Haiti was the first and only country in the history of civilization whose independence is the result of a successful slave rebellion (Haiti Interesting Facts). Haiti’s beautiful geography, deep history, interesting people, diverse lifestyle, and complex society are very fascinating topics.
Geography
Haiti has many interesting and beautiful land formations. It is located on the Western part of the island Hispaniola. Haiti is covered in mountains. In fact, it is two-thirds mountainous. The rest of the country features many beautiful valleys, steep plateaus, and grassy plains. Its climate is hot, humid, and tropical. The North winds bring fog and precipitation that interrupts Haiti's dry season in November through January. In February and May it is very wet and humid. The Northeast trade winds bring the rain in during the wet season. The average rainfall is two hundred to four hundred centimeters per year. In the summer, the average temperature is 15°C to 20°C.In the winter, the temperature is normally 25°C to 35°C. The climate and land forms have greatly affected the country.
History
Haiti has a long and interesting history. On December 6th, 1492, Columbus founded Haiti. When Spain tried to take it, the land the Native Arawaks fought back, because it had been their ancestors land for hundreds of years. Inevitably, they lost to Spanish rule. In 1697, the French took over and changed Haiti's name to Saint-Dominique. It became one of the leading producers of sugar cane. The downside to the sugarcane industry was only the slaves knew how to plant and harvest it so the industry failed. The slaves revolted in 1791, resulting in a Declaration of Independence being written in 1801, under the leadership of Pierre-Dominique Toussaint l’Ouver...
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Haiti lifestyle and America lifestyle is different. In Haiti They don’t have the same sources as Americans do. In fact, Most Haitians don’t have Electricity and rely on charcoal for energy. While in America most people are able use stoves or microwaves to prepare food quickly. People in Haiti don’t bathe as much as people in America because they don’t have access to clean or running water. However, In America people are able to bathe every day. In America people often eat 3 meals a day which is breakfast, lunch and dinner. In Haiti they only eat 2 meals a day. Haitians usually eat bread and coffee in the morning and later on the evening they eat fried meat like goat, chicken, pork etc. Americans on the other hand, may eat eggs, bacon, sausages,
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].
Once Enlightenment philosophies created new views on individual’s natural rights and their place in society, resistance to oppressive government was inevitable. The core beliefs of freedom and equality above all served as a catalyst for the revolutions in America, France, and Haiti. Because of these shared ideals each revolution is interconnected with the revolution before it. However, the waves of this revolutionary movement that swept through the Atlantic World became increasingly radical with each new country it entered. By looking at the citizen involvement and causes of the American, French, and Haitian revolutions, the growing radicality of these insurrections can be better understood.
Schmidt, Hans. The United States Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1995. Print.
The French Revolutions ideology of freedom and equality lead to the Haitian revolution in Saint Domingue. Saint Domingue was one of the richest colonies in the entire world during this time. It made a big profit for France, but the rules were also unfair. They favored only to the slave owners and whites. This is why many slaves wanted to revolt. Before the revolution, Saint Domingue was a major producer of coffee and sugar.
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.
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.
Haiti means “mountains country” Haitian culture represents a specific mix of physical characters especially skin color, hair texture. hair color and facial features the African culture is an ethics mix of African and European elements due to the French, African and indigenous dialects. Major customs of Haitian culture are Catholicism and voodoo a mixture of African animism which means belief in spirits and nature, some Haitians even practice both at one time. There are significant holidays in the Haitian culture as well voodoo is considered a holiday(is a belief system based on practices and traditions that originates from west African traditional regions)
Everyone needs a good place to spend his or her vacation. But I have chosen Haiti as my favorite place because that’s my country and that’s where I was raised, however; some people claim that Haiti is filled with poverty. Actually, Haiti has a variety of growing cities. For example, Port-au-Prince, which is the capital, Jacmel, Cap-Haitian and more. The current president is Jocelerme Pivert with a unitary semi-presidential republic. Haiti also has a population of ten million people. Here are the three main reasons to why you should visit Haiti: for the weather, the food, and also the beauty.
In what ways has the colonial history of Haiti contributed to the modern social, political, economic and environmental problems facing Haiti today?
Haiti was once an economic power when France held claim to the Eastern Part of Hispaniola, then named St. Domingue. It was a French colony flourishing with coffee and sugar. Eventually the ideals of the French Revolution - Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity - made its way to the colonies resulting in a revolution. Haiti was the first slave-led revolution and declared its independence as a republic on January 1, 1804. After their declaration of independence, things started to make a turn for the worst. In 1934 the U.S. forces occupied Haiti to establish stability. The U.S. appointed heads of state but the real power was present in the U.S. occupiers, whereas the heads of state are just figureheads. Haiti’s economy dwindled further down when France demanded reparations of 150 million francs, which wasn’t paid off until 1947. In 65 years, Haiti had 22 heads of state.” In 1957 Francois Duvalier is elected president. He later “creates a totalitarian dictatorship and in 1964 declares himself president-for-life.” This is where Haiti’s political instability really begins.
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.
Haiti is a very interesting country, people always want to visit places like Florida where it’s tropical. Well, if you want to visit a really tropical place you should go to Haiti. I promise you it doesn’t matter why you are going there: vacation, mission trip, or anything. You won’t regret it. I’m going to tell you more about Haiti, and how amazing it can be.
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