Haiti was a land of the Tainos (Arawaks). But then one day in 1492 a white man named Columbus arrived from over the seas. He noticed they wore gold jewellery. He told them he would cut off the hands of any Taino over 13 who did not give him a certain amount of gold or cotton every three months. The Taino fled inland, but the Spanish followed, running them down with dogs and killing them, looking for the gold mines. They made girls into sex slaves. It got so bad that mothers were killing their own babies.
In two years half the Tainos were dead. By 1555 they were all gone.
In 1505 Columbus’s son brought the first African slaves to the Americas, bringing them to Haiti. By 1519 there were already slave uprisings.
In 1697 France got Haiti from Spain and called it Saint-Domingue.
By 1789 Haiti produced three-fourths of all the sugar in the world, its black slaves producing more wealth than all of English-speaking North America. A third of slaves died within three years after arriving from Africa.
In the 1790s Toussaint L’Ouverture led a slave uprising that in time overthrew the French, making Haiti independent in 1804. The slaves were freed and the land divided among them. The 3,300 remaining French were killed and white was taken out of the flag, leaving red and blue.
For its loss France demanded payment of a crushing debt. France, Britain and America cut it off from overseas trade until it agreed to pay the debt. It took till 1947 to pay it off.
Like the Roman Empire, Haiti had no peaceful means for power to change hands. Often the government would be overthrown every few years.
From 1849 to 1913 America sent warships into Haitian waters 24
times to “protect American lives and property.”
Haiti was under American military rule from 1915 to 1934. Major General Smedley D. Butler said he hunted the Haitians “like pigs” and made Haiti “a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenue in.” American troops practised “indiscriminate killing of natives” while the American press called Haitians “a horde of naked niggers” in need of “energetic Anglo-Saxon influence”.
America rewrote Haiti’s laws so that Americans could buy up land. They sent 40% of Haiti’s income to American and French banks to pay back debts.
From 1957 t0 1986 Haiti was ruled by the Duvaliers: Papa Doc and Baby Doc. They ruled by terror through the paramilitary Tonton Macoutes. America backed them and opened factories there.
Since the fall of Baby Doc, Haiti has gone back and forth between military rule and democracy, with Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a country priest, as the star democrat. America sent in troops in 1994 to restore Aristide to power, but it seems likely they were behind his overthrow in 1991 and 2004.
Democracy was last restored in 2006. The government is backed by a UN force but it is still weak. On top of that Haiti was hit by hurricanes and tropical storms in 2008 that killed over a thousand and by an earthquake in 2010 that has killed 110,000 at last count.
See also:
This is a useful overview, thank you.
What are your sources?
(Btw, this article by Robert Parry provides a good overview of the ironic and enormous historic debt that the U.S. owes to Haiti. I also didn’t know that Thomas Jefferson was so worried about, and obsessed with, black Haitian independence.)
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And not only Thomas Jefferson but the Western World per se.
With regard to the revolution. I think the ‘best’ book I have read is
‘Irritated Genie’ by the late Jacob Carruthers a book written from a Black Nationalist perspective, which put a differnt slant on CLR James classic also ‘The Black Jacobin’ whichis from a Marxian perspective
Now that I think about it I have not read that many
ha ha ha ha
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What was the reason that the U.S. was behind removing Aristide. How popular was he amongst Haitians? I know a guy that visited Haiti during Aristide’s time and he told me that Hatians seemed to dislike him overall, but that’s just one guy’s assessment.
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The Republicans back American business interests in Haiti. They want stability and cheap labour which to them means military rule. Aristide is for the poor and against the rich. It was Republicans who overthrew Aristide: Bush I in 1994 and Bush II in 2004. It was the Democratic Clinton who restored him to power in 1994.
Aristide was wildly popular among the Haitian masses: in 1990 he won 67% of the vote.
The Republicans gave the Duvaliers a pass on human rights, but when Aristide came to power in 1991, suddenly the American press became very concerned about human rights. Why? Because they were taking the point of view of the rich in Haiti and the US State Department, who wanted Aristide out, not of the man in the Haitian street.
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Macon D:
Good link. Thanks. If it were not for L’Ouverture, Napoleon would have sent an army to New Orleans and start to settle the North American Midwest. Instead he wound up selling it to Jefferson, with America doubling in size.
Both Jefferson and Washington helped the French against the Haitians. John Adams, however, helped the Haitians. Jefferson and Washington were slave owners, Adams was not.
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Sources:
Wikipedia
BBC
CBC (Canadian)
Noam Chomsky
Howard Zinn
James W. Loewen
Both Loewen and Zinn go back to Las Casas and Columbus’s own reports.
Mainstream American sources hero worship Columbus and downplay the American occupation. The Marines merely “brought stability” and built bridges. No blood, not racism, no imperialism. Just America helping its “black brothers”. What a sick lie.
Most Americans seem to have no idea that Haiti was once under American military rule.
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Didn’t Malcom X once give a ‘template’ with regard to the government’s position??
If I remember correctly he said something like:
You can tell how well an activist/group etc is doing by the reaction of the [U.S] Government.
In this instance the decision to remove Aristide – should sum it all up
Personally I think it is still a good template today to at the very least gain a ‘feel’ to what is actually going on, usually in the face of a lot of propaganda.
This is only relevant of course depending on what political side of the fence one is situated.
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Having another look at this blog. I noticed there is no mention of how Domincan Republic actually came a separate country from Haiti even though they share the same land mass??
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Well remember the Dominican Republic – then Santo Domingo – was a separate colony owned by the Spanish. Haiti, originally known as Saint-Domingue, was established by the French after the settlement of the Spanish colony and the land was formally ceded to the French government with the Treaty of Ryswick.
During the Haitian Revolution the Haitian army “occupied” the Dominican Republic because it was afraid of being attacked on its open flank. During this period Haitians ended slavery on the eastern 2/3rds of the island.
After the Haitian Revolution the Santo Domingo rejoined the Spanish empire. This period is referred to as the Espana Boba because Spanish rule was so inept, leaving Santo Domingo in economic and governmental ruin. Haiti continued to worry about Santo Domingo’s neutrality and were deeply bothered by the fact that the Spanish re-instituted slavery.
In 1822 Haitian president Jean Pierre-Boyer unified the entire island and Santo Domingo because known as Spanish Haiti. This lasted until 1844. Many people refer to this period as the “Haitian Domination,” which is a bit of a misnomer because – at lease initially – the only people upset about the unification were elite Spanish-white creoles. Most of the Dominican population were quite aware of the color dynamics and the fact the Haitians ended slavery AGAIN on their side of the island. However, Boyer instituted a rather onerous tax system throughout the island in an attempt to gain revenue to pay off the staggering debt it “owed” to France for its independence.
In 1844 a group led mostly by white Spanish creoles, who argued that Haitian ruled was incompatible with Dominican custom, moved for independence. Dominicans often celebrate 1844 as their year of independence …
BUT in 1860 they rejoined the Spanish empire only to expel Spanish forces again in 1865 for poor government and racism. Haiti played a critical role in the fight for Dominican independence supplying troops, weaponry, and a training/mission launching ground. Therefore some Dominicans also recognize 1865 as the year of independence.
However, the DR continued to be batted back and forth between Western powers, including the U.S. which attempted to annex the DR three times between the 1850s and 1871. Most of the U.S.-American public was not interested in establishing a formal empire in the DR so the U.S. settled for an “informal” one including customs-receiverships and military occupation.
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The consummate source is Frank Moya Pons’ book The Dominican Republic: A National History.
However also look at works by Teresita Martinez-Verge, Eric Paul Roorda, Ernesto Sagas, Pedro San Miguel, Richard Turits, etc.
.
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abagond, your brief history of Haiti is so deeply skewed that it is worthless.
As for US interests in Haiti, you can be sure cheap labor is NOT one of them.
If “cheap” labor were the reason for a US presence, the nation would be jammed with factories producing stuff for Americans. It isn’t. In fact the unemployment rate is around 50% and only about half the population can read and write on a grade-school level.
Employers do not risk money and time in countries that lack political stability and lack a sufficiently educated and productive workforce.
You make the mistake of thinking low wages equal cheap labor. The issue is productivity. Before opening a factory, employers must believe they can earn more than the cost of labor and financing. If not, they open their shops elsewhere.
As low as wages are in Haiti, the workforce is so unproductive that it is unprofitable for almost all employers to operate there.
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No_Slappz, as always, your opinion is so biased as to be useless.
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Abagond,
Nice post. Will all the aid that is pouring into Haiti based on the earthquke make Haiti better than it was before? Or do you think, it will be returned to status quo?
I’m praying for the former. Haiti has needed help for centuries – hopefully this outpouring will translate into something concrete as far as development.
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Abagond,
please expand a little more on how corruption has kept Haiti under…coming from a country where corruption is the status quo to the point where it hurts the nations economy, I can tell you this is one the PRIMARY reasons why island economy’s cannot progress.
First world countrys know how to do corruption right–the money continues to flow downwards to the people no matter who is skimming off the top–but it seems with the caribbean islands–the money continues to flow to the top 5% and then outwards off the islands.
Outside nations are allowed to use our islands because our governments let them for very small returns. Also, pay attention to how the police are allowed to treat the people (executions over stolen rice)–this mistreatment is also systemic to top-down corruption.
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Columbus wrote to Queen Isabella that the “natives” were some of the most “handsome” and peaceful people he’d encountered, upon his first voyage. He Immediately enslaved 1500 and took them back to Spain and later sereval thousand before one African was brought to the Ayiti. Jack Forbes surmises these first Arawak slaves taken from Ayiti were eventually taken to west Africa.
With the advent of corn into Africa the population boomed, and the offspring of the first peoples from the island of Ayiti that were transported to Africa made up much of the population of the first “Africans” to be enslaved by Columbus’ son and taken (back) to Hispanola.
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Ensayn: Can you give your source please?
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thad,
Don’t forget to study some economics. Understanding a few concepts about capital investments and productivity might allow you to see why so few businesses operate in Haiti.
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patricia kayden, you wrote:
“Will all the aid that is pouring into Haiti based on the earthquke make Haiti better than it was before?”
No. The benefit of the current rescue, relief and recovery efforts will have only a short-term effect.
You asked:
“Or do you think, it will be returned to status quo?”
It will remain in its deeply damaged condition for a long time UNLESS the UN or US takes full control of the country and FORCES the changes that are necessary to convert it from destitute backwater to prospering nation.
You wrote:
“Haiti has needed help for centuries – hopefully this outpouring will translate into something concrete as far as development.”
Haiti has been an independent nation for 200 years. It has received aid from nations, businesses, and individuals for all of that time.
Money is not the issue. The country has rarely had a functioning government.
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Patricia:
I think that Haiti will go back to the way it was, unfortunately.
As screwed up as Haiti is there are people who benefit from the way things are: the rich and the Americans. They have the power and the interest to keep things the way they are. Democracy, if it gets a strong, grass-roots foothold, could change things, but Haiti is so weak that America can engineer the overthrow any government that does not do its bidding. If a Castro or Chavez sort of figure arises, America will make sure Haiti is punished for it.
I would not put much faith in America’s wisdom and power: after all, it had a free hand in Haiti from 1915 to 1934. And I think you can see how racist its thinking about Haiti is even now.
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Linda:
Interesting point about corruption trickling out of the country instead of down.
Haiti is extremely corrupt. Only seven countries are worse: Uzbekistan, Chad, Iraq, Sudan, Burma, Afghanistan, Somalia.
It is certainly bad enough that it is holding the country back, but I do not know if it is the PRIMARY thing.
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Lauren:
Thank you for the information on the Dominican Republic! It is something I left out of my account.
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Thad said:
“No_Slappz, as always, your opinion is so biased as to be useless.”
LMAO!
I know, he’s such a useless tool! Gosh I hope the trollish tool doesn’t reply to this! Wait a minute, what do I care? he’s a troll and a tool!
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It’s interesting that Haitians who go abroad seem to do very well. My husband is Haitian and I know quite a few (in Canada and the US). They are law abiding and well educated. I guess the best thing they did was leave Haiti. Unfortunately, it seems that Haiti (like many 3rd world countries) is stuck in a rut of corruption and crushing poverty.
Having said that, I would love to see a movie about the Haitian revolution showing the slaves overpowering their French oppressors. There is a wonderful book “The Black Jacobins” which tells the story.
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patricia kayden, you wrote:
“I would love to see a movie about the Haitian revolution showing the slaves overpowering their French oppressors.”
The chief force that defeated the French was Yellow Fever. Not easily filmed.
Of course, today, when a devastating disease — AIDS, for example — spreads among blacks, there is inevitably a claim that the disease was created or set loose by whites in the black community as part of a genocidal plot.
You wrote:
“My husband is Haitian and I know quite a few (in Canada and the US). They are law abiding and well educated. I guess the best thing they did was leave Haiti.”
In other words, if the educated people leave, then the uneducated remain. The reality of Haiti demonstrates your view.
You wrote:
“Unfortunately, it seems that Haiti (like many 3rd world countries) is stuck in a rut of corruption and crushing poverty.”
There is no government, and as long as Haiti remains a state of near anarchy, it will remain a mess.
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abagond, you wrote:
“As screwed up as Haiti is there are people who benefit from the way things are: the rich and the Americans.”
Explain this claim. How do “the rich” and “the Americans” benefit? Really? Your claim is one of the most outrageous I’ve read in a while.
You wrote:
“They have the power and the interest to keep things the way they are.”
The people who “keep things as they are” are the people who live in Haiti — the ungovernable people who simply will not form the social bonds necessary to bring order to a nation that is a complete mess.
You wrote:
“Democracy, if it gets a strong, grass-roots foothold, could change things, but Haiti is so weak that America can engineer the overthrow any government that does not do its bidding. ”
abagond, your preceding statement is staggering in its naivete. If there is ONE change America favors in this world, it is the change to democracy. Democracy works and no one knows it better than US leaders. A democractic Haiti can become a prosperous Haiti.
However, at this time, after 200 years of independence, Haiti has nothing. IF the US were actually interested in plundering a country, it would have no reason to go into Haiti. There is nothing to take. Nothing.
The total absence of resources is one reason the country is dirt poor. The middle east oil nations are filled with mostly poor people. The muslim governments lack the brains and the desire to stimulate their economies with the oil revenue. But at least they have the oil revenue — which comes to them from all the other oil-buying nations on the planet.
Haiti has nothing. Much of its national income derives from remittance payments sent to Haitians from family members living in other countries.
You wrote:
“If a Castro or Chavez sort of figure arises, America will make sure Haiti is punished for it.”
Your comment would make me laugh if it were not so full of naivete and ignorance of the facts.
Venezuela is going down hill because Chavez is badly bungling the oil industry. Venezuela just devalued its currency, which means HE had caused enormous problems for his country.
In Cuba, people have very little because Cuba is a marxist country that cannot produce much of anything.
Cuba cannot supply electricity 24 hours a day, and it lacks the gasoline to run public bus systems. Have you ever wondered why?
Between the US and Cuba is the Gulf of Mexico. The US extracts enormous quantities of natural gas and oil from the Gulf. Cuba extracts NOTHING.
That should give you a hint that the Cuban government is a total economic failure.
Meanwhile, Cuba has a major race problem, which is the chief reason Cuba has no interest in helping Haiti. There is NO Chance Cuba will show interest in controlling Haiti because Cuba does not want Haitian flooding into Cuba.
The population of Cuba is about 11 or 12 million. The population of Haiti is 9 million. Thus, there are too many needy Haitians for Cuba to handle. It can’t serve its existing population.
Furthermore, if you are suggesting that a charismatic figure arise in Haiti to lead the country, then you should understand what that means — it means there will be many summary executions of people who oppose the rising leader.
A marxist revolution in Haiti would require the sudden deaths of any violent groups who refused to join forces with the rising leader. Since there is always competition for power, and there is already a huge violence problem in Haiti, things would get worse, leading either to more chaos, or the emergence of a brutal dominant leader — which has been the long-term story of Haiti.
Aristide was the one who promised democracy but never delivered. There was a period when “Papa Doc Duvalier” was a popular leader. But none of them were willing to share that power and develop a nation based on the principles of democracy.
Meanwhile, since Haiti has no oil or other valuable natural resources, its only true capital is its human capital. But due to the high rate of illiteracy, the human capital has almost no value.
No Chavez figure can arise because there is no oil to finance his goofy and flawed economic principles. No Castro figure can arise because there are too many brutal factions in Haiti and it would take a massive influx of weapons from a foreign backer to give one man the power to dominate.
No nations are interested in backing efforts that would turn Haiti into a national slaughterhouse.
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Abagond said: “It is certainly bad enough that it is holding the country back, but I do not know if it is the PRIMARY thing.”
I don’t mean that corruption is the only (sole) reason for Haiti’s economic failure but it plays a pretty big role or maybe corruption is the wrong word to use..
There is virtually no middle class in Haiti. I believe that the upper class makes up about 2-5% of the population and they control about 40% of the economy alone as well as the government. The profit generated by foreign and domestic companies don’t stay in the country…
Case in point, Royal Caribbean (recently in the news)–they lease land and dock space in Haiti (called Labadee–so the tourist don’t realize their in Haiti) for less than 1 million per year (Royal Caribbean nets over 200 million in profits per year)…this “Magical island resort” is staffed by Royal Caribbean employees–95% non-Haitian…resources such as food is brought into the country–how do the local tradesmen/fishermen benefit? There is no exchange of commerce or hiring of local people.
The lease is being paid to the government…I don’t know how the money is distributed, but it certainly isn’t going into development of local economy or infrastructure.
Lets pretend part of it is being distributed as wages to government officials… most are of the upper-class whose families own majority of businesses in Haiti and have homes in the US & Europe, bank their money off the island, educate their children outside of Haiti, buy foreign cars, etc…the majority of the money finds its way off the island…you are right…that is not corruption…
corruption comes about when money is budgeted or given to the government to fund lets say an “education” project, instead the project can’t seem to get initiated and the “Minister of whatever” that is in charge, later on buys a million dollar penthouse in Miami and the project lingers in obscurity with bureaucracy given as the reason to its failure. More than 40% of the funds disappear this way–to me that’s substantial enough to have an impact…where’s the shame?!
This disaster may be a turning point–I hope the Haitian middle class (immigrants living in US & Canada) decide to band together and play a role in the re-formation of the country.
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they set haiti up those losers!
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Christopher Columbus Log books.
Jack Forbes – Africans and Native Americans
James W. Loewen – Lies My Teacher Told Me.
Rev. Radine Amen Ra – African American Survial Handbook –
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Thanks!
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linda, you wrote:
“There is virtually no middle class in Haiti. I believe that the upper class makes up about 2-5% of the population and they control about 40% of the economy alone as well as the government. The profit generated by foreign and domestic companies don’t stay in the country…”
You have highlighted an outcome of having one dictator after another in power. The only solution for Haiti’s economic straitjacket is freedom through democracy and capitalism. But Haitians always go for the brutal dictator.
You wrote:
“Royal Caribbean –they lease land and dock space in Haiti (called Labadee–so the tourist don’t realize their in Haiti) …”
The travelers know they are docking in Haiti.
You wrote:
“…for less than 1 million per year…”
Is there something illegal about the docking arrangements? Were they improperly negotiated? If Royal Caribbean is asked to pay a high fee to dock, the company will consider moving its docking operations to another place, such as the Dominican Republic.
You wrote:
“(Royal Caribbean nets over 200 million in profits per year)…”
The company’s net profit is irrelevant. It is a profit-making enterprise. Not a social service agency.
You wrote:
“…this “Magical island resort” is staffed by Royal Caribbean employees–95% non-Haitian…resources such as food is brought into the country–how do the local tradesmen/fishermen benefit? There is no exchange of commerce or hiring of local people. ”
The company has only one obligation to Haiti — to follow the applicable laws. Nothing else. As an international recreation and leisure company, it must honor rules and laws of many countries.
If hiring Haitians seemed like a good idea, Royal Caribbean would hire them. As for food, well, there are ship-board standards, and there is no chance Royal Caribbean is going to risk illness among passengers by feeding them food from Haiti. That’s one downside of Haiti’s chaos.
You wrote:
“The lease is being paid to the government…I don’t know how the money is distributed, but it certainly isn’t going into development of local economy or infrastructure.”
The money falls into the hands of the corrupt government and then, who knows where it goes? But, that’s what you get when you have a mess like Haiti. The problems of Haiti are not the responsibility of Royal Caribbean.
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Haitians are in desperate need of education. A more educated population could attract investment or, at least, facilitate emigration.
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Very nice summary. Here is Noam Chomsky speaking about Haitain exploitation and Haiti’s economic history. It’s sad the average person in America knows absolutely NOTHING about this.
Hehe it’s long, but this is really important folks
Noam Chomsky: US role in Haiti destruction
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I have no idea why people still choose to torment this poor country.
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no_slappz
This statement is a scream. It’s amazing how this person can say the stupidest thing and think himself/herself clever. Haiti, when it was founded, was feared by all the slaving powers in the world. Haitians picked themselves up and made a nation of free men who swore to live free or die. Haiti paid for any service it got from any other nation. A genius like no_slappz needs to explain how Haiti got aid when its very existence wasn’t recognized by any of the “civilized nations”.
Bullshit, name me one battle between the french and the indigenous army that wasn’t either a draw or a pyrrhic victory for the french? The french “won” the battle at Crête-à-Pierrot by losing a tenth of their army, the death of several french generals and the wounding of Napoleon’s brother-in-law. Peace was negotiated and any plans to restore slavery put on hold. Note that all of Toussaint’s general staff were integrated into the french army with no reduction in rank after they killed so many french soldiers, no doubt you will claim that was done because the french were such “good guys”. By 1811 the northern kingdom of Henry Christophe had recovered enough to do 1,200,000 sterling pounds in trade with the U.K. or the equivalent of over 6 billion dollars in 2011 money. Impressive forts and palaces were built by Haitians, and the kingdom created schools to educate the people. After Christophe’s death these efforts were abandoned and Haiti paid France the blackmail money she was demanding.
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“Having said that, I would love to see a movie about the Haitian revolution showing the slaves overpowering their French oppressors.”
Bad idea. Toussaint L’Ouverture would probably be portrayed as heartless, ruthless, evil, etc.
They (Hollywood) don’t want that type of movie.
They want The Butler and The Help.
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“For its loss France demanded payment of a crushing debt. France, Britain and America cut it off from overseas trade until it agreed to pay the debt. It took till 1947 to pay it off.”
This is false. Although France refused to officially recognize Haitian independence until 1825 (and in renegotiations in 1838 over the indemnity to France), Haiti was never isolated economically or cut off from overseas trade.
I suggest you read some Haitian history books. A good place to start is Laurent Dubois’s Haiti: The Aftershocks of History” and Michel Rolph-Trouillot’s “Haiti: State Against Nation.” The former is more accessible, the latter, less so. Anyway, these sources and other books about Haiti or Caribbean history will show you that Haiti was never completely isolated or cut off from trade. Haitian coffee was sold in the US, even though the US didn’t recognize Haitian independence until the US Civil War began. Haitian exports were sold to the British, too. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, Germans purchased and reexported Haitian coffee and other exports throughout Europe. In addition to declining sugar exports after the early 19th century, Haiti also exported logwood, dyewood, cotton, etc.
I think you’re exaggerated the indemnity debt. Haiti was forced to pay multiple debts, many fake or imposed by gunboat diplomacy, not just the one to France, which the Haitian government at the time unbelievably agreed to.
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I just saw the posting about 75 unarmed black people. Why does this not happened to immigrants or 1st generation American with some to full African ancestry? There has to come a time in which the black Americans need to take responsibilty. People with African ancestry immigrate to America and succeed while the vast majority of the black Americans remain low in American society. Not to say that there aren’t stupid people, but unarmed white Americans have also been killed by police and the press never talks about it. Wake up from the victim-mentality dream, Americans!
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@Alana:
Perhaps, you can break down the disproportionality of not only the population shot, the conditions that each were in (carrying a toy gun vs. going crazy on meth), etc. People say this, but it is never just about the numbers. It is about why. Why they do it and why they get away with it. They are probably more likely to be arrested if they kill a White person than if they kill a Black person because White people can sympathize with a meth addict over a 7-year-old who was sleeping in her bed, as usual. And because White people have no problem obsessing over the criminal PAST of Black people versus child molester John and Jim Bob.
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edition.cnn.com/2022/08/09/americas/haiti-gang-violence-npw-intl-latam/index.html
Do anybody knows what is going on in Haiti nowadays?
The people of this country has been tormented by both nature (earthquakes) and man (social plagues like the one at the link above, and others).
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ERRATA: It should be “Does anybody know what is going on in Haiti nowadays?”
I apologize for the lazy errors!
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” on Wed Mar 17th 2010 at 07:24:49
Cpt
Haitians are in desperate need of education. A more educated population could attract investment or, at least, facilitate emigration.”
This is pretty funny. Haiti has been exporting its educated population for a very long time. “Hundreds of Haitians—teachers, professors, engineers, and doctors—went to Africa as part of the ONUC program. By 1962, Haitian émigrés constituted the second largest contingent of UN staff experts working in the Congo.Jul 5, 2022
Haitians in the United Nations Organization in the Congo …”
Patrick Paultre, a Haitian, “is professor of structural engineering and Canada Research Chair on Earthquake Engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke.”
Therefore, a world renowned expert on building earthquake resistant structures.
Samuel Pierre, also Haitian is the winner of the 2021 Gold Medal Award for his contributions to computing and communications. “A visionary, a leader, and an accomplished researcher, Samuel Pierre has cultivated ground-breaking technological advancements that have been influential in the lives of Canadians and people around the world. A full professor in the Computer Engineering and Software Department of Polytechnique Montréal, Pierre’s career is characterized by an insatiable curiosity that has propelled him to the forefront of leading-edge fields, including the design, operation, evaluation, and application of fixed and mobile communications networks.”
As for creating jobs, a Haitian named Thomas Désulmé pioneered the plastics manufacturing industry in Jamaica in the 1960s after trying to do the same in Haiti. His daughter described him thus. “…In 1946, he had been the youngest senator in the history of Haiti. He was named President Estime’s minister of the interior. He remained a senator in the 1950s, during Haiti’s heyday under President Magloire, when Haitian art became world renowned, and Haiti, like Jamaica, was the playground of the international jet set. He had pioneered the industrialisation of Haiti by building the first plastics factory. He also built a hotel, and introduced television to the country. Self-imposed exile at the zenith of his social, political, and business career would require tremendous sacrifice. It would force him to abandon family, friends, lands, homes, and businesses.
In 1962, he visited some friends in Jamaica, which was on the verge of gaining Independence. He was impressed with its booming economy, and convinced by Robert Lightbourne, OJ, the then minister of trade, industry and tourism, to invest, and transfer his nation-building impetus from Haiti to Jamaica. My father was a rare breed of politician for whom the mantra ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’ was not empty political rhetoric.
Whether he was in politics or not, he always put his own money where his mouth was. He invested in manufacturing, introducing the PVC pipe, and plastic crates and wares, which would revolutionise the Jamaican industrial and construction sectors. He also invested in tourism, providing nearly 1,000 jobs, training, and local and international scholarships for young Jamaicans.
My dad would pay dearly for this spectacular rejection of the Duvalier regime. His two eldest sons had remained in Haiti. One morning in 1964 came the soul-crushing phone call every parent dreads: his sons had disappeared. I was a little girl, in school in Paris at the time. Having left Haiti at the age of three, I have only seen pictures of the brothers I never knew. They had also been educated in Paris, and remain frozen in time, in the black-and-white photographs, depicting two dapper young men dressed in their double-breasted 1960s suits, smiling broadly to the bright future which lay ahead of them. Stoic that he was, my father never spoke of his lost sons, but an unfathomable streak of sadness ran through my family’s collective unconscious.”
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“Does anybody knows what is going on in Haiti nowadays?
The people of this country has been tormented by both nature (earthquakes) and man (social plagues like the one at the link above, and others).”
It’s the death agony of the nation. The ordeal began in 1825.
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I found this last week, it sounds pretty bad down there…
https://insightcrime.org/news/g9-gpep-two-gang-alliances-tearing-haiti-apart/
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Whatever was done to Haiti (after their violent revolution resulted in a genocide of ethnic French) pales in comparison to the atrocities committed against the Boers in South Africa.
By the way, the Boer Republics? WE. WILL. GET. IT. BACK.
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By the way, the Boer Republics? WE. WILL. GET. IT. BACK.
Only in your dreams will you get them back, LMAO!
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“…their violent revolution resulted in a genocide of ethnic French…”
Ignorant as usual. The only ones who were, rightly, massacred were the idiots who dreamed of GETTING. IT. BACK. The smart ones such Nicolas Pierre Mallet (Mallet the good white) survived and left his children after he died. That gent was given the honor of signing the declaration of independence from France. His descendant, Albert Mangonès, an architect, was in charge of restoring the Citadelle Laferrière, and The creator of the statue known as “Le Marron Inconnu “, mistranslated in English as “The Unknown Slave”.
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But we will get our Boer Republics back, perhaps in 2038.
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…perhaps in 2038.
Hedging your bets now, huh?
By 2038, the Dutch will consider themselves lucky to be guest workers in South Africa.
Their “republic” dreams will go the way of the dinosaur…where they belong.
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You shouldn’t have lost them in the first place. Losing one is an accident, losing all of them is carelessness.
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(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griqualand_West#/media/File:The_National_Archives_UK_-_CO_1069-222-5.jpg)
This is what the leadership of your Republics will look like.
“Basters”
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@ Paul Kruger
Really?
What happened to your commitment to write and put here an article about true South Africa’s history and enlighten us all about who are the Boers/Afrikaners? The last time I checked, the owner of this blog has accepted that idea.
Now you are regressing with wild speculations about the future. Very weak from you, don’t you think?
With an new thread about South African history we all would have a proper space to discuss the issues related to that country, instead of populate other threads (like this one) with ill-located comments.
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