Haiti - Support@Syracuse University: Background on Haiti

TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson, author of An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President: "We need to be told the whole story of these wonderful, resilient, courageous and industrious people." (Full transcript.)

NOTES ON HAITI

• In 1789 (the year of the French Revolution) Haiti had 8,000 plantations (800 sugar; 2,000 coffee; 700 cotton; & 3,000 indigo).
• In 1789 Black slave population was approx 500,000; there were 40,000 whites; 30,000 free colored.
• For purposes of comparison: the slave population was twice the size of Jamaica, its nearest economic rival.
• Racial divisions among Black peoples were very pronounced and slaves were treated with extreme viciousness.
• In 1790 – a colonial assembly, ruled by white planters and a small group of shopkeepers, artisans and business men called the petit blanc controlled the power of France in Saint Domingue.
• On August 14, 1791 a slave rebellion broke out in Le Cap (Boukman and Cecile Fatiman were it leaders).
• By the middle of 1800 Toussaint Louverture ruled supreme in St. Domingue (Haiti); riding a 100 miles a day to keep his army together.
• In 1802 Napoleon sends his brother in law General Le Clerc to crush the Haitian revolution.
• Later in 1802 Toussaint is captured and taken to France in chains.
• General Jean-Jacques Dessalines fights on, despite French terrorization efforts. He begins to unite former slaves under the banner of freedom.
• 1802 French General Rochambeau declares genocide on the Black peoples of Haiti; Rochambeau is defeated.
• Napoleon’s western military campaign comes to an end – the Louisiana Purchase is made, and America gains new territory.
• January 1, 1804 – General Dessalines declares Saint Domingue an independent country renamed Haiti (land of the mountains).

KEY DATES

Before Columbus – 1.3 million Taino Indians live in Hispaniola (little Spain)

1492 – Columbus “discovers” Hispaniola

1697 – by Treaty of Ryswick Spain cedes western third of the island to France

1784 –the French recognize the independence of the maroons in Haiti

1789 – French revolution

1791 – The beginning of the slave rebellion in the colony of France  on the night of August 14, 1791

1802 – Toussaint L’Ouverture, slave leader surrenders to French and taken away in chains

1804 – Haiti pronounces its independence under Jean Jacque Dessalines

1819 - José Núñez de Cáceres announced the independence of the eastern part of the island as the state of Spanish Haiti.

1825 –France demands indemnity from Haiti to the tune of 150 million francs

1862 – United States recognizes Haiti

“Rid me of those gilded Africans, and we shall have nothing more to wish”

(Napoleon Bonaparte to brother in law General Le Clerc, 1802)

SUMMARY

In sum, Haiti has been recorded badly, and links have seldom been drawn to the significance of the 1791-1804 revolution or the world-historical impact on the socio-political climate of today’s global economy.  One can only determine that this silence around issues in Haiti is partly due to generations’ long racism in academia and world affairs. Surely, the Haitian revolution, like all revolutions, was a violent one, and the state exploitation that accompanied Haiti into the 20^th century are legendary. The American invasion of the island between 1915 and 1934 resulted in partial deforestation of the country’s mahogany and Caribbean pine trees. The impact of the Duvalier regime (a father and son dictatorship) between 1957 and 1986 continued to ravage the country’s natural resources and its people. Modern aid programs such as rice and pig farming have also been disasters, only succeeding in weakening the Haiti’s internal industry and political economy. Western powers such as the U.S. have also played a major role in manipulating Haiti’s weakened political system.  Yet, all this should not deter us from assigning, evaluating and recommending a full understanding of the significance of this ‘forgotten’ but momentous event in human history: the first successful independent country in an age of tyranny and human oppression.

This is the legacy that has allowed Haiti to come back on her feet time and time again. This earthquake will not keep the Haitian people from rising up again; history has already shown us that they can do it!

Many thanks to members of the Black Graduate Student Organization (BGSO) as well as Prof. Nigel Westmass, for compiling this fact sheet,

Contact us with comments and to list events and activities or to request donations or support for Haitian relief efforts:

Paula Johnson
College of Law

Linda Carty
African American Studies, Arts & Sciences

Jean Jonassaint
Languages, Literature, & Linguistics

Bonnie Ryan
Syracuse University Library