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North/Central America

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The years following World War II marked a key shift in international policy related to human rights. Few, however, connect the history of human rights to the children's rights movement.

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Convention on the Rights of the Child

Official interest in the rights of children has grown over the course of the 20th century. Urbanization and industrialization led reformers at the turn of the century to focus on child welfare and on children's rights as separate from those of adults.

Painting of a slave sale
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Execrable Human Traffick, or The Affectionate Slaves

This reproduction of a painting by George Morland (1789) has lurid colors and shows the sale of an enslaved person.

Toussaint L’Ouverture
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Toussaint L’Ouverture

A slave inspired by the French Revolution’s egalitarianism, Toussaint saw himself as French and struggled for French control of the island of Saint Domingue. Nonetheless, he had no intention of letting whites rule, for he wanted blacks to control their own destinies.

Engraving called The Mode of training Blood Hounds in St. Domingo
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The Mode of Training Blood Hounds in St. Domingo

This image reveals grotesque mistreatment of blacks even during training exercises. Here a French cavalryman (chasseur) plans to use someone as a live prey for hunting dogs.

The Mode of Exterminating the Black Army as Practised by the French
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The Mode of Exterminating the Black Army as Practised by the French

The fighting between the French and the Haitians was very bloody. When the French tried to put down Toussaint in 1802, it took them some five months with an expeditionary force of 23,000. Supplied by locals, the French seized the towns, gradually extending their control to the countryside.

Revenge Taken by the Black Army for the Cruelties Practised on Them by the French
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Revenge Taken by the Black Army for the Cruelties Practised on Them by the French

This execution in Haiti simply suspends the French officer in the air, slowly strangling him to death. His struggles, emphasized by the convulsing legs, reveal the hatred visited on opponents, themselves guilty of so many atrocities.

Solemn Inauguration of the Statue of Liberty
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Solemn Inauguration of the Statue of Liberty

Toned down and transformed from her revolutionary past, the Statue stands for liberty, even without a pike and a Phrygian cap.

Slaves and Free Blacks in Saint Domingue
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Enslaved and Free Blacks in Saint Domingue

This engraving pairs images of enslaved people and free blacks in four categories: dress, deportment, entertainment, and access to water. Although there are differences between the pairs, these are not as great as they might be.

The Indigo Plant Farm
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The Indigo Plant Farm

This print depicts and labels the essential components of a plantation producing indigo, a blue dye used for coloring cloth. Slaves are shown here working at different parts of the production process. In 1789, over 3,000 plantations in Saint Domingue produced indigo.