Haitian Revolution Research Paper

The Haitian revolution was a cauldron of revolutions. It was a fight for independence from the most ruthless colonizers, and the utterly humiliating bondage, which is commonly known as slavery. Christened by the French as Saint Dominique, Haiti was a colony of the French Empire prior to its independence, a land on which almost every naval power of those times had their eyes on. And why not, after all, the erstwhile Saint Dominique was wet till the hilt, often considered as the wealthiest overseas colony of the French Empire. Saint Dominique produced huge quantities of cotton, indigo, sugar, and coffee. Good harvests indeed, year after year, the owners of those huge plantations and the landowners grew filthy rich. While masters grew rich, the

It was Napoleon Bonaparte who organized and strategized the Saint Dominique campaign, while the generals acted on his orders.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared Haiti’s independence on January 1st, 1804 and changed the name from Saint Dominique to Haiti. Interestingly, French was the first nation in the world to recognize the independence of Haiti.

After taking over the power from French colonizers, Jean-Jacques Dessalines made an official declaration that all the remaining whites in Haiti should be executed. This act did not go well with Thomas Jefferson, the then President of the U.S. 5. The fact that French became the first country to recognize Haiti as an independent state did not fit with the U.S scheme of things either. This led to a hostile relationship between the U.S. and the newly formed Haiti, and France.

At the time of its inception, Haiti was declared as a refuge for the blacks throughout the world. It became a country essentially for the black people 6. The same can be said about the independence of Guinea in 1858. Sékou Touré, the founding father of independent Guinea, envisioned the creation of a true African state

Even during the years of revolution, the U.S. mostly remained a spectator, and after Haiti declared its independence, the U.S. refused to recognize it as an independent country because it was highly apprehensive of a similar revolt back home. It was mainly the plantation owners of America who feared that Haiti can be a bad example and inspire their own slaves to take up arms against them.

However, with the presence of a large Haitian diaspora and the fact that Haiti is, in fact, a country commonly referred to as a black homeland, makes the U.S. relationship with Haiti a very important one. The U.S. eventually came to understand that a strong and economically stable Haiti, governed in accordance to a vibrant democracy is important for the interests of both Haiti and the U.S.

Since the January 2010 earthquake, the U.S. has aided much of the rehabilitation and developmental programs. The spirit can be justly expressed by taking the example of President Obama’s who stated that both the U.S. and Haiti is separated by just a few hundred miles of Ocean. He further made his point by calling Haitians neighbors, both within the state and on the