The United States foreign expansion after the Civil War was characterized by an intensified interest in establishing political and military control in the Caribbean and the Pacific. One of the most important nations in the Caribbean was the French colony of Saint-Dominigue which would later be named Haiti following a slave rebellion resulting in the Haitian Revolution. Saint-Dominigue became the single richest colony in the western hemisphere, including the United States. By the 1780s, Saint-Domingue produced about 40 percent of all the sugar and 60 percent of all the coffee consumed in Europe and accounted for more coffee and sugar exports than every other colony in the British West Indies, combined. The role of race played a predominant role in the United States occupation of Haiti between 1915 and 1934 due to the class distinctions already present in Haiti as well as the bigotries and racism expressed by the Americans.
Haiti is one of the most unusual countries in Latin America as it is the only French-speaking nation in the Caribbean as well as the first to receive its independence. Haiti’s most unique characteristic, however, is in regard to race. “The population of Haiti on the eve of the French Revolution was made up of over 90% black slaves, with whites numbering only about 40,000 out of a total population of 519,000” . This large disparity can be explained due to the fact that, at one time, Haiti was one of the wealthiest places in the world during French colonization. At the time of the French Revolution in 1789, the sugar production of Saint Dominique exceeded that of all the British West Indies, and on the eve of the revolution the colony accounted for more than one-third of the foreign commerce of France. “Saint-Domi...
... middle of paper ...
... the United States succeeded in creating infrastructure and a powerful police presence, the poverty, ignorance, and the lack of a tradition for orderly free government were completely unchanged leaving no substantial benefit for millions of uneducated poor black Haitians. The real lasting impact was the further degradation of the Haitian people with the mulatto elite still in control of the bureaucracy and national affairs setting the stage for pro-U.S. military dictators with the resources to ignore human rights and violently suppress the opposition.
Works Cited
Mont-Reynaud, Marie-Josée. "The Failure of the American Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934." Haiti Forever, Mar. 2002. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. .
Schmidt, Hans. The United States Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1995. Print.
The Nation of Haiti has been plagued with excessive bad luck when it comes to external invasion. Whether it be larger countries taking control, or outsiders brought in as slaves, Haiti has endured many hardships. These issues, while very common in a lot of countries, are exposed in a short story by a native Haitian. In “A Wall of Fire Rising”, Edwidge Danticat illustrates a myriad of historical issues in Haiti from the 17th to the 20th century through a series of events in one family’s life. One such issue would be the Haitian Revolution and the consequences that came of it.
...thought the war was over and the Haitians were going to throw in the towel but they rallied together under Dessalines to win their freedom from France and become the second colony ever to become an independent nation. The Haitians beat the French proving that a revolution can be done to people and winning their freedom.
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.
The unification under Boyer lasted for twenty-two years. The Dominicans regained their independence from the Haitians in 1844. The political unrest in both countries between the time of their independences and the United States occupation of the nations of 1915 and 1916 was staggering. “Haiti had 33 heads of state, with an average time in power of 3.4 years. Meanwhile, between independence in 1844 and the U.S. military occupation in 1916, the Dominican Republic had 61 heads of state, with an average time in power of only 1.2 years” (Jaramillo & Sancak). The political landscape on both sides of the island were identical. There was no foreign interest on the Haitian side of the island from the period of their independence to the American intervention. Due to a chaotic political landscape and with Haiti’s policy of no foreign landowners allowed there was no hope for the previous Caribbean powerhouse to take its place on the throne of sugar
Before the revolution started in Saint Domingue, Saint Domingue was producing 60% of the coffee around the world and produced 40% of the worlds sugar at the same time (Haitian Revolution, www.webster.edu). Comparing all the French colonies, Saint Domingue was the most profitable and the most successful of its possessions. Saint Domingue was the most prosperous and wealthiest island in the Caribbean, but for Plantation Owners. In 1789, mulattoes were about 28,000, followed by white people which where 32,000, and the last group was black slaves, which numbered up to 500,000 (Haitian Revolution, www.webster.edu). The lowest class in saint Domingue was the black slaves, which outnumbered the whites 10 to 1. Saint Domingue had so many slaves that out of the 1 million slaves at this time in the Caribbean, the slave population in saint Domingue mad up half of it. Since this colony was mostly driven by its slave labor, it was one of the richest and the colony that gave more profit of them all in that time. What made this colony one of the richest colonies was their land. Their soil was very fertile and it had and ideal climate, letting it grow a lot of its main productions, like sugar, coffee, cocoa, Indigo, tobacco, cotton and vegetables. When the revolution started to spark in 1789, there we...
Casimir, J, & Claypool, M 2012, ‘Going Backwards Toward the Future: From Haiti to Saint-Domingue,’ The Global South, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 172-192.
Although, after the revolution, both France and Haiti’s economy was negatively impacted, as a result of the violent rebellions that occurred in order to acquire independence. France was required to overthrow their own government, which was an internal force, however Haiti was required to overthrow an external force, which was France. Nevertheless, both applied violence in their movements and were influenced by significant leaders who enabled the success of the revolution, as they desired political equality within society. Plus, each possessed the same government after the revolutions took place. Thus, even though the French Revolution and Haitian Revolution occurred chronologically in this era of changing society, they both possess distinct aspects, as well as certain similarities.
The Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Domingue were very important to the French economy due to its high sugar trade and increasing its profits through slavery. After the Fall of Louis XVI The National Assembly was considering the question of rights for free men of color. Saint Domingue had 40,000 whites and 30,000 free people of color along with 500,000 slaves. In 1790 the free people of color sent a delegation to Paris to be seated, accentuating that they are property owners and some even of European descent. The assembly later refused to seat them sparking a rebellion among free people of color, which spoke of an independence from France. French colonial authorities suppressed the first rebellion quickly and brutally killed Vincent Oge, a member of the Delegation to Paris and leader of the first rebellion and most of his followers.
Haiti, previously known as Saint-Domingue, was a slave island and one of the wealthiest of France’s colonies. Up until this point in time, slavery was still common and, as mentioned above, continued throughout the world even after such freedom declarations such as, the Declaration of Independence in the newly formed United States, and the Declaration of Rights of Man in the Republic of France. The Haitian Revolution was brought on by the want for liberation of slaves, and was largely inspired by the French Revolution and the Declaration of Rights of Man. “Even though the early leaders of the French Revolution had no intention of exporting the upheaval, it spread to the colonies, especially to Saint-Domingue” (Ott 1973). This revolution proved to be a major event as it was the most successful slave revolution in history. The slavery population in Haiti, vastly outnumbered the white colonists in Haiti, and therefore, when the slave population banded together, led to a full-scaled rebellion. Revolts would continue to occur until finally in 1793, the slaves got their freedom, with slavery officially being abolished in all French territories in 1794. From this point until 1802, small rebellions continued to occur as not much changed in the daily lives of slaves, despite technically having their freedom. After the French Revolution and with Napoleon taking power in 1799; Napoleon reinstated slavery in all French colonies, including Haiti. Napoleon also sent an army to Haiti to enforce these new slavery laws and Haiti returned to a slave economy in 1802 (Doyle 1943). The Haitian Revolutionaries finally get their win after defeating the French soldiers in the Battle of Vertieres in 1803; the final part of the revolution. The revolution officially ended in 1804, with Haiti gaining its independence from France and permanently abolishing slavery
Early in the nineteenth century rebellion against European authority broke out in Latin America. First, slaves on the island of Haiti revolted against their French masters. Led by former slave Toussaint L'Overture the Haitians defeated France making Haiti the...
The island of Saint-Domingue was made up of a mixture of people including whites from France, creoles, free people of color, and slaves. Once sugar became a major cash crop on the island, an estimated half-million African slaves were brought in to work the land. These slaves outnumbered their white masters more than ten to one and made up the majority of the island inhabitants. Even so, the island had the most secure slave regime in the Caribbean because of the cooperation between masters and free men of color. Due to the difficult policing jobs given to the freed men with little reward, the communication between them and the white masters broke down. Now that the white slaveholders were on their own, it was only a matter of time before their brutal treatment of slaves would lead to an uprising. Once enslaved Africans received word of the revolution in France they too began demanding freedom. After years of civil unrest and vicious fighting, Haiti declared its freedom from France in January of 1804. What makes the Haitian Revolution more radical than the two before it is the fact that it was led by slaves. Throughout the previous revolutions, the main goal was for white men, essentially, to be free from oppressive government rule. There were few thoughts regarding the rights of slaves, even though they too were men. The fact that this group of people were able to remove the colonial authority and establish their own country during this period of time was particularly radical and unheard
Haiti is the unequivocally the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, indeed, the country is so poor that its citizen cannot even afford eating foods and Haitian children need to eat dirts to stay alive. [1] Nevertheless, Haiti is the home to the only successful slave rebellion; Toussaint Louverture, last governor of French Saint-Domingue, was born a slave.
Watkins, Thayer. "Political and Economic History of Haiti." Political and Economic History of Haiti. Silicon Valley & Tornado Alley, n.d. Web. 05 May 2014
The San Domingo revolution led to the abolition of slavery, independence of Haiti from France and the proclamation of a black republic. However, unlike many historians, CLR James in his work, The Black Jacobins, does not depict the struggle for independence as merely a slave revolt which happened to come after the French Revolution. He goes beyond providing only a recount of historical events and offers an intimate look at those who primarily precipitated the fall of French rule, namely the black slaves themselves. In doing so, James offers a perspective of black history which empowers the black people, for they are shown to actually have done something, and not merely be the subject of actions and attitudes of others.
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.