• DOI:10.2307/494418
• Corpus ID: 141205471

Teaching the Haitian Revolution: Its Place in Western and Modern World History

@article{Peguero1998TeachingTH,
  title={Teaching the Haitian Revolution: Its Place in Western and Modern World History},
  author={Valentina Peguero},
  journal={The History Teacher},
  year={1998},
  volume={32},
  pages={33-41}
}

• Valentina Peguero
• Published 1 November 1998
• History, Sociology
• The History Teacher

THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION is highly relevant to teaching the modern history of the Western hemisphere and the world in general and ought to find a place in every history classroom. Recognizing this relevance, during the last thirty years, historians and other social scientists have produced a number of sophisticated studies of the Haitian Revolution. Each study presents a different theoretical methodology and varied factual frameworks, but each offers a provocative analysis of the subject.' The significance of the Haitian Revolution is that it is considered the first successful slave revolt in modern times. This revolt and other events in Haitian history which followed are appropriate for classroom discussion.2 In the study of the events that encompass the grand sweep of the American, the French, and the Haitian Revolutions, 1776-1804, the discussion of the Haitian Revolution can serve as a case study for understanding major problems confronted by the European colonies in the Western hemisphere during this revolutionary period. In my teaching experience, I have found that the Haitian Revolution provides an opportunity to engage the students in a broad comparative analysis of colonial rule and the nationalistic reaction to the forcible entrance of the masses into the politics of the modern world.