Haiti, 1986: The Fall of Duvalier | The Dictator Leaves, the Tontons Remain

How did nationwide protests and military pressure end the Duvalier dynasty after nearly three decades of dictatorship? Sources: United States Department of State human-rights reports; Haitian constitutional documents; Library of Congress country studies; Amnesty International reports; Haitian newspaper archives

How did a 1782 naval battle off Guadeloupe determine the balance of imperial power in the Caribbean? Sources: British Admiralty records; National Archives of France; Royal Navy logs; Contemporary accounts by Samuel Hood and George Rodney; National Maritime Museum

How did an economic crisis, a protest in Havana, and a sudden migration wave force Cuba and the United States into a new agreement? Sources: United States Department of State records; U.S.-Cuba migration accords; Cuban newspaper archives; United Nations refugee statistics; United States Coast Guard records

Why did Haiti’s first democratically elected president fall within months, and what did the coup reveal about the struggle over civilian power? Sources: Organization of American States reports; United Nations Security Council resolutions; United States Congressional records; National Commission for Truth and Justice of Haiti; Amnesty International reports

Why did a courthouse protest in 1865 become a colonial massacre, and how did the aftermath transform Jamaica’s government? Sources: National Library of Jamaica; UK National Archives Colonial Office files; Morant Bay Rebellion Commission records; Governor Edward Eyre correspondence; Jamaica Archives