“We Ask for Liberty”: How the Haitian and French Revolutions Influenced Each Other

Like many things in life, learning isn’t linear. We often imagine that when we share information clearly and effectively with our students, they will understand fully what we’re teaching. The reality usually looks quite different. Some may understand at the end of class, while others may not until the end of the school year. That unique learning journey also applies to us as teachers. We often need to take a while to process what we’ve read and learned about and figure out how to teach it. This was the case for me when learning about how Haitians influenced the French Revolution. For many years, I read and saw things that showed how the Haitians influenced the French Revolution, but I only taught about how the French influenced the Haitians.

Part of the reason for my earlier approach has to do with textbooks. Most world history textbooks and narratives of the Atlantic Revolutions often present the French Revolution before the Haitian Revolution. That chronology makes sense, given that the French Revolution began in 1789, two years before the Haitian Revolution. I’ve written before about how this structure often encourages a problematic narrative that the French inspired the Haitians to revolt. It’s worth recognizing that the Haitian and French Revolutions overlapped from 1791 to 1799. Instead of framing one revolution as causing another, maybe we should have students think about how the two revolutions influenced each other.

Focusing on events in France and Haiti in 1793 and 1794 can help students better understand how the revolutions influenced each other. Some French revolutionaries contributed to the Haitian Revolution. At the same time, Haitians also played a critical role in encouraging the French National Assembly to abolish slavery in 1794.

How the French Influenced the Haitian Revolution