Toussaint

Louverture

Abigail Bermeo
Chloe Mathewson
Emily Osborne
Emily Weisser

Junior Division
Group Website
How We Chose Our Topic:
As our topic, we chose Toussaint Louverture. We picked this
topic by looking through the sample topic list and selected a
few that appealed to our interests. We all agreed that
Toussaint and his leadership during the Haitian Revolution
was an appropriate choice because it was a topic that we did
not know anything about. Also, the subject was one that was
more uncommon, unlike many other topics on the list. The
last thing that convinced us to complete our project on
Toussaint Louverture was that he led the only successful
slave rebellion in history.
How We Conducted Our Research:
As a group, we conducted our research using databases,
books, and reliable websites. Most of the resources we used
were websites and databases, which held significant
information. Our friend Kathy Johansen works at Newark

Public Library and was able to check out books holding

relevant information about our topic. These books aided us
in our research because they provided detailed information.
Also, we printed out sources we found online, read them, and
highlighted the pertinent information. Then, each of us took
notes on the articles we had and compiled the notes we
accumulated to form the paragraphs on our website.
Furthermore, Dr. Wilson, a professor from Montclair State
University and doctor in American History, came to talk to us
about researching efficiently. Dr. Wilson supplied us with
helpful insight on Louvertures legacy and critiqued our
thesis. In addition to Dr. Wilsons visit, we spent a day at
William Paterson University using the resources exclusively
available in the universitys library. This day was
advantageous for our research because we received
feedback from a National History Day judge and furthered
our research on Toussaint Louverture.

How We Chose Our Presentation Category and Created Our

Project:
For our presentation category, we chose a website. We
decided to do a website because the group wanted to do a
documentary or website. On a website, it is possible to
incorporate both. To create our project, we formed a Weebly
account and started to generate our ideas on the site. All
group members contributed to creating paragraphs and
inserting them onto the website. We also found pictures and
designed the website to fit our needs and National History
Day guidelines.
How Our Project Relates to the NHD Theme:
Our project relates to the National History Day theme of
Leadership & Legacy in History. Toussaint Louverture was in
charge of the Haitian Revolution. He led the mulattoes and
slaves of St. Domingue out of slavery and unfair laws into
freedom and equal rights. His legacy is visible around the

world today because many have rebelled against unjust

foreign rule, slavery laws, and unequal rights. Many
republics that followed Louvertures example are still free
today.

Total Words: