INTRODUCTION

• Napoleon Bonaparte was “one of the most celebrated personages in the history of the West. He revolutionized military organization and training; sponsored the Napoleonic Code; the prototype of later civil-law codes; reorganized education”
• - Encyclopedia Britannica

In April 1814, Napoleon was exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba. In March 1815, he escaped from Elba and thus began the hundred days of his leadership of the French again. Upon his defeat at Waterloo in June 1815, Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena, a remote island in the south Atlantic Ocean where he remained until his death on May 5, 1821.

TASK

Your Geography assignment is to compare and contrast the islands of Elba and St. Helena as they exist today. Are they still as remote as they were when Napoleon was exiled? Do people travel there? Elba is 12 kilometers (7 miles) off the coast of Tuscany in Italy. St. Helena is a 47 square mile tropical island in the South Atlantic Ocean, accessible only by ship. Charles Darwin remarked upon visiting there, “a little world, within itself, which excited our curiosity…”.

After researching the web sites for both islands you are to compare the following:

Size and Location - Where exactly are Elba and St. Helena? – Are they similar in size?

History - Who are the natives? - Where did they come from? - What type of government, and governed by whom?

Culture – What has influenced the islands?

Travel and Tourists - How do you get there? - Who wants to go there?

Resources – What do they have?

Things to see and do - Sports and Leisure – What is available?

Eating out - What type of food?

Tours - What is there to see?

Events - What is happening?

Shopping – What do tourists want to buy?

PROCESS

Students will research the web sites and collect their data on both islands. Each student will write a research paper using Word based upon the information that was learned. Students will participate in an in-class discussion of the papers, as a follow-up activity to voice their opinions and comments.

RESOURCES

INFORMATION ON NAPOLEON’S FATE:

http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/WestEurope/Waterloo.html

INFORMATION ON ELBA ISLAND:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/AllReviews-Elba_Island_Tuscany-g202314.cink_html

INFORMATION ON ST. HELENA ISLAND:

http://www.sthelenatourism.com/

EVALUATION

Students will be graded on the depth of their research papers comparing and contrasting Elba and St. Helena Islands. Students will receive additional credit for participating in the in-class discussion reflecting their own comments and opinions.

CONCLUSION

Now that you have completed your investigation of both Elba and St. Helena Islands, do you have any desire to visit either of them? Are these islands today still places to get away from it all?