Glimpses of Haiti in West Africa, 1890–1920.

This article investigates how West African intellectuals in Sierra Leone and Nigeria between 1890 and 1920 engaged with and circulated narratives of the Haitian Revolution, particularly through newspapers. Drawing on Romantic nineteenth-century portrayals of Toussaint Louverture and other revolutionaries, these intellectuals incorporated histories and literary works from Europe, North America, and the Caribbean to inform their own nationalist and Pan-Africanist politics amid rising colonial oppression. Figures such as A. B. C. Sibthorpe, Edward W. Blyden, and George Williams used the Haitian Revolution as a symbol of Black political agency, cultural nationalism, and resistance to colonial racism, often emphasizing Toussaint’s African heritage and moral leadership. The newspaper format enabled the blending of diverse texts and ideas, allowing West African writers to reinterpret the past and imagine new futures in the context of their political struggles.