Peter N. Herndon
This unit of study is intended to be a tentofifteenday inquiry (depending on the amount of time available) into the underlying and immediate causes of various revolts in Caribbean America.
Since many of my ninthgrade students in the World History course are of an AfroAmerican background, this unit takes advantage of a perceived interest in black cultural roots. Students from an Hispanic ancestry should also bring a certain personal interest to the study of this topic as well.
Toussaint L’Ouverture, who led the people of Haiti in a successful revolution against French rule, and whose career will be highlighted in this unit, warned the French (and the world) before his death: “In overthrowing me, the French have only felled the tree of black liberty in Saint Domingue. It will shoot up again for it is deeply rooted and its roots are many.”
This proposed unit is designed to stimulate, irrigate and cultivate interest in a past which is in many ways a very real part of our present.