The Marginalization Of Haiti In The 17th Century

In the early 17th century the French arrived in Haiti and established a colony whose base was in pirating. The original inhabitants of this island made their living selling leather and cured beef. These cattle were left by the Spanish who originally inhabited the island. Around the year 1640 beef supplies began to run low, and the settlers began to rob Spanish galleons whose silver came from South American mines. With French persuasion they pirates were convinced to end their pirating and settle on the island. Many of the pirates that settled on the island invested their profits in sugar plantations which were thriving by 1700. This made the island without a doubt the most profitable in the West Indies. This amount of profit was only able to

Free people were still subject to discrimination no matter how wealthy they became. Petit blancs were mad about being poor and they complained that all of the privileges were held by the wealthy people of color. The grand blancs were complaining about French trade laws, and were angered when the government tried to slightly improve conditions for the slaves. In 1789 slaves heard a rumor that the King of France had freed them and The Declaration of Man and Citizen gave them hope. Petit Blancs argues that there was not enough discrimination against blacks and that they were the real group that was oppressing in Saint Domingue, because they could not afford their own slaves. They identified themselves with the third estate in France and wanted lower interest rates so they could repay their debts. They tried to take power from France and wanted to institute a democracy in which everybody had a voice except for the ninety-five percent of people who were not white. They seized the city of Port au Prince in 1791. During this time France was at was with most of Europe and they sent troops to Saint Domingue at the same time that pushes for liberty and equality were growing in France and they thought it not fair to grant citizenship based solely on race. In May of 1791 the National Assembly gave full French citizenship to all free colored men. With this new decree

Toussaint Breda a former slave of full African descent led the revolution. Later he changed his name to Toussaint L'OUverture. He quickly whipped the army into shape to defend from French attacks. The Spanish offer support but by 1793 the offered even more support and L’Overture became a general in the Spanish military. In October of 1793 the British invaded Saint Domingue, while at was with the French. The French commanders knew that they were going to lose a war between the British, the slaves, and the Spanish. They issued decrees that freed the slaves in Saint Domingue and on February 4, 1794 the National Convention in Paris ratified those decrees. When L’Overture learned of these actions he changed his allegiance from Spanish to French and turned the tide of the war. This gave freedom to every single slave in the French Caribbean. The French were still at war with the Spanish and English in Saint Domingue. Since L'OUverture was an excellent general and an able politician he was able to steer the island to independence between 1794 and 1802. Even though slavery was abolished Saint Domingue’s plantation system as L’Overture and his companion Andre Rigaud both thought that sugar production was necessary for the economic survival of the