Blades of Freedom & the Louisiana Purchase

July 14, 1803 - The United States doubles in size overnight with the Louisiana Purchase.

How did a rebellion in Haiti end up doubling the size of the United States?

In the late 1700s, Haiti was a colony of France, known as Saint Domingue, that produced coffee, sugar, and indigo. Many of the people who lived there were slaves used to work these profitable plantations.

In 1791, the slaves unified and rebelled. The British had already seized the colony as part of their war with France, and the enslaved people drove out the British, declaring themselves a free nation. The French wanted their colony back, but were unsuccessful in attempts to reclaim it, largely due to troop loss from yellow fever. In 1804, the leader of the revolt, Dessalines, declared the island an independent nation and named it Haiti, after a local native tribe.

At the same time, President Jefferson was in negotiations to purchase the city of New Orleans. Napoleon Bonaparte made an offer to sell Jefferson all of the land west of the Mississippi instead. The French were concerned that the British, invading from Canada, would eventually seize the land anyway, especially after the loss of Saint Domingue, so they sold the whole lot. This Louisiana Purchase opened up the west for the era of Manifest Destiny.

Why Graphic Novels?

For this study, we use a graphic novel from the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales series. For reluctant readers, graphic novels make complicated text more accessible through captivating graphics and pictures and shorter spurts of text. However, students are still learning literary skills, as they must follow plot and character development and understand perspective. Conflicts are presented, unwound, and resolved like they are in other texts. The only difference is that graphic novels have more images to support the development.

Our spine read for this unit is:

• Blades of Freedom
• Why would Napoleon Bonaparte sell the Louisiana Territory to the recently formed United States of America? It all comes back to the island nation of Haiti, which Napoleon had planned to use as a base for trade with North America. While Napoleon climbed the ranks of the French army and government, enslaved people were organizing in Haiti under the leadership of François Mackandal, Dutty Boukman, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Touissant L’Ouverture, who in 1791 led the largest uprising of enslaved people in history—the Haitian Revolution.

Snag the ENTIRE UNIT in Twenty-Three Reads Bundle - for someone who wants a little bit of everything! 

It includes twenty-three unit studies covering a wide range of topics. Each unit has introductory text, which will give the student basic background information about the topic at hand. These studies are directed toward upper grades students, but some have resources for younger students so that the whole family can work together.

• There are photographs and illustrations, and we have also included primary documents when available.
• After this text, there are featured videos, which augment the background information and help make the topic more accessible for more visual students.
• You will also find a short list of reading books, including a featured novel that the unit builds upon.
• There are vocabulary words, places, and people to identify.
• Reading comprehension, critical thinking questions, and writing assignments are included.
• We add fun with hands-on activities and extra videos to watch that will bring the era to life.

Includes:

• Language Arts
• Finding Langston & the Poetry of Langston Hughes
• Geography
• Anne of Green Gables & Canadian Provinces
• Stowaway & Antarctica
• Julie of the Wolves & Alaska
• Blades of Freedom & the Louisiana Purchase
• The Avion My Uncle Flew & France
• History
• Zlata’s Diary & the Slavic Wars
• Freedom Summer & the Summer of 1964
• Treasure Island & Pirates of the Caribbean Sea
• Farenheit 451 & Types of Government
• Red Stars & Russia in World War 2
• The Great Gatsby & the Roaring Twenties
• The Long List of Impossible Things & Post-War Germany
• A Tale of Two Cities & French Revolution
• Witch of Blackbird Pond & Salem Witch Trials
• The World Made New & Early Explorers
• Stitching a Life & Jewish Immigration
• Life Skills
• Teetoncey & Lifesaving Skills
• Freak of the Week & Disabilities Awareness
• Island of the Blue Dolphins & Sailing
• Science
• The Science of Breakable Things & the Scientific Method
• Frankenstein & Human Anatomy
• Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation & Albert Einstein

Product samples:

• Teetoncey & Lifesaving Skills
• Finding Langston & the Poetry of Langston Hughes
• Farenheit 451 & Types of Government