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Secondary sourceBook1841

The Hour and the Man: A Historical Romance

Harriet Martineau · 1841

An 1841 novel by Harriet Martineau that turned Toussaint Louverture into a heroic figure for British and American abolitionists.

This novel built Toussaint's heroic image for abolitionist readers decades after his death.

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A plain dark brown textured cloth surface, uniform in color with a subtle woven grain and slight darker shading toward the left edge. No text, title, or pictures are visible.
Harriet Martineau, The Hour and the Man: A Historical Romance, 1841.

About this source

What it is

This is a three-volume novel written by Harriet Martineau in 1839 and published in 1841. It is a fictionalised account of Toussaint Louverture's life, based loosely on historical facts about him.

Why it matters

Martineau was a British writer and abolitionist. Her novel presented Toussaint as a noble hero and helped spread his story among antislavery campaigners in Britain and the United States. It shows how Toussaint's legacy was shaped and used by people who never met him, decades after his death.

Look closer

  • Why might an abolitionist writer choose to tell Toussaint's story as a novel rather than a history book?
  • What parts of Toussaint's real life might get simplified or changed when turned into a "historical romance"?
  • How might British and American readers in 1841 have reacted differently to this story?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Toussaint Louverture on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Book cover in green, pink, red, blue, black and orange marbled paper with a black spine on the left. A white label at top left shows handwritten call numbers 'Lk 554' and 'g°'. Text at bottom reads 'Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France'.Document

Primary source

Constitution républicaine des colonies française de Saint-Domaingue

Toussaint Louverture · 1801

Title page of a book, a scan of a yellowed printed page reading 'Mémoires du Général Toussaint-L'Ouverture, écrits par lui-même', with a publisher's ornament and 'Paris, Pagnerre, Libraire-Éditeur, 1853' at the bottom. The book is attributed to Saint-Remy, not handwritten manuscript.Book

Primary source

Mémoires du Général Toussaint-L'Ouverture écrits par lui-même

Toussaint Louverture · 1853 (text written 1802)

Painted portrait of a man in a dark-blue and red military uniform with gold epaulettes, a white sash with gold stars, and white trousers. He holds a folded paper in his right hand and stands before a stormy blue sky and dark mountains, with a sword hilt visible at his left side.Painting

Secondary source

Général Toussaint Louverture

19th century

Sepia-toned engraving of a standing man in a black top hat with a tall plume, a dark military-style coat with chevron-patterned sleeves, and a sash at the waist. He holds a folded paper in one hand and a curved sabre in the other. Behind him are a fortified hillside, a small building on top, palm trees, and a second figure in uniform with a plumed hat.Painting

Secondary source

19th century engraving of L'Ouverture

J. Barlow, after a sketch by Marcus Rainsford · 19th century

Sepia engraving of a scene in a tropical landscape: a tall officer in a plumed hat and uniform stands center, receiving a letter from a man in a long coat at right, while a woman in a long dress, children, and other figures gather around, with palm fronds and trees behind.Painting

Secondary source

Toussaint Louverture reçoit une lettre du Premier Consul

Charles Monnet · 1802

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