Dr. Lynn Price Robbins and Isaac S. Loftus are joined by historian Dr. Julia Gaffield to uncover the overlooked legacy of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a central—but often forgotten—figure of the Haitian Revolution. While many histories of Haitian independence sideline or erase him, Dr. Gaffield restores Dessalines to his rightful place as a revolutionary leader whose impact reshaped the Atlantic world.
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CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introductions
1:29 - Who is Jean Jacques Dessalines
6:01 - His experience as an enslaved person
8:59 - Differences in US slave societies vs French colonies
10:42 - Saint-Domingue
12:38 - Defining Creole
14:16 - The complexities of the Haitian Revolutions’s demographics
15:04 - From slave to freeman
15:54 - The 7 Years War and the Haitian Revolution
17:52 - Racism as a cultural norm vs codification
21:00 - What sets off the revolution?
23:35 - How does the French revolution play a role?
27:12 - Jean Baptiste Charbonneau & Vincent Ogé
32:45 - Dessalines and Louverture
37:39 - Betrayal and Legacy
41:09 - A double standard: Dessalines’ barbaric reputation
49:30 - The path to independence: The end of slavery in Haiti
54:44 - The significance of the book title
EPISODE LINKS:
Dr. Julia Gaffield - https://juliagaffield.com/
I Have Avenged America: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti’s Fight for Freedom - https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300255478/i-have-avenged-america/
Haitian Revolution - https://scholar.library.miami.edu/slaves/san_domingo_revolution/revolution.html
Toussaint Louverture - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Toussaint-Louverture
Jean-Jacques Dessalines - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Jacques-Dessalines
French Revolution - https://www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution
MLK - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther-King-Jr
Malcolm X - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Malcolm-X
Saint-Domingue - https://www.britannica.com/place/Haiti/Early-period#ref515792
Hispaniola - https://www.britannica.com/place/Hispaniola
Jean-Baptiste Chavannes - https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Appletons%27_Cyclop%C3%A6dia_of_American_Biography/Chavannes,_Jean_Baptiste
Vincent Oge - https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/oge-vincent-1755-1791/
Leclerc Expedition - https://islandluminous.fiu.edu/part02-slide09.html
Cover Image - https://spencerart.ku.edu/art/collections-online/object/58502
Ulrick Jean-Pierre - https://ulrickjeanpierre.com/
“I Have Avenged America” Speech - https://haitidoi.com/2013/08/02/i-have-avenged-america/
PODCAST INFO:
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