Toussaint Louverture Presentation #2

TOUSSAINT LOUVERTUREA Missing Hero from American History

Presented by

Jacques Antoine Dorcely

School Psychologist, Writer, Artist, and Inventor


• An OBAMA of the 18th Century

• This black Spartacus who threw off the yoke of oppression

• The George Washington’s Caribbean counterpart

• An unsung hero


In this presentation Toussaint Louverture is viewed as: • A major figure in the United States’ economic

development and expansion

• A great role model

• The greatest black revolutionary of all times.


B) US Trading with Haiti meant trading with France was vital for the survival of the US. Note that the French currency was legally accepted by the US Department of the Treasury.

How did the United States become economically strong and powerful?

A) Acquisition of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, a major step in US expansion and development.


France ceded Louisiana to Spain in 1762 in the wake of Seven Years War, but Spain was no more eager to colonize the area than France had been. This territory was ceded back to France in October 1800 in exchange of Florence (Italy), the birth

place of the famous navigator Amerigo Vespucci. France did not actually take possession of the Louisiana territory until two years later.

The American Project-How Important was the Louisiana Territory to France? [70-74]


“Louisiana was a vast territory. It stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes and the border of Canada, and from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains. It comprised all

of the Indian Territory, all of Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas, and most of Colorado and Minnesota, and all of the Washington and Oregon States.”



“If the greatness and increasing prosperity of the United States is indissolubly connected with the complete union of all its parts, no circumstances could be more fatal

to that union and prosperity, than the possession of Louisiana by Napoleon,” [One 18th Century American newspaper noted.]



“This vast territory (Louisiana) seemed to hang, almost oppressively over young America to limit its dream of expansion and stifle its vitality.”

[Napoleon and the American Dream, Ines Murat]



• Once a domestic slave

• A coachman and plantation steward

• A lieutenant governor (1795)

• A general-in-chief of the army (September 1, 1797)

• A governor general

• One of the best known black revolutionary of all time.

Who was Toussaint Louverture?


The Black Liberator

“I was born a slave, but nature gave me the soul of a free man. Everyday I raised my hands in prayer to God to implore him to come to the aide of my brethren and to

shed the light of mercy upon them.”

Toussaint Louverture on his horse


A Family Role Model

• “Every Sunday and on holidays, I take my wife and my parents to church. After dinner, my family and I spent the rest of the day together and we end it in a prayer.”

• Demonstrated a very strong attachment to his wife (Simone Baptiste) by revealing: “The most poignant situation I had to face came up during the war where I had to leave my wife… and I would not feel comfortable until I knew that she was safe.”

• Strongly favored matrimony and condemned concubine. He once declared: “I do not understand how respectable women can act this way against common decency. Chastity should be the principal ornament of their sex.”

Grateful, trustworthy, strict but not wicked, forgiving, conciliatory and self sacrificing.


The Importance of Toussaint Louverture and Haiti’s History [18-22](What Others Have Said)

• "I have always felt as an African American, that my history has been raped and taken away from me to such an extent that no matter how much compassion I have for Africa, I have no town, no village, no city, no country that I can identify with in Africa... I feel better about finding out where we are going and to have Americans recognize the debt we owe Haiti for being a friend in all these years... but most importantly for the opportunity that Haiti gives to feel as people.“

[Congressman Charles Rangel]

• “Toussaint was one of the greatest men of his time. He was not only the symbol of Black emancipation but also the symbol of emancipation of us all.”

[Late French President Francois Mitterrand](March 31, 1987 visit at Fort de Joux, France)

• “Toussaint Louverture was a nation.“ [Alfonse de Lamartine, French poet and politician]


• “Toussaint Louverture was not loud. He was not brash. He had a vision to see his people grow in mind, in thought, and in deed. He was the first individual of color who stood firm in his belief and in his action to teach a group of people, the nation, and the world to believe in freedom for all. He fought the good fight with all his might with dignity and integrity. He was criticized, like all people who try to do the right thing in a quiet style.”

[Nelian C. Pilgrim, Principal of one of the NYC Public Schools]

• “Toussaint Louverture was one of the noblest of his own or any race. He was pure when to be otherwise was no discredit; grateful when ingratitude was the rule, and self sacrificing when individual aspiration extended beyond self-interest. More than any other man he contributed to the honor and reputation of that division of mankind with which he was allied by blood and by birth.” [Dr. S. Wesley- Smith]


• “My greatest mistake was to try to subdue St Domingue (Haiti) by force of arms. I should have named Toussaint my Vice-King,” wrote Napoleon Bonaparte, While being a prisoner at Saint Helene (Elba Island) on Jan 10, 1817. [Roland Lambalot reported]

Toussaint LouvertureThe Black Liberator Napoleon Bonaparte

(Emperor of France)

John Adams (2nd.US President 1797-1801)

Thomas Jefferson (3rd US President 1801-1809)

Some of Toussaint’s Contemporaries


We hope that the United States Congress

Will declare a

Toussaint Louverture Memorial Day

• Yes, we can!


INTERESTED IN MAKING A DIFFERENCE?

Please answer the following questions:1- Who are your heroes?

3- Why do countries celebrate Heroes?

3- How important are Memorial Days to you and your community?

4- How can a country become powerful? A) Good trade relations with other countries.B) Acquisition of new territories, agricultural development, exploitation of natural resources, development of technology, etc.

5- What historical figure that made the following statement during his arrest:“In capturing me you have only cut the trunk of the tree of liberty; it will spring up again by the roots, for those roots are strong and numerous.”

A) Frederick Douglass B) Harriet Tubman C) Marcus Garvey D) Toussaint Louverture

6- Why was Barack Obama’s election to the presidency so exciting?

Documents

Toussaint Louverture Presentation #2