Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

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Co Requisite Comment

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Aims

The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) is the story of the birth of the world’s first independent black republic. Enslaved people in the French colony of Saint-Domingue rose up against colonial powers and gained their freedom and independence. They created Haiti: the first fully free society in the Atlantic world and the second independent nation in the Americas (after the United States). This revolution reshaped debates about slavery and freedom, accelerated the abolitionist movement, precipitated rebellions in neighbouring territories, and intensified both repression and antislavery sentiment. The Haitian Constitution approved the settlement of Africans, Indians, and their descendants, making Haiti a point of refuge for the oppressed. In recent years scholars have increasingly insisted that much of what we inherited from the Age of Revolution—especially ideas of universal rights—were crucially shaped by the Haitian Revolution. As a revolution largely made by enslaved people of African descent, the Haitian Revolution posed a direct threat to deeply entrenched interests throughout the world, This module examines the causes, process, and consequences of the revolution.

The aims of this module are:
•To provide an opportunity to develop an understanding of the causes of, process of and outcomes of the Haitian Revolution by reading widely and critically in the primary and secondary literature.
• To engage with the major historiographical debates on the Age of Revolutions.
• To encourage students to think about history comparatively and to connect the histories that link societies in Africa, the Americas, and Europe.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module will include some or all of the following topics: Colonial Saint Domingue; the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution; the slave rebellion of 1791; the French abolition of slavery; Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines; the emergence of Dessalines; the impact of the revolution on the wider Caribbean; post-independent Haiti; the memory of the Haitian Revolution.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

- Students will gain an in-depth knowledge of the range of sources available for the study of the Haitian Revolution, their advantages and limitations.
- Students will construct their own interpretations from primary and secondary sources.
- Student will have a critical awareness of the historiography surrounding the Haitian Revolution, and be able to relate it to other relevant debates in Caribbean history, revolutions, and slave emancipation.

Intended Skill Outcomes

Students will develop the following skills:

Capacity for independent study.
Reading, understanding, critiquing, and comparing historical arguments.
Analysing and evaluating historians’ use of evidence.
Interpreting and contextualizing primary sources.
Associated skills in research, critical reading and reasoning, sustained discussion and appropriate presentation of the results.
Oral presentation.
Improve their ability to listen, read quickly, and take notes.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Seminars encourage students to analyse the assigned primary and secondary documents through the sharing of ideas and responses to the readings. Preparation for seminars require students to do private reading, requiring good time management and personal responsibility for learning.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Class presentations are formative and help develop oral skills of argument and presentation. Documentary commentary exercises test students’ ability to conduct independent research, relate primary source documents to broader problems, ability to formulate an interpretation of evidence in response to a question, and academic writing skills.
Exams test students’ general knowledge, as well as their ability to quickly analyse a problem and formulate a clearly written answer, drawing broadly on the material covered by the course


This module can be made available to Erasmus students only with the agreement of the Head of Subject and of the Module Leader. This option must be discussed in person at the beginning of your exchange period. No restrictions apply to study-abroad, exchange and Loyola students.

All Erasmus students at Newcastle University are expected to do the same assessment as students registered for a degree.

Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending semester 1 only are required to finish their assessment while in Newcastle. This will take the form of an alternative assessment, as outlined in the formats below:

Modules assessed by Coursework and Exam:
The normal alternative form of assessment for all semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be one essay in addition to the other coursework assessment (the length of the essay should be adjusted in order to comply with the assessment tariff); to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Modules assessed by Exam only:
The normal alternative form of assessment for all semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be two 2,000 word written exercises; to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Modules assessed by Coursework only:
All semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be expected to complete the standard assessment for the module; to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending the whole academic year or semester 2 are required to complete the standard assessment as set out in the MOF under all circumstances.

General Notes

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