Haitian Revolution Assignment

Haiti was Frances most profitable colony in the western hemisphere. At the time of it being a colony to France, however, it was known as San Domingue. France inherited the colony after events of both the thirty years war and the nine years war that led to France laying claim to the land and protecting it from the Spanish. Two huge luxury resources ruled the land at the time, sugar and coffee, both of which were plentiful on the island nation. As a result of the booming industry there, thousands upon thousands of slaves were imported from Africa to work on plantations. This single-handedly shifted the population so that it was now a majority of black slaves on the island. Rigid class systems were established so as to keep what little whites were on the island nation, in power over the blacks. Soon, however, the blacks became fed up with the segregation and started a revolt that would last 12 years, securing their freedom from France and Slavery. Once Haiti was declared as a sovereign nation, however, another new nation made clear that it was not to accept Haiti as a real nation. Thomas Jefferson and the United States were quite skeptical of the new nation and its political stances. As quoted from an article written by Edwidge Danticat, "The fact that the U.S. was not more supportive of its smaller, slightly younger neighbor had a great deal to do with Louverture's roots, which were African and which were now planted in America's backyard.". Jefferson was afraid that the slaves he kept in his own nation may be persuaded by the actions taken in Haiti, and may plant dangerous ideas in their heads. On top of this, France also made its displeasure known by forcibly extorting money from Haiti, threatening military action if not complied with. This debt was not to be halted until 1947, an astonishing 140 years after Haiti was declared independent.

These effects piled on to the new nation of Haiti, which was woefully unprepared to handle such a response from such powerful adversaries. This led to Haiti falling into extreme poverty that extends to this day and age. Some argue that it is Frances responsibility to reimburse Haiti for the wrongful taxation of their nation, however, no such deal has yet to be made between the two nations. Haiti was never able to become a prosperous nation because of these sanctions put on them by France and the US, which must have been quite disheartening for the people who fought so hard for its independence.

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