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There are uncomfortable truths in the world, and Haiti's story is one of them. After the slaves revolted and gained independence in 1804, the state was embargo

There are uncomfortable truths in the world, and Haiti's story is one of them. After the slaves revolted and gained independence in 1804, the state was embargoed. Haiti's first president, Alexandre Pétion, offered paying the value of the lost land to the French government. Simultaneously, they reached out to the British and offered favorable trade terms to them. But a slave revolt was seen as untenable at the time and the British agreed to allow France to pursue "whatever means possible, including that of arms, to recover Saint-Domingue and to subdue the inhabitants of that colony." Around the same time, Haiti tried to ally itself with the US, offering its ports + favorable trade. The US also sided with the French against the former slave colony. Facing military invasion, in 1825, they agreed to pay indemnity for the value of the slaves lost by the French government for a total of 150 million francs. As they couldn't pay the amount in lump sum, Haiti was forced to enter into unfavorable loans with the United States and France to pay the slavery debt. Around 80%+ of GDP was used to pay foreign debt By the late 1800s, eighty percent of Haiti's wealth was being used to pay foreign debt; France was the highest collector, followed by the German Empire and the United States Non-payment wasn't an option. In 1903, Haiti accused the capital institutions France had set up for debt extraction within Haiti of fraud. That threat led a coalition of private entities who owned the bonds, working with the US State Department, to use the US military to invade the former state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Ha... Haiti didn't pay off its debts until 1947. For reference, Joe Biden was 5 years old when Haiti finally paid off this slavery debt. As the overwhelming majority of the state's economic output was sapped by this debt, Haiti lacked the ability to invest in itself until the end of WW2. Post-WW2, Haiti went through decades of political turmoil and never achieved political stability. Haiti's present cannot be judged without the weight of this past. And it's future cannot be charted without accounting for it. Of course, the place that was invaded at the drop of a hat and deprived of resources never learned to build civil institutions and non-corrupt governance. Fixing this probably requires a lot of close study to develop very specific interventions to change Haiti's culture and help it prosper.

sc68cal 2y ago
I'm glad that finally someone pointed this out. Debt slavery for a country that dared to fight back.
- ananamouse 2y ago
  The Haitian response to the circumstances would rightly be called a genocide today. Perhaps a bit more than simply “fighting back” led to the reaction.
  - areoform 2y ago
    The Haitian response to the circumstances would rightly be called a genocide today. Perhaps a bit more than simply “fighting back” led to the reaction. Absolutely. Let's not shy away from the fact either. They killed 3,000 to 7,000 people excluding the Polish legionnaires (contrary to myth, they did not kill their allies). If you asked them why they did it, their response was that in the century of French Haitian slavery, a 1,000,000+ slaves were killed by the French slavers. It was cheaper to buy a new slave than fix working conditions. So the sugar plantations had 6% to 10% annual mortality rate. They responded to evil with evil. Perhaps a bit more than simply “fighting back” led to the reaction. Haiti terrified the white supremacists who saw chattel slavery as the "natural" order. The idea that the slaves would fight back upset the cart quite a bit. In the run-up to the U.S. presidential election of 1860, Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, wrote "I remember the horrors of St. Domingo" and said that the election "will determine whether anything like this is to be visited upon our own southern countrymen."[14] Abolitionists recognized the strength of this argument on public opinion in both the North and South. In correspondence to the New York Times in September 1861 (during the war), an abolitionist named J. B. Lyon addressed this as a prominent argument of his opponents: > We don't know any better than to imagine that emancipation would result in the utter extinction of civilization in the South, because the slave-holders, and those in their interest, have persistently told us ... and they always instance the 'horrors of St. Domingo.'[48] Or, to recontextualize the bard, These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey Is loathsome in his own deliciousness Absolute domination is the sweetest honey until its violent delights lead to violent ends.
emmelaich 2y ago
You omitted perhaps the most uncomfortable truth: CIA political intervention and USA investment in the Dominican Republic. Whether its legal or not, this helped and this is contrary to the standard view of USA involvement in the Caribbean and Middle and South America.
codeproject 2y ago
thank you so much for this, it is surprising that i have never heard this part of history. the big mighty France, the land of "Liberty, equality, fraternity", could be so cruel, so stingy. it breaks my heart to hear the story like this....
- paleotrope 2y ago
  As Bart Simpson might say, "In conclusion, France is a land of contrast"

sc68cal 2y ago

I'm glad that finally someone pointed this out. Debt slavery for a country that dared to fight back.

ananamouse 2y ago
The Haitian response to the circumstances would rightly be called a genocide today. Perhaps a bit more than simply “fighting back” led to the reaction.
- areoform 2y ago
  The Haitian response to the circumstances would rightly be called a genocide today. Perhaps a bit more than simply “fighting back” led to the reaction. Absolutely. Let's not shy away from the fact either. They killed 3,000 to 7,000 people excluding the Polish legionnaires (contrary to myth, they did not kill their allies). If you asked them why they did it, their response was that in the century of French Haitian slavery, a 1,000,000+ slaves were killed by the French slavers. It was cheaper to buy a new slave than fix working conditions. So the sugar plantations had 6% to 10% annual mortality rate. They responded to evil with evil. Perhaps a bit more than simply “fighting back” led to the reaction. Haiti terrified the white supremacists who saw chattel slavery as the "natural" order. The idea that the slaves would fight back upset the cart quite a bit. In the run-up to the U.S. presidential election of 1860, Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, wrote "I remember the horrors of St. Domingo" and said that the election "will determine whether anything like this is to be visited upon our own southern countrymen."[14] Abolitionists recognized the strength of this argument on public opinion in both the North and South. In correspondence to the New York Times in September 1861 (during the war), an abolitionist named J. B. Lyon addressed this as a prominent argument of his opponents: > We don't know any better than to imagine that emancipation would result in the utter extinction of civilization in the South, because the slave-holders, and those in their interest, have persistently told us ... and they always instance the 'horrors of St. Domingo.'[48] Or, to recontextualize the bard, These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey Is loathsome in his own deliciousness Absolute domination is the sweetest honey until its violent delights lead to violent ends.

emmelaich 2y ago

You omitted perhaps the most uncomfortable truth: CIA political intervention and USA investment in the Dominican Republic. Whether its legal or not, this helped and this is contrary to the standard view of USA involvement in the Caribbean and Middle and South America.

codeproject 2y ago

thank you so much for this, it is surprising that i have never heard this part of history. the big mighty France, the land of "Liberty, equality, fraternity", could be so cruel, so stingy. it breaks my heart to hear the story like this....

paleotrope 2y ago
As Bart Simpson might say, "In conclusion, France is a land of contrast"