Today’s history lesson...
In assembly this week I spoke about Toussaint Louverture, the revolutionary leader in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, today’s Republic of Haiti. An extraordinary figure, he began his life in slavery on a plantation in the north of the island, and won his freedom thanks to his part in resolving a dispute involving a brutal slave-driver and a large number of slaves who consequently refused to work (the slave-driver was expelled from the plantation and the workers went back to the fields after Toussaint’s intercession). With the French Revolution in 1789 came an opportunity for the slaves of Saint-Domingue to throw off their shackles and embrace freedom. Toussaint’s leadership skills soon saw him leading an army of marrons, as the runaway slaves were known, and with his many military successes he became known as the Black Spartacus.
As every scholar of ancient history (or fan of Kirk Douglas films) knows, the slave revolt led by the original Spartacus in 1st century AD Italy ultimately failed. Toussaint’s did not. An extraordinary figure, he overcame French, Spanish and even British forces who tried to dominate the island at different times over the next decade. He became the commander-in-chief of the armies and governor-for-life of the colony. He was seen not just as the hero of the black population, but also as the trusted protector of the white colonists who saw him as their protector. His immediate entourage he had lieutenants who were black, white and of dual heritage. He spoke to people in their own language – to the white colonists in French, to people of colour in his own first language Haitian Kreyol, and to many of the ex-slaves in the languages they had brought from Africa. He was a humanitarian, preventing his troops from pillaging enemy territory or entering into reprisals against their opponents. When Napoleon sent an invasion force to re-institute slavery and depose Toussaint in 1802 , he successfully repelled them, before being duped into captivity and sent to a French prison where he died in 1803. His lieutenants completed the rout of the French and founded the Republic of Haiti on 1 January 1804, only the second independent republic in the new world and the first in which all forms of slavery were outlawed.
Why talk about Toussaint Louverture to the school? He was a figure completely unknown to me until I read a review of a biography of his last year which made me get the book. In part I wanted to speak about him because his story is extraordinary and inspirational, although one which a ten minute assembly or three paragraph blog cannot do full justice. But it also marks a deliberate effort to make our curriculum more relevant to pupils for whom history can seem like a series of stories in which dead white males are the sole protagonists. In our curriculum generally we need to ensure that all our pupils learn about people like them and have the opportunity to consider matters more broadly than just focusing on our immediate concerns in the Britain.
On that note, Mrs Skilton, as our resident expert on Soviet history, will be talking in assembly next week about the situation in the Ukraine. We understand that some pupils will have family who are directly affected by the war and they may need additional support in school, or may wish to step out of this assembly. Our thoughts are very much with all those affected. Please let form tutors know if you have particular concerns.
(Bulletin No 18 - 4th March 2022)
