full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Marlene Daut: The first and last king of Haiti

Unscramble the Blue Letters


There are few sivnvruig written records about Christophe’s life immediately after the war. Over the next decade, we know he worked as a msoan and a waiter at a hotel in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was then known. In 1791, when the colony’s slaves rose up in rebellion, Christophe got another opportunity to fight for freedom. Led by Toussaint Louverture, the rebels fought against plantation owners, as well as bristih and Spanish forces seeking control of the island. Christophe quickly rose through the ranks, pvrinog himself the eaqul of more experienced generals.

By 1793, Louverture had successfully leebatird all of Saint-Domingue’s enslaved people, and by 1801 he’d elietbhassd the island as a semi-autonomous colony. But during this time, Napoleon Bonaparte had assumed power in France, and made it his mission to restore slavery and French authority throughout the empire. frcneh atpettms to reinstate slavery met fierce resistance, with General Christophe even burning the capital city to prevent military occupation. Finally, the rebellion and an outbreak of yollew fveer ferocd French soldiers to withdraw— but the fight was not without ctesaliuas. Louverture was captured, and left to die in a French prison; a fate that Christophe’s nine-year-old son would share only a few years later.

Open Cloze


There are few _________ written records about Christophe’s life immediately after the war. Over the next decade, we know he worked as a _____ and a waiter at a hotel in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was then known. In 1791, when the colony’s slaves rose up in rebellion, Christophe got another opportunity to fight for freedom. Led by Toussaint Louverture, the rebels fought against plantation owners, as well as _______ and Spanish forces seeking control of the island. Christophe quickly rose through the ranks, _______ himself the _____ of more experienced generals.

By 1793, Louverture had successfully _________ all of Saint-Domingue’s enslaved people, and by 1801 he’d ___________ the island as a semi-autonomous colony. But during this time, Napoleon Bonaparte had assumed power in France, and made it his mission to restore slavery and French authority throughout the empire. ______ ________ to reinstate slavery met fierce resistance, with General Christophe even burning the capital city to prevent military occupation. Finally, the rebellion and an outbreak of ______ _____ ______ French soldiers to withdraw— but the fight was not without __________. Louverture was captured, and left to die in a French prison; a fate that Christophe’s nine-year-old son would share only a few years later.

Solution


  1. mason
  2. established
  3. french
  4. attempts
  5. fever
  6. forced
  7. equal
  8. british
  9. surviving
  10. liberated
  11. yellow
  12. proving
  13. casualties

Original Text


There are few surviving written records about Christophe’s life immediately after the war. Over the next decade, we know he worked as a mason and a waiter at a hotel in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was then known. In 1791, when the colony’s slaves rose up in rebellion, Christophe got another opportunity to fight for freedom. Led by Toussaint Louverture, the rebels fought against plantation owners, as well as British and Spanish forces seeking control of the island. Christophe quickly rose through the ranks, proving himself the equal of more experienced generals.

By 1793, Louverture had successfully liberated all of Saint-Domingue’s enslaved people, and by 1801 he’d established the island as a semi-autonomous colony. But during this time, Napoleon Bonaparte had assumed power in France, and made it his mission to restore slavery and French authority throughout the empire. French attempts to reinstate slavery met fierce resistance, with General Christophe even burning the capital city to prevent military occupation. Finally, the rebellion and an outbreak of yellow fever forced French soldiers to withdraw— but the fight was not without casualties. Louverture was captured, and left to die in a French prison; a fate that Christophe’s nine-year-old son would share only a few years later.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
independent haiti 2


Important Words


  1. assumed
  2. attempts
  3. authority
  4. bonaparte
  5. british
  6. burning
  7. capital
  8. captured
  9. casualties
  10. christophe
  11. city
  12. colony
  13. control
  14. decade
  15. die
  16. empire
  17. enslaved
  18. equal
  19. established
  20. experienced
  21. fate
  22. fever
  23. fierce
  24. fight
  25. finally
  26. forced
  27. forces
  28. fought
  29. france
  30. freedom
  31. french
  32. general
  33. generals
  34. haiti
  35. hotel
  36. immediately
  37. island
  38. led
  39. left
  40. liberated
  41. life
  42. louverture
  43. mason
  44. met
  45. military
  46. mission
  47. napoleon
  48. occupation
  49. opportunity
  50. outbreak
  51. owners
  52. people
  53. plantation
  54. power
  55. prevent
  56. proving
  57. quickly
  58. ranks
  59. rebellion
  60. rebels
  61. records
  62. reinstate
  63. resistance
  64. restore
  65. rose
  66. seeking
  67. share
  68. slavery
  69. slaves
  70. soldiers
  71. son
  72. spanish
  73. successfully
  74. surviving
  75. time
  76. toussaint
  77. waiter
  78. war
  79. worked
  80. written
  81. years
  82. yellow