Danticat Background Info

Biographical info about the author

• Born January 19, 1969, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
• Immigrated to the U.S.
• Parents escaped Haiti to Brooklyn, New York
• Writing portrays fiction and nonfiction injustices in Haiti
• Uncle raised her while her parents were in New York
• Three themes in her writing
• National identity
• Mother-daughter relationship
• Politics regarding her haitian history

Timeline for Haiti's history from Independence to present

• 1492: Columbus lands
• 1592: Spanish governor executes the last Taino chief
• 1685: Louis XIV enacts Code Noir (Allowing Corporal Punishment)
• 1758: Rebel leader Mackandal is captured and burned alive
• 1791: Slave revolt begins
• 1794: French Assembly end slavery in all colonies
• 1801: Toussaint L’Ouverture defeats British and Spanish troops
• 1803-1803: Final years of revolution
• 1804-1805: Independence
• 1806: Dessalines is assassinated and Haiti splits into two states
• Northern state: Controlled by Emperor, Henri Christophe
• Southern republic: President Alexandre Pétion.
• 1820: Jean-Pierre Boyer unifies Haiti
• 1825: France’s King Charles X demands 150 million francs, backed by a fleet of warships.
• 1844: Dominican Republic declares independence from Haiti.
• 1937: Dominican Massacre
• 1930-1961: Rafael Trujillo ruled Dominican Republic
• 1957 – 1971: President Duvalier (Papa Doc)
• 1971-1986: President, Jean Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc)

Haiti's fight for and gain of Independence

• Anti-slave anti-colonial Coup D'etat
• 1791-1804
• Greatest slave uprising since Spartacus
• One of the only slave revolts that lead to a state free of slavery led by non-whites

Toussaint L'Ouverture

• Black leader (Haitian revolution)
• Defeated British and Spanish troops
• Lead the insurgency
• Military and political leader

Boukman

• Most known early leader
• Lead religious ceremonies
• Marked the beginning of the revolution

1937, Dominican Massacre

• Dominican troops killed around 10,000 Haitians
• Aka Parsley massacre

Rafael Trujillo

• Rafael Trujillo ruled Dominican Republic 1930 - 1961

• Dominican politician and soldier
• Dictator
• 1930 Ruled Dominican Republic
• 1961 Assassinated
• Responsible for over 50,000 deaths
• Brought Prosperity and Stability
• Non-existent civil rights and liberties

Voodoo religion

• Official religion of Haiti
• Spirit inhabit visible world
• Spirits help govern humanity and the natural world
• Prayer is rewarded with health, protection, and favor
• Came from enslaved Africans in Haiti

Duvalier (Papa Doc)

• 1957 - 1971 President
• Elected president of Haiti
• Rule based on military
• Resulted in 30,000-60,000 murders
• Before rule - know for fighting diseases
• Hence Papa Doc

Tonton Macoute

• Special operations unit created by Duvalier

Jean Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc)

• President 1971 - 1986
• Tortured and killed thousands under his presidency
• World's youngest president at 19