The Haitian Revolution

For most of history, Haiti was not the country that we know today. For starters, its name was not always Haiti, it was Saint Domingue. Saint Domingue was a dark place. It was a French colony “home“ to half a million slaves. The slaves worked on plantations owned by the wealthy French. Their major cash crops were tobacco, cotton, and cacao. It was a very prosperous place, much different than it is today. However, freedom of the people trumps the economical state of the island. From 1791-1804, the slaves of Saint Domingue revolted against the French government. In the end, they were successful. The Haitian Revolution was the first of its kind due to the fact that it was a slave-led revolution. Not only did they end slavery on the island, but
Haiti is now seeing a two thirds unemployment rate. (Schoen). The economic problems in Haiti are so bad that their inflation rate is almost two and a half percent higher than ours. According to the Council of Foreign relations, the effort to build a stable economy in Haiti will require more than a decade of commitment. This is mostly because of the devastating natural disasters that occur in Haiti. “As it has struggled to pull itself out of poverty, Haiti has sustained numerous blows in recent years. In May 2004, three days of heavy rains and floods killed more than 2,600. Later that year, Tropical Storm Jeanne brought floods and landslides killing 1,900 and leaving 200,000 homeless. In 2008, three hurricanes and a tropical storm killed some 800, devastated crops and caused $1 billion in damage.” (Schoen). The natural disasters in Haiti are causing an economic setback, despite all of the relief funds they
In 1825, the French recognized Haiti as a country because of Haiti’s 150 million franc deal. This caused other countries to recognize Haiti as well. The US, currently using slavery, felt they could not recognize a country that had a slave-led revolt. However, in 1862, three years before the US eliminates slavery, they begin to recognize Haiti as a country. Under Ronald Reagan, the president of Haiti was Aristide. A member of the Reagan administration deemed Aristide, “Less Christian than Communist”. One week after President Aristide was removed from power, Brazil pledged over one thousand troops to Haiti under the UN’s mission to restabilize the country’s government. Today, efforts are being made by the US and other members of the UN to help Haiti’s government and provide them with food aid because of natural