The Revolutionary Americas

Learn It

In many social studies classes, students rely on their textbook for most of their information. The textbook is not the final authority on any given topic because it is a secondary source of information, and as a secondary source, it is an interpretation of a historical event or document. Part of thinking like a historian involves verifying details from sources by corroboration of information. This means the historian examines multiple sources of information, both primary and secondary, to determine points of agreement and disagreement.

books on a table with more books on a shelf in the background

Textbooks represent a secondary source of information that typically contain interpretations of historical events or documents.

In this activity, you will compare primary and secondary sources of information to answer the question, “What was the Haitian Revolution?” Click on the following titles to review the excerpts for each title. Read all four excerpts and complete the activity that follows.

Secondary Source #1: The Haitian Revolution (PBS)opens in new window

Secondary Source #2: A Revolution in Haiti (University of Miami)opens in new window

Primary Source # 1 was written by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who took over the leadership of the Haitian Revolution after the capture of Toussaint L'Ouverture by the French in 1802. He later became the first ruler of an independent Haiti.

Primary Source #1: Excerpt from The Haitian Declaration of Independence of 1804Primary Source #1: Excerpt from The Haitian Declaration of Independence of 1804

The Commander in Chief to the People of Haiti

Citizens:

It is not enough to have expelled the barbarians who have bloodied our land for two centuries; it is not enough to have restrained those ever-evolving factions that one after another mocked the specter of liberty that France dangled before you. We must, with one last act of national authority, forever assure the empire of liberty in the country of our birth; we must take any hope of re-enslaving us away from the inhuman government that for so long kept us in the most humiliating torpor. In the end we must live independent or die.

Independence or death... let these sacred words unite us and be the signal of battle and of our reunion…

...let us allow our neighbors to breathe in peace; may they live quietly under the laws that they have made for themselves, and let us not…declare ourselves the lawgivers of the Caribbean, nor let our glory consist in troubling the peace of the neighboring islands. Unlike that which we inhabit, theirs has not been drenched in the innocent blood of its inhabitants; they have no vengeance to claim from the authority that protects them…

Peace to our neighbors; but let this be our cry: "Anathema to the French name! Eternal hatred of France!”

Done at the headquarters of Gonaives, the first day of January 1804, the first year of independence.

The Deed of independence

Source: David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University: The Haitian Declaration of Independenceopens in new window

Primary Source #2 was written by Toussiant L’Ouverture after he was captured by the French and during his imprisonment in France.

Primary Source #2: Memoir of General Toussaint L’Ouverture. Written by himself.Primary Source #2: Memoir of General Toussaint L’Ouverture. Written by himself.

It is my duty to render to the French Government an exact account of my conduct. I shall relate the facts with all the simplicity and frankness of an old soldier, adding to them the reflections that naturally suggest themselves. In short, I shall tell the truth, though it be against myself.

The colony of Saint Domingo, of which I was commander, enjoyed the greatest tranquillity; agriculture and commerce flourished there. The island had attained a degree of splendor which it had never before seen. And all this--I dare to say it--was my work.

Nevertheless, as we were upon a war footing, the Commission had published a decree ordering me to take all necessary measures to prevent the enemies of the Republic from penetrating into the island. Accordingly, I ordered all the commanders of the sea-ports not to permit any ships of war to enter into the roadstead, except they were known and had obtained permission from me. If it should be a squadron, no matter from what nation, it was absolutely prohibited from entering the port, or even the roadstead, unless I should myself know where it came from, and the port from which it sailed.

This order was in force, when, on the 26th of January, 1802, a squadron appeared before the Cape.

Source: The University Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography and Autobiographyopens in new window

Download the graphic organizer on the Haitian Revolution and watch the video to learn how to compare and contrast primary and secondary sources of information that you have just read. The graphic organizer has been completed for you as a model.

Comparing and Contrasting Primary and Secondary Sources on the Haitian Revolution: Graphic Organizeropens in new window

Comparing and Contrasting Primary and Secondary Sources on the Haitian Revolution video

> Text version for video

As you can see from the video, primary and secondary sources related to the Haitian Revolution have information in common, and information that is different. Some of these differences encourage historians to dig deeper to uncover why there are differences in order to discover the truth.