Introduction
Haiti is most commonly referred to as the poorest nation in the western hemisphere with 80% of its population living in poverty. The country is plagued with the misfortunes of natural disasters, a history of extensive debts, and a poor social system. When looking at the country today, there seems to be little productivity. However, most are unaware that Haiti was once one of the richest colonies in the New World. Much like today, the exports were agricultural and textile products such as tobacco, cocoa beans, coffee, fruit, and cotton. As opposed to being viewed as a failed state, Haiti was France’s prized possession, named the “Pearl of the Antilles”. The colony was extremely profitable as a result of the slave trade and produced more than half of the world’s sugar (Watkins, 2012). The country today is a stark contrast. In the following paper, I will discuss how Haiti became a developing nation. Additionally, I will analyze several of the Haiti’s current economic policies and their hindrance on the further development of the country.
Background
In order to understand Haiti’s current economic situation, it is important to know about the country’s past. As stated previously, Haiti was once referred to as the Pearl of the Antilles. However, the slave revolts that finally secured Haiti’s independence in 1804 ruined plantations across the island. Afterwards, the newly freed Haitians attempted to resume the large scale production. But, this effort was a failed one. Eventually, the plantations were distributed in the form of small scale farms. It is important to note, though, that these farms were mainly government owned and began a long history of government property ownership (Watkins, 2012). Further...
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It’s stated more than once in this story that a true and honest living is not easily come by for any native of Haiti and they earn very little money when a job is available. The people are paid an insubstantial wage, live in shantytowns, and often times go to bed with their stomachs distended from a voracious and unforgiving hunger. In The Norton Mix Introduction to Literature, Danticat shows these significant consequences of the Revolution through stating that when it got really bad for the family, they would boil ground sugar cane so that it would get rid of the hunger pangs that often tormented the children of the poor (p. 229). The way they live shows the negative effects of the Revolution by showing that although they are technically free, they are still oppressed through economic conditions and puny and sporadic
The Search for Freedom in Haiti There is no hope for true freedom for the Haitian people as their society exists today. Haiti came to national attention in the 1990s, primarily for the suffering of its people. However, news clips do not tell a complete story. As a result, an author by the name of Edwidge Danticat set out to document life in Haiti through a collection of short stories, capturing the breadth of experience of the Haitian people as they survive under an oppressive regime. Krik?
Madagascar is one of the most diverse areas of land that has undergone evolution totally independent from surrounding continents. The plant and animal species located on the island are all endemic to the island, meaning all are native species. The amount of diversity is very high compared to that of other continents and the species found here cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Currently all organisms located on this island are in danger, even the humans. Much damage has already been done, yet each year the land seems to die even more. Many species are dying off rapidly and drastic measures will have to be taken to stop all of these species from becoming extinct.
Haiti began as the French colony Saint-Domingue. The island was filled with plantations and slaves to work on them. Almost a decade and a half after its settlement, this colony paved the way for many changes throughout the French empire and many other slave nations. Through its difficult struggle, we examine whether the slave revolt of Saint-Domingue that began in the late 16th century was justifiable and whether its result of creating the free nation of Haiti was a success.
Brooks’ hypotheses fit best with the modernization theoretical perspective. Like the perspective, Brooks attempts to find social variables that are impeding on Haiti’s economic success, and provides his solution. His first hypothesis, however, is the one that diverges the most from the theory. He states we do not know how to direct aid and there is no one consistent policy leading to economic growth. Modernization theory on the other hand is more determined to look at the internal factors of a country for the source of the problems with aid management and attempt to change the effectiveness of the government or the elements of a cultural that are keeping it in a “traditional” stage (Rostow 1960). Brooks does later hypothesize however, that Haitian cultural is one of the elements keeping it from escaping poverty.
Today I bring to your forefront of thought, the island of Hispaniola. This island is the namesake for the two countries who run the land, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Both nations hail from a joint introduction into the world market and post-European colonization, but as time progressed, each one had a different outlook to the world stage. The present day Dominican Republic and Haiti are worlds apart on an island which keeps them together. Their culture is separated by the colonial residuals that lay imbedded into their communities. They are on different sides of the spectrum of structural growth due to the resulting outcomes from decades of political ruling and policy making. On one side we have the second independent state of the Americas,
The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing number of anti-American developments during the height of the cold war, including the “expropriation of United States-owned properties on the island… [and] the Soviet Union [agreeing] to purchase sugar from Cuba and to supply Cuba with crude oil” (Hass 1998, 37). Bad sentiments continued to pile up as Cuba imposed restrictions on the United States Embassy and especially when, after the United States “officially broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba, and travel by United States citizens to Cuba was forbidden ... Castro openly proclaimed his revolution to be ‘socialist’” (Hass 1998, 38). The day after this, the Bay of Pigs invasion occurred, but it failed in its job to topple Castro (Hass 1998, 38). Left with no diplomatic options and a failed military attempt, the United States decided that the only way to end Castro’s socialist regime was to sever all ties, and from 1961 to 1996, a series of acts were passed prohibiting the majority of trade and interaction with Cuba. (Hass 1998, 38).
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Several of the problems that Haiti faces today have their genesis in the country’s colonial history. The country was like a toy being fought over by spoiled children. The first of these children arrived in the early sixteenth century in the form of Spanish settlers in search of gold. They enslaved the native Taino population and, poisoned by avarice, nearly eradicated the indigenous work force. Thousands of African slaves were brought in to take their place. Eventually, the Spanish left the island to grab their share of newly discovered treasure in other lands. Tiring of their toy, the Spanish
The economics of Haiti has deceased in the last 4 years after the devastating earthquake that struck it 4 years ago. The Haiti economy has become very poor and one of the poorest country in the south, Central America and Caribbean region making it ranked 24 out of 29 countries in this area and its overall score is below average. Haiti’s economic freedom is 48.1 making it economy the 151st freest country while in the last several years Declines in the management of government spending, freedom from corruption, and labor freedom make its overall score 2.6 points lower than last year. Recovering from the disastrous earthquake in 2010 with the support of the U.S. recovering efforts “Haiti’s post-earthquake reconstruction efforts continue, assisted by substantial aid from the international community. Governing institutions remain weak and inefficient, and overall progress has not been substantial. The parliament has not renewed the mandate of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, which had been tasked with overseeing reconstruction efforts but was unpopular.”( .heritage.org). The open market of Haiti trade weighted to be 2.1 this is because the lack of tariffs hamper the trade freedom of Haiti. Foreign investors are given national treatment but the investment is small and the financial sector is remained underdeveloped and does not provide any adequate support.
Why are these background informations useful? Because these informations provide us some important basic knowledges of Haiti. As a country mainly composed of ex-slaves, Haiti is mainly composed of people of African origin. However, why is Haiti so poor compared to its other black majority neighbors such as Saint Kitts and Neves and Barbados? Because Haiti did not attain its independence through peaceful means. Haitian revolt against the French, and they indeed won, against Napoleon Bonaparte[2].
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Agriculture is one of the incomes of the population. However, everything changes after the 2010 earthquake. The losses caused by the quake were between 8 billons and 14 billons dollars (Haiti earthquake). Joblessness, the lack of Foodland, the lack of clean water, further affected the economy because people chose to emigrate to other places for work such as the Dominican Republic (Haiti earthquake). Furthermore, “Haiti was a Republic of non-governmental organization to become a Republic of unemployment,” and in order to accomplish an economical growth Haiti needs the investment of companies that can help many of the people find jobs. Companies such Royal Oasis, are creating hundreds of jobs for many Haitians. Thayer Watkins, an economics teacher at San Jose State University, provides his review in his analysis of the Political and Economic History of Haiti, which states more than 80 percent of th...
Haiti had over a half million enslaved Africans working on sugar plantations owned by the French. The sugar was hugely profitable, but conditions for enslaved worker were horrendous. Many were cruelly over worked and under fed. Haiti also had a population of both free and enslaved mulattoes. Free mulattoes, however, had few right and were badly treated by the French. In 1791, a slave revolt exploded in northern Haiti. Under the able leadership of Toussaint L'Ouverture, Haitians would fight for freedom and pave the way for throwing off French rule.