon also had plans to reinstate enslavement across the French empire, directly threatening everything that L'Ouverture and his troops had been fighting for since 1791.

In response to what Napoleon was trying to do, L'Ouverture decreed that Saint-Domingue would have a new constitution in 1801 and would work towards becoming an independent nation.

Now it's time for a couple of multiple choice questions just to make sure that we're retaining the information we need to be retaining in order to be able to make the most of the rest of our lesson.

In what year did Napoleon seize power in France?

a, 1789, b, 1799, or c, 1809.

Pause the video while you consider the options and then resume the lesson by pressing play when you've come to a decision.

Welcome back.

And well done if you said that Napoleon seizes power in France in b, 1799.

Let's try another one.

What did Toussaint L'Ouverture do when he learned of Napoleon's plan to reinstate slavery in 1802?

a, he declared himself an ally of Napoleon and began work on independence from France, b, he declared a new slavery law for Saint-Domingue and began work on independence from France, or c, he declared a new constitution for Saint-Domingue and began work on independence from France.

Once again, pause the video while you make a decision, and then return to this video when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer.

Welcome back.

And well done if you identified the correct answer as c.

Toussaint L'Ouverture declared a new constitution for Saint-Domingue and began work on independence from France.

Now it's time for the first written task of our lesson today.

I would like you to explain the significance of Toussaint L'Ouverture in Saint-Domingue's struggle for independence.

Pause the video while you complete this task, and then when you're ready for some feedback in the form of a model answer, just press play.

Welcome back.

Everyone's answer to this question will look slightly different, but well done if you managed to include any of the following in your work.

Originally born into slavery, L'Ouverture became a free man and rose to importance as a military leader, expertly organizing and leading resistance against French and British colonial forces.

His leadership united various peoples, namely enslaved Africans and free people of color.

L'Ouverture's guerrilla warfare tactics weakened first French and then British control over the colony.

By 1801, L'Ouverture had established control over the entire island and implemented significant reforms, such as the abolition of slavery and the introduction of social and economic improvements.

Well done with that task.

It helps us to understand the complex situation in Saint-Domingue by the end of the 18th century, otherwise known as the end of the 1700s.

And it brings us nicely on to the second part of our lesson today, which looks at the initial French success in Saint-Domingue and the circumstances of the capture of Toussaint L'Ouverture.

Having reinstated slavery in the French empire, Napoleon responded to L'Ouverture's actions by sending a large number of troops led by his brother-in-law, Charles Leclerc, to the colony in 1802.

They aimed to regain French control over Saint-Domingue, suppress the autonomy and abolitionist measures installed by L'Ouverture and reestablish the slave plantations to help France's struggling economy.

Leclerc initially achieved some military victories and took control of parts of the island, but the campaign stalled due to fierce resistance from L'Ouverture's forces who realized that defeat would mean death or re-enslavement for themselves and their families.

Now, before we move on, I'd like you to pause this video while you match the key figures on the screen with the correct description of their role.

Press play when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answers.

Welcome back.

And well done if you knew that Toussaint L'Ouverture was the leader of the Haitian Revolution, that Napoleon Bonaparte was the man who seized power in France in 1799, and that Charles Leclerc was the commander of French troops in Saint-Domingue.

At somewhat of a stalemate, the French agreed to negotiate with L'Ouverture and invited him to peace talks.

However, upon his arrival at the meeting, the French betrayed L'Ouverture and arrested him.

They transported him to France, where they imprisoned him in Fort-de-Joux in the Jura Mountains where he would die in the following year in 1803.

Now I'd like you to put the events on the screen in chronological order, starting with the earliest.

Pause the video while you complete this task and press play when you're ready to have the correct order revealed.

Hello again.

And well done if you managed to order the events chronologically as follows.

Firstly, Napoleon reinstated slavery across the French Empire.

Next, French troops under the command of Charles Leclerc were sent to reassert control over Saint-Domingue.

After this, Leclerc won some initial victories over Toussaint L'Ouverture's troops and took control over some of the colony.

And finally, Toussaint L'Ouverture was betrayed at a negotiation, captured, and transported back to France as a prisoner.

Now I'd like you to complete the two sentences on the screen as fully as you can.

Pause the video while you do this using your learning so far, and then press play when you're ready for a model answer.

Welcome back.

And well done if your answers looked anything like this.

Napoleon dispatched a large expeditionary force to Saint-Domingue, present-day Haiti, with the goal of reasserting French control over the colony and reinstating slavery in order to boost France's struggling economy.

And Leclerc was able to capture Toussaint L'Ouverture by tricking him into attending a false negotiation, betraying him, and arresting him to be imprisoned in France.

Well done for your hard work on that task, and it's prepared us nicely for the final phase of our lesson today, where we'll be now moving on to looking at the Haitian rebel fight back after L'Ouverture's capture and eventual Haitian independence.

The French expected that Toussaint L'Ouverture's arrest would cause the rebels to surrender, but it had the opposite effect, and instead, galvanized them into fighting even harder.

They were helped by a contingent of soldiers from Napoleon's army who defected to the side of the rebels when they learned the real reason that they had been sent to Saint-Domingue.

During this time, Napoleon exerted influence over much of Europe, and as a result, European countries would supply extra soldiers of their own to the French army.

On this occasion, there was a contingent of Polish soldiers who were told that they were being sent to Saint-Domingue to put a stop to a prisoner revolt.

When they learned that the rebels they were fighting against were attempting to resist returning to a state of enslavement, the Polish soldiers made a decision to switch sides and instead fight alongside what was left of L'Ouverture's forces against Napoleon's French troops.

This provided a much needed boost, especially after L'Ouverture's capture, and his key lieutenants, such as Jean-Jacques Dessalines, were able to successfully continue the fight.

Just another quick learning check now.

Some of the Leclerc's troops switched sides.

What nationality were they?

a, British, b, French, c, Polish, or d, Spanish.

Pause the video while you come to a decision and press play to continue.

Welcome back.

Well done if you said c, they were Polish.

With the help of Polish soldiers and under the leadership of L'Ouverture's key lieutenants, resistance against the French invasion continued to intensify.

It culminated in the Battle of Vertieres in November 1803, where the rebels were able to win a decisive victory.

Consequently, they were able to force Napoleon's troops to withdraw from the island in late 1803, officially declaring Saint-Domingue's independence from France on New Year's Day, 1804.

They renamed their new sovereign nation Haiti, meaning land of mountains in the indigenous Taino language.

Following independence, the new Haitian leaders carried out the execution of nearly all of the remaining grand blancs, as both a symbolic act of retribution, but also in an attempt to prevent any future attempt by France to regain control.

Now have a go at this true or false question.

True or false?

Napoleon's troops beat L'Ouverture's lieutenants and secured the colony for France.

Pause the video and press play when you're ready to continue.

Welcome back.

And well done if you said the answer is false.

Which of the following though would provide the correct justification?

a, Napoleon's troops withdrew in late 1803 with Saint-Domingue becoming independent on the 1st of January 1804, or b, Napoleon's troops withdrew in late 1813 with Saint-Domingue becoming independent on the 1st of January 1814.

Pause the video while you have a think and press play to reveal the answer.

Welcome back.

And well done if you said that the correct answer was a.

It is true to say that Napoleon's troops withdrew in late 1803 with Saint-Domingue becoming independent on the 1st of January 1804.

On the screen, you can now see the translation of an extract from a speech made by Jean-Jacques Dessalines declaring Haiti's independence.

He said, "The barbarians have bloodied our land for two centuries.

We must ensure the freedom of our homeland.

We must take any chance of being re-enslaved away.

We must live independent or die.

" I would like you to use your learning from this section of our lesson to describe what Dessalines did to ensure Haitians had no chance of being re-enslaved.

Press pause while you complete this task and then press play when you're ready for another model answer.

Welcome back.

And well done if your answer included any of the following.

Following independence in 1804, the new Haitian leaders, on Dessalines' orders, carried out the execution and massacre of nearly all of the remaining grand blancs, which became known as the Haitian Genocide.

Many thanks for your hard work there and your hard work throughout our lesson today.

All that we need to do now is to summarize our key learning points.

Firstly, we learned that Napoleon Bonaparte, having seized power in France, wanted to reestablish French control over Saint-Domingue, but the governor and leader of the Haitian Revolution, Toussaint L'Ouverture, stood in his way.

Secondly, we learned that France betrayed and captured L'Ouverture, attempting to reinstate slavery.

This galvanized L'Ouverture's lieutenants who, with the help of Napoleon's Polish troops who switched sides, drove the French out.

And thirdly, we learned that in 1804, Saint-Domingue was proclaimed a free country and renamed Haiti.

Dessalines massacred the remaining European elites known as the grand blancs.

Thanks again.

It's been a real pleasure to guide you through this history lesson.

And I look forward to seeing you again in the future, where we'll be looking at the effects the Haitian Revolution had on the abolitionist movement in Britain and the wider world.