The Haitian Revolution (c.1780–1825)

The French colony on the western third of Hispaniola (today's Haiti) — the richest colony in the world in the late 1700s, built on plantation agriculture.

About 500,000 enslaved people versus roughly 40,000 free colonists — close to a ten-to-one ratio.

A 1685 French royal law that regulated slavery — it set rules for treatment and harsh punishment of enslaved people, giving legal cover to brutality.

The practice of enslaved people escaping to live in hidden, independent communities, often in Saint-Domingue's mountainous interior.

François Mackandal, who organised raids on plantations from hidden maroon communities in the 1750s, decades before the 1791 uprising.

A faith blending African traditions (with some Catholic elements) that gave enslaved people from different backgrounds a shared identity and helped unify resistance.

A Vodou ceremony, traditionally linked to leaders including Dutty Boukman, said to have preceded the mass uprising that began on the night of 22-23 August 1791.

That "men are born and remain free and equal in rights" — ideals of liberty and equality from the French Revolution.

Colonists applied 'liberty and equality' only to themselves; enslaved people and free people of colour argued the same words justified their own freedom and rights.

A free man of colour who demanded political rights for gens de couleur in 1790-91; France refused and he was brutally executed in 1791.

Brutal plantation slavery, existing enslaved resistance (maroonage and Vodou), and the ideals unleashed by the 1789 French Revolution.

State precisely what its content shows, then explicitly link that content to the inquiry question — not just summarise it.

August 1791 — enslaved people in the north rose up in a coordinated revolt, beginning the War for Freedom and the wider Haitian Revolution.

French commissioners abolished slavery in Saint-Domingue in 1793, and the National Convention in Paris confirmed the abolition for all French colonies in February 1794.

France (after Napoleon tried to restore slavery in 1802), Spain (in Santo Domingo, until 1795), and Britain (which invaded 1793-98 to seize the colony).

He allied with France once it abolished slavery, built a disciplined army of former slaves, and used guerrilla tactics and disease (yellow fever) to wear down Spanish and British forces.

He sent an army under General Leclerc to restore French control and re-impose slavery; Toussaint was captured by trickery and deported to France, where he died in prison in 1803.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines led the revolutionary army to defeat the French at the Battle of Vertieres (November 1803) and declared independence on 1 January 1804, naming the new nation Haiti.

Enslaved people escaping into remote, hard-to-reach areas (often mountains or forests) to live free of their enslavers.

A source written in 1793 can only describe events up to that point, so a historian must check what phase of the war it covers before using it as evidence for later events like the 1804 declaration.

The administrator's purpose was likely to alarm Paris and request troops, so it may exaggerate slave 'savagery'; the soldier's purpose may be to justify the revolt as a fight for freedom, so it may stress French cruelty. Both are useful but need cross-checking.

Content is what the source actually says or shows; context is who made it, when, where and why — and context shapes how reliable or useful the content is for a given inquiry question.

French officials often portrayed him as an ambitious rebel threatening order, while Haitian and later Pan-African writers portrayed him as a liberator fighting for universal freedom — perspective depends on who is writing and their political purpose.

It was abolished in 1793-94, but Napoleon tried to restore it in 1802, which triggered the final phase of the war and led directly to full independence in 1804.

It abolished slavery permanently in Saint-Domingue and made L'Ouverture governor for life — but it kept the colony formally under French sovereignty.

The independent state of Haiti — the first nation founded by a successful uprising of enslaved people, breaking all ties with France.

Toussaint L'Ouverture (1801 Constitution); Jean-Jacques Dessalines, with secretary Boisrond-Tonnerre (1804 Declaration).

Colour (formerly enslaved Black majority vs. free people of colour), class (wealthy landowners vs. the poor), and land (large plantations vs. landless labourers).

{{affranchis|free people of colour under French rule}} — many had owned property and slaves before 1804, so after independence they often kept land and power, keeping old inequality alive.

France, under King Charles X, agreed to recognise Haiti only if it paid 150 million francs to compensate former slave-owners for lost 'property' (including people).

Haiti had to borrow from French banks to pay it, taking until 1947 to finish repaying — decades of national income drained away instead of building the new state.

{{indemnity|payment made to compensate for a loss}} — here, payment to French planters for the enslaved people and land they said they had lost.

Content is WHAT a source says; context is WHO made it, WHEN, WHERE and WHY — context shapes how reliable or useful the content is for a given inquiry.

Comparing how different sources (e.g. a Haitian official document vs. a French planter's letter) show different viewpoints on the same event, and why.

Their origin and purpose differ: the planter (loss of property/status) versus Dessalines (proclaiming Black sovereignty and freedom) — perspective shaped by position and purpose.

{{provenance|a source's origin — who made it, when and where}} — it tells you whose viewpoint you are reading before you judge the content.