Entries Tagged 'Thoughts' ↓

If you weren’t in class — here’s the good news [see title] I realized that a number of people were choosing primary sources based on the amount of factual information they contained –names, dates, events. For this reason,  a lot of people were writing on Thomas Clarkson’s document, because he gives a mini history of the revolution. But that isn’t the point!

You DO need to read a mini-history of the revolution — that is what the introduction is for! The primary source documents are your chance to uncover the hidden meanings behind events. They don’t make that much sense if you read them to see “what happened.” Where they do make sense is if you read them to see why people acted, the motivations and explanations they attach to their actions.

With that in mind, we had a discussion and came up with a short list of sources that would be especially good to use. You can certainly use any primary source you want! But with these, you are sure to find something interesting to write about.

Section 1: how the revolution gets started

• Julien Raimond’s Observations: tells us about motivations of free people of color (so do Vincent Ogé’s letters, or the free colored address to the French National Assembly)
• Martinique rebels of 1789: tells us about slaves’ vision, their use of “nation”, their awareness of change
• Letter from Jean François and Biassou in 1791:
• Sonthonax abolishes slavery

Section 2: defending and prolonging the dream of the revolution

• Toussaint’s “Refutation of the 8 assertions” — shows how St Domingue’s leaders saw themselves as part of the Revolution; saw the future
• Polverel’s plantation policies: shows how French leaders envisioned keeping the plantation system going
• Council of 500: shows France enacting its new constitution to include Saint Domingue

Section 3: France changes its mind about Guadeloupe and Saint-Domingue

• Bonaparte’s instructions to Leclerc
• Cangé’s letter to Delpech
• Haitian Declaration of Independence

Thanks to Jenn for being the first ‘Show’n'Tell’ presenter of the semester. She found an interesting photo, though I hope later ‘Show n’ Tell’ presenters will stay away from flcker and find sites with a variety of different motives for posting images from the Caribbean. That’s the real focus on the assignment — not what is the picture about, but why is it on the internet. Who posted and what were their motives. How do they view the Caribbean. this involves some interesting web-detective work — and I hope to see more of this in later presentations — and especially in your Powerpoint assignments!

Good discussion on Jamaica Kincaid! One point I wanted to be sure everyone understood was about her strategic use of ‘politeness’ in the book — she describes people as ‘rude’ rather than calling them racist. This is one example of the way she uses British colonial culture — a kind of ‘code of behavior’ borrowed from the British — to criticize them. Another ‘code’ that was imported to Antigua and used by Kincaid with devastating effect is the English language itself.

Thought you might enjoy this interesting but light article on conditions in Cuba, where electricity shortages are forcing the government to try to get people to get more modern refrigerators, replacing their old US Frigidaires from before the 1959 revoltuion.

is important to me, as I think about how to improve it for the next time. What did you think about the tests, the readings, our use of technology, group discussion, the paper assignments or my lectures? Your thoughts are also valuable to future students. So if you have a minute, consider posting your evaluation to my profile at  RateMyProfessors.com

Thanks!