According to colonial records, he was granted his freedom, given 13 slaves and 15 acres of land and allowed to grow coffee and sugar cane, as a surrogate plantation owner. When this declaration of the rights of all men was denied to the slave population, they revolted and in 1791, the rebellion swept the northern part of the island like a massive tidal wave.
Born Francois Dominique Toussaint, he gained historical recognition as "Toussaint L'Ouverture"-the "L'Ouverture" part of his name was bestowed upon him as a result of his freedom-fighting exploits later in his life. He was a self-educated slave who joined other slaves to fight for their common goal-their freedom and the establishment of a free country. He had no military training, or formal education but he possessed a passion for freedom, and an innate ability to organize. He was born on the island of Hispaniola on the Breda plantation between 1743 and 1746 having descended from the Arrada people of the Dahomey Coast, Africa. Toussaint was the oldest son of a slave brought to the French colony of Santo Domingo located on the eastern part of the island At that time, the island was called "Hispaniola;" the name "Haiti" came later on. It was Toussaint who eventually brought Haiti into being as an independent country. His slave-master was one Count de Breda who originally named him Toussaint Breda. The master also encouraged young Toussaint to learn to read and write, a rarity for a slave-master. It was because of Toussaint's assistance, the French were victorious against the British and the Spanish forces, yet the French were not willing to grant freedom to the slaves, which was the primary teason that Toussaint had lent his expertise to them. His series of military campaigns became known as "L'Ouverture" or "the opening," because he exploited openings in the defenses of the opposition. And Francois Dominique Toussaint then became known as "Toussaint L'Ouverture." In addition to their treachery and deception, France sent more regiments to the island m furtherance their scheme to renege on the moderate terms of peace and freedom that were promised to Toussaint and his men. The French were contemptuous and they boldly proclaimed, "Did Toussaint think that they had brought half a million African slaves to the New World to make them French citizens?" As leader of the nation, L'Ouverture organized a structured government and instituted public improvements. He was widely renowned, revered by Blacks and detested by Whites-the French and the Americans. L'Ouverture's activities did not go unnoticed by the U.S., a country that was prospering off slaves and their free labor. In his book "In the Matter of Color," author and noted jurist, A. Leon Higginbotham noted a French historian and politician who at that time wrote, "Thus it is that in the U.S., the prejudice rejecting the negroes seems to increase in proportion to their emancipation." (These events apparently propelled Nat Turner's rebellion as he attempted to follow the footsteps of L'Ouverture in Virginia).
Toussaint L'Ouverture: The Other Bonaparte! When the friction of social injustice and deprivation ignite that fuel, glimmers of hope begin to surface. So it happened with the baby boy who came on the world scene as Toussaint L'Ouverture. Acts such as these stirred [Toussaint]; he felt destined to remedy the societal ills. He also knew the time was not yet right, so he waited and learned. Toussaint became the most humble, obliging slave. He was held up as a model to other slaves.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
361 p., "I wrote Transfer Day as a way to honor the people of the Virgin Islands and to honor the upcoming Centennial celebration in 2017." --The Author
Black In Latin America, premiering nationally Tuesdays April 19, 26 and May 3, 10, 2011, at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings), examines how Africa and Europe came together to create the rich cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean. Latin America is often associated with music, monuments and sun, but each of the six countries featured in Black in Latin America including Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico and Peru, has a secret history. On his journey, Professor Gates discovers, behind a shared legacy of colonialism and slavery, vivid stories and people marked by African roots.
95 p., While Pan-Africanism is largely understood as Black men's fight for colonial liberation and state independence, women played an important and often unheralded role. This thesis challenges the masculinist history of Pan-Africanism using Amy Ashwood Garvey's life to highlight women's intellectual and political contributions to the movement. The author discusses Ashwood Garvey's role in co-founding the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and her work with the International African Friends of Abyssinia (IAFA), the International African Service Bureau (IASB), the Council of African Affairs, and the Fifth Pan-African Congress held in 1945. In addition to being an ardent Pan-Africanist, Ashwood Garvey was also a feminist who fought for women's equality through a wide range of anti-imperialist activities. Using her life as a lens through which to examine feminism's intersection with antiracist and anti-imperialist activism, this thesis underscores the fact that, for women throughout the African diaspora, struggles around race, gender, and colonialism operate in a symbiotic relationship to one another.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
227 p, In Women in Caribbean Politics Cynthia Barrow-Giles and her co-contributors profile 20 of the most influential women in modern Caribbean politics who have struggled and excelled, in spite of the obstacles. Divided into four parts, this volume looks at women who led the struggle for freedom; those who agitated for equal rights and justice in the pre-independence period; postcolonial trailblazers; as well as a group which Cynthia Barrow-Giles refers to as ‘Women CEOs.’ The profiles cover women from 12 territories, with varying political, ethnic and socio-economic issues.
Espín Guillois,Vilma (Author), Santos Tamayo,Asela de los (Author), and Ferrer,Yolanda (Author)
Format:
Book, Whole
Publication Date:
2012-01-01
Published:
New York: Pathfinder
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
364 p., A collection of four interviews by different journalists with Vilma Espín, Asela de los Santos and Yolanda Ferrer from 1975-2008. Founded by Fidel Castro and directed by Vilma Espín, the Federation of Cuban Women sought to mobilize women following the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Called the "revolution within the revolution," the Cuban women's movement sent women into new regions of the country to teach the illiterate and nurse the ill.
