Dutty Boukman
Background
[change | change source]Dutty Boukman was born in Africa; in the modern-day Senegal, he was enslaved and sent to Jamaica. He was later sent to Haiti, where he remained a slave.[1]
Boukman became a Voodoo priest on the island now Haiti, meaning he was a religious leader.
He was tired of being enslaved and tried different things to help enslaved people fight back. For example, he tried to teach people how to read but was punished for doing it. His name means "Dirty Bookman" in Haitian creole.[2]
Role in the Haitian Revolution
[change | change source]On August 14, 1791, he helped lead a religious ceremony. He spoke for a long time and said that God wanted them to fight against the slaveowners. He also said
"Listen to the liberty that speaks in all our hearts."[1]
This event inspired many enslaved people to fight back. A few weeks later, a large group of enslaved people attacked slaveowners, burning plantations and killing 1,000 slaveowners.[3] Many historians believe this was the beginning of the Haitian Revolution.
Dutty died in the fighting.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tickner, Arlene B.; Blaney, David L. (2013). Claiming the International. Routledge. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-135-01698-2. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
- ↑ Dubois, Laurent (29 March 2004). Avengers of the New World: the story of the Haitian revolution (First Harvard University Press paperback ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01304-9.
- ↑ James, C. L. R. (October 23, 1989). The black Jacobins: Toussaint l'Ouverture and the San Domingo revolution (2., rev ed.). New York: Vintage Books, a Division of Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-0-679-72467-4.