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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