ERIC Number: EJ1287363
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Feb
Pages: 13
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0018-2745
EISSN: N/A
Finding a Time and Place for the Haitian Revolution
Johnson, Erica
History Teacher, v52 n2 p319-331 Feb 2019
In November of 2016, Laurent Dubois discussed the importance of Haiti in writing the history of slavery, freedom, and human rights in the Atlantic World during the Age of Revolutions for Aeon. He explained that histories of modern political thought and culture underestimated the Haitian Revolution due to the lack of written sources by the enslaved actors. Consequently, European histories--based upon written records--provide the dominant perspective, and historians have likewise used European epistemologies and approaches to write about the Haitian Revolution. Yet the enslaved population brought with it rich political traditions from a wide range of African societies, accessible through unwritten sources and varied methodologies. Moving beyond the Atlantic, the author found herself wondering what bearing Dubois's perspective has on how the Haitian Revolution is written about in world history. While historians such as John K. Thornton have emphasized how the African origins of enslaved peoples influenced the Haitian Revolution in scholarly articles and monographs, college textbooks for world history largely ignore contributions of non-whites in discussions of the Haitian Revolution. As a professor at a public liberal arts university, the author also began to think about how the Haitian Revolution is taught in world history classes, particularly surveys. In order to broaden the understanding of the Haitian Revolution in the scholarship, it must also be asked what else is missing from how this event is taught. While Dubois called on scholars to write better histories of the Haitian Revolution and incorporate the event into broader historiographies, the author argues that how the event is taught in world history courses should be repositioned. This means including all the ways the world influenced the Haitian Revolution, as well as recognizing how the Haitian Revolution shaped world history.
Descriptors: Slavery, Freedom, Blacks, Haitians, Civil Rights, Political Attitudes, Social Action, Violence, Historians, World History, College Students, History Instruction, Historiography, Teaching Methods, Foreign Countries
Society for History Education. California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840-1601. Tel: 562-985-2573; Fax: 562-985-5431; Web site: http://www.societyforhistoryeducation.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Haiti
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A