He was complex, he was known as the father of his country, he was Toussaint Louverture. Who was Toussaint Louverture? Toussaint was a young slave born around the 1740s. He was born in Saint Domingue (present day Haiti). He started out as a herder and worked his way up to overseeing fellow slaves. His Godfather taught him how to read and write and soon enough he was granted freedom by his owner and rented a coffee plantation with his own slaves. How we should remember Toussaint Louverture is kind of a controversial subject. I believe that Toussaint should be remembered as a great Haitian leader because he was tough, he had a good sense of moral leadership, he was compassionate and had political skill. Louverture was tough a tough leader. In 1793, he commanded a rebel army of 4,000 troops against the French. Louverture’s tough, leadership qualities allowed him to quickly become commander-in-chief of the army in Saint Domingue. As commander-in-chief, Toussaint ran an orderly camp where he trained men in both guerilla tactics and the European shoulder-to-shoulder style of war. He defeated the British, became ruler of Saint Domingue and conquered Santo Domingo, the Spanish part of the island. …show more content…
He also joined slave revolution and served as a doctor for the troops. After the French abolished slavery he stopped the revolt and joined the French side against Spain and England. So he was moral because in a way the he was helping his enemy. He assembled and headed the commission that created Saint Dominigue’s Constitution of 1801. With his courage and generosity he gained respect from the people around him and also earned the title “Papa Toussaint” because he was known as the father of his
He helped form one of the most successful slave revolts in history and created a black-led government that saw a revival in a colony that had been almost completely burned to nothing. He knew that liberty was important to the colony, but also understood the fundamental importance of having a successful economy. He persevered even when those around him heavily resented him. As a military leader, Toussaint was idolized by his troops. He led by example and embarked on and shared their dangers. He was gifted with genius when it came to military tactics, despite what stereotypes other European generals had, and his guerilla style warfare was a huge success. In his time, Toussaint managed to win support from many of the former slaves, drove Spanish and British troops out of the colony, and defeated internal conflicts. During his time he also managed to make peace with revolutionary France following the abolition of slavery, until the return of Napoleon. Toussaint had completely conquered St-Domingue and abolished slavery on the
Samuel de Champlain, who’s known as “The Father of New France” was a French explorer during the 17th century. He also was a navigator, cartographer, soldier, administrator, and chronicler of New France. He is famous for discovering Lake Champlain, Quebec City, and he helped establish the governments of New France.
But the question still remains: Did he achieve equality for the people of Haiti? He set out to establish equal rights, through force or otherwise, and took control of the country. When Hispaniola was under his control, all people were dubbed “free citizens”, but everyone who worked hard did not have a chance to move up in society. There were technically “equal rights” because everyone who was not a government official or a plantation operator was treated equally poorly. Louverture had luxury found by no others in the country, and his trusted advisors and officials lived lavishly as well. The people of his country lived the same way they always had with little wage to show for it. The government was condoning and enforcing what was almost the same as a type of slavery. Thus, there was not equality on the island at the
In 1793 Napoleon got to command French troops and they chased out the British from Toulon.
In recent years, human rights scholarship has received much attention by various scholars, including by historians. More than other specialists, they have been particularly concerned with trying to comprehend the origins of modern human rights discourses. Some like Laurent Dubois in his Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution have even suggested that:
Toussaint: He was born as slave. However, he became a free people and joined slave rebellion. The significance for him is the leader of the rebellion. He directed other slaves and told them what to do.
Pierre Toussaint born 27 June 1766 and died June 30, 1853. He was a previous slave from the French settlement of Saint-Domingue now Haiti who was conveyed to New York City by his owners in 1787. Pierre Toussaint came to New York from Haiti in 1787. He was enrolled as a disciple to one of the city's driving hairdressers. Toussaint had an ability for the entangled craft of style. Pierre Toussaint hairdressing business was very successful which made him very rich, so he used that money to help take care his master’s wife after he died. He purchased his wife freedom and his sister. Pierre Toussaint was a devout Catholic so he believed in the doctrine of giving to the poor and needy. In fact, he gave lots of money to various charity organizations.
François-Dominique Toussaint Fred L'Ouverture was born in Africa and was taken to Saint-Domingue, a French colony that is now present-day Haiti. In Saint-Domingue he was bought by the count de Breda. His owner was really nice to him, and helped encourage him to learn how to read and write. L'Ouverture eventually worked his way up to become De Breda's coachman, where he learned to become a very good horseman. At age 33 L'Ouverture was freed and he leased some land to grow coffee and other crops. When the French revolution came along L'Ouverture played a big part in the war. When British troops tried to occupy Haiti, L'Ouverture led a brigade of black, white, and Mullato to take it back. He defeated both the Spanish and the British on separate occasions and helped the French reach a trade agreement with the Americans. Late in his career he worked to try to separate Haiti from the French for good, and help Haiti become the great plantation nation it once was, but by that time Napoleon was in power and wouldn't let that happen. L'Ouverture was imprisoned in 1802 and died a year later of pneumonia.
recognized as a writer. He became one of the most famous and well paid French
...tles the argument that Haiti is too small to compare Louverture and other great men by saying “I know it was a small territory; it was not as large as the continent; but it was as large as that Attica…” which helps to convince the crowd that Louverture should be taken seriously because he is similar to the leaders of ancient Greece.
Enlightened despotism is when there is an absolute ruler, in some cases a tyrant, who follows the principles of the Enlightenment through reforms. Permitting religious toleration, allowing freedom of the press and speech, and expanding education are a few main guidelines to being and enlightened despot. Napoleon I is often referred to as one of the greatest enlightened despots. Although, he did not follow the ideas of the enlightenment entirely, he managed his country in a way that he maintained complete authority as well as many of the gains of the French Revolution. Yes, Napoleon did want to do a few things for himself, but he also ruled for the majority in most cases, promote government-funded education, and supported many other enlightened ideas. But, most importantly, Napoleon did what he thought would make his country stronger.
Phillips' juxtaposition amplifies his argument that a man of color has the same capabilities as other men. The orator compares Toussaint, the leader of the only successful slave insurrection in history, to Napoleon, "the great captain of the nineteenth century." Ironically, both men, although adversaries, inspired political movements founded on the principle of liberty, equality, and brotherhood. Phillips next pits Toussaint against the revered George Washington. Both men were liberators - Washington fought for American independence, while Toussaint fought for human rights in Haiti. Positioning these heroes side by side, the difference between them becomes as apparent as their similarity; Washington was a slaveholder, and Toussaint was a slave liberator. Phillips then measures the Haitian general against the English leader, Oliver Cromwell. Concluding that Toussaint's successes surpassed Cromwell's, Phillips aptly points out "the state Cromwell founded went down with him into the grave." History bears out this assertion; in 1660, when Charles II came to the English throne, his supporters ...
When the French Revolution broke out a young Haitian mulatto named Vincent Oge was on business in France. His extended family of free Creoles owned a coffee plantation and a commercial business with slaves on Saint-Domingue. Caught up in the excitement of the French revolution, he embraced its principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity with great enthusiasm and became a supporter of French constitutional nationalism. As a part of the general atmosphere of emancipation prevalent during the revolution, he joined the antislavery Society of the Friends of Blacks in Paris and demanded that French constitutionalism be extended to Saint-Domingue.
Charles Andre Marie Joseph de Gaulle was one of the most prominent Frenchmen to ever live. This is partly the reason why I selected him. Being part French, I have an interest in Frances History and society, both of which de Gaulle had a great part in. He fought hard for his country in WWI and bore the scares of battle for the rest of his life. In WWII he inspired the people of occupied France to fight for their liberation and led the French Resistance against Hitler and the Nazis. By forming the Fifth Republic, he replaced a weak government with a stable and effective one.
Patrice Emry Lumumba, a martyr for a worthy cause, of a foolish man with unrealistic hopes and ambitions? Due to his hard work, unrelenting persistence, and aspirations, his homeland, the Congo, gained their independence from the colonizing country of Belgium July 1st, 1960. Not long after though, there was a price over his head, and he only got to see the payoff of his work for a little less than six months. What killed Patrice Lumumba is a combination of many players including the actions he himself took, other political powers like Sese Seko Mobutu, Moise Kapensa Tshombe, and Joseph Kasavubu, and the other influential nations including the colonizing country of Belgium.