We Are All Different

The essential question this week in honors history 10 class was why is it essential to acknowledge human value regardless of race and how are the events in the Latin American revolutions evidence of this social imperatives? These two questions are important to think about because people were  sometimes only known for their race not for what they actually had to offer. In order to study the impact of race on the Latin American revolutions for independence in class we formed three groups. In these groups we created a pie chart to show the percentages of each race in Latin America. After each group had either Mexico, Gran Colombia or Brazil and we created a timeline of events and then shared the information with each other.

My group had Gran Colombia.All of the three places had commonalities and differences. Two commonalities the groups all shared was they all took place during the same time period.Another commonality they all shared was they all declared independence in 1822. Although these countries had many commonalities they also had differences.Two differences they all had were that Brazil was the only peaceful country the other two were violent. Another difference is all of these revolutions took place in different countries.Race was an issue in all three of these countries although their revolutions took three different routes to independence. Race was a big issue in Gran Colombia because Simon Bolivar the ruler did not like discrimination happening in his country. In Mexico Miguel Hidalgo the priest had goal of racial equality in his country. He also launched the Mexican war of independence and issued the “Cry of Dolores”.In Brazil’s revolution Pedro, Brazil’s first emperor didn't do anything about race until later. Once Pedro was included in the rights of the constitution his goals for race were to have equality and freedom throughout all races.

(My groups timeline of Gran Colombia) 

I still think race is a big issue today but not as big as it used to be. Judgments are made in society all the time by people’s skin color. One example of race is when Martin Luther King Jr gave his I have a dream speech. People didn't respect him and what he had to say just because he was black. White people judged him before they even heard what he had to say. I think it is very important to consider race today because it still happens.

It Just Takes One Leader

It takes a certain type of person to be driven to point themselves and others in the right direction. This type of person is called a leader. Leaders are people who want to achieve success and command and organize groups to do so.  One person that was a great leader was George Washington. George Washington is remembered for being an amazing leader and  military commander for America. He was a good leader and military commander because he was the reason for America's success in the revolutionary war. He was also the first president to be elected in 1789 by the public and politicians.Despite the fact that George Washington owned slaves he was still a very a good leader. Just like George Washington, Toussaint Louverture is also remembered as a great leader.  Remembered means to think about something that happened in the past. Toussaint Louverture’s most important quality that he is remembered for is being a liberator of slaves but he also remembered for being a military commander and ruler of Saint Domingue.

Toussaint Louverture had many different qualities he is remembered for but the most important quality he has is being a liberator of slaves. Toussaint Louverture saw all men as equal and did not like how people owned slaves. When Toussaint became the ruler of saint Domingue he make sure to put slavery to stop on his land.”There cannot exist slaves in this territory, servitude is there in forever abolished. all men are born, live and die free and French (Doc C).” Toussaint Louverture wants the slaves to live a good life like everyone else. Toussaint  abolished forever in Saint Domingue.He writes his opinion in a letter to the French directory saying “Could men who have once enjoyed the benefits of liberty look on calmly while it is taken from them! (Doc B). ” What Toussaint is saying is that people could never become slaves calmly again. This evidence shows that Toussaint Louverture is remembered as a liberator of slaves because he was always protecting the slaves and had their best interest in mind.

The second most important quality Toussaint Louverture is remembered for is being a military commander.Toussaint Louverture is remembered for being a military commander because he was willing to fight. He took on the position to order people around in the revolt the broke out in the northern plain in 1801.”Toussaint ordered Moyse’s arrest and had him confined in the fort of Port de Paix(Doc E).” Although it was harsh of Toussaint to kill his nephew it showed everyone that Toussaint was a strong military commander and put all relationships aside. Many soldiers respected Toussaint for his characteristics. Some of his characteristics include “His race,his humanity, generosity, and courage (Doc F).” These traits show that Toussaint is remembered as a military commander because he treated his soldiers with respect and they did the same to him. Another reason why Toussaint is remembered for being a military commander for is for being smart and protecting his army during times of danger. “ Toussaint and his generals at once abandoned the towns, and betook themselves to the mountains (Doc F).” Revolutions are always known to be taken place in cities but Toussaint wanted his army to be safe so he took them to the mountains. He knew that if he did this the revolution would not destroy their city.This evidence shows that Toussaint Louverture is remembered as a military commander because he was always doing what was best for his army and protecting them.

The third most important quality Toussaint Louverture is remembered for is being a ruler of Saint Domingue. Toussaint Louverture is remembered for being a ruler of Saint Domingue because he set laws and was a leader of Saint Domingue. In Article 28 it states “ The constitution nominate citizen Toussaint- Louverture, Chief general of the army of Saint Domingue and...he is entrusted the direction thereof for the remainder of his glorious life (Doc C).” That means that he was well liked and had a lot of power in Saint Domingue. Another reason why Toussaint Louverture is remembered  for being a ruler of Saint Domingue is because he established punishments for being who did not follow the laws. One example of a situation of a crime would be “ Any manager or driver of a plantation upon which a foreign cultivator [field worker from another plantation] shall have taken refuge shall denounce him to the captain or commander of the section within 24 hours under penalty of one week in prison ( Doc D).” This shows that Toussaint Louverture was a very serious man when it came to punishments for slave owners. This evidence shows that Toussaint Louverture is remembered as a ruler of Saint Domingue because he had a lot of power of people and took his job seriously.

Although Toussaint Louverture is mainly known for being a liberator of slaves he is also a military commander and a ruler of Saint Domingue. He succeeded in abolishing slavery in Saint Domingue forever. He was also always willing to fight and had a strong army. Lastly he established punishments for slave owners and made laws. Toussaint Louverture accomplished a lot during his lifetime in Saint Domingue.

Bibliography:

(A) Document A, Timeline of Abolition in Saint Domingue, Created from various sources

(B) Document B, Toussaint Louverture, “Letter to the French Directory, November 1797.”

(C) Document C, The Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801. Signed by Toussaint Louverture in July 1801

(D) Document D, Toussaint Louverture, “Proclamation, 25 November 1801.”

(E) Document E, Madison Smartt Bell, Toussaint Louverture: A Biography, 2007

(F) Document F, William Wells Brown, “A Description of Toussaint Louverture,” from The Black Man, His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements, 2nd edition. Engraving of Toussaint Louverture, 1802.

Not Everything in Life is a Success

The essential question this week in honors history 10 class was were the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 really failures as many historians have concluded?In order to answer this question we got into groups and  every group had a different revolution. Every group read about their revolution and created a survey monkey for  the class.

My group’s revolution was 1848 France. The revolution of 1848 France’s goals were to create a republic, find jobs for the unemployed, political reform, and social and economic change that will help the hungry workers and expand suffrage.France’s opponent was Louis philippe's government. Louis Philippe’s government was France’s opponent because he abdicated which meant he resigned the throne. During the revolution source two an excerpt from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo in 1862 tells us how violent things got and what people used as weapons. Victor says "The barricade of Saint Antoine made a weapon of everything; all that civil war can throw at the head of society came from it". This quote is saying that everything that was handy to people became a weapon during this war.  As an outcome Napoleon III was crowned emperor says source four  The Rise and Fall of the Second Empire, 1852-1871 by Alain Plessis.

Although many people think all of the revolutions that happened between 1830 and 1848 were complete failures they were not.One of the revolutions that was a success was the French revolution of 1848. This revolution was a success because the people received some of the things they had been hoping for. Also the middle class known as the bourgeoisie wins too because they got the national assembly they had be hoping for. They people got expanded suffrage and Louis Napoleon was their new leader.  Another revolution that was not a complete failure was the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. This revolution was a success for the most part because it was a very violent scene. It was violent because people including leaders fled and many were jailed and hurt or killed. The Hungarian Revolution Document tells us that this led to dissolve the diet "We dissolve the Diet by this our Decree; so that after the publication of our present Sovereign Rescript, the Diet has immediately to close its Session”. This was not a complete success but it was more of a success than the 1825 Decembrist Revolt was not. The Decembrist revolt was a complete failure because Tsar Alexander I had died and the  Tsar Nicholas took the throne and had complete power over Russia. He made it so no one could come in or Russia. This revolt lead to many people hurt,killed and in jail. Overall the Decembrist revolt was the biggest failure. I would have to disagree with the essential question because most of the revolutions were somewhat successes.

This is a picture of my groups survey monkey results. 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T9SGP5X