Haiti and France

The earthquake on 12 January has once again brought Haiti to the world's attention as the disaster has compounded the miserable living conditions that its inhabitants face on a daily basis. Over the last century Haiti has been destabilized by foreign entanglements, harsh dictatorships, and environmental degradation.

Haiti began as a French colony called Saint-Domingue, which they seized from the weakened Kingdom of Spain with the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697. Over the next century Saint-Domingue became the most valuable colonial territory of France, producing sugar, coffee, and indigo. These products were grown on plantations worked by African slaves. During the years of the slave trade more Africans were forcibly transported to the Caribbean than any other part of the New World. The tropical climate was often deadly for enslaved workers. A large portion died within the first year of their arrival, necessitating a constant stream of new slaves to replenish the workers who had died.

Conditions for these slaves as well as freed blacks was largely determined by the Code Noir (Black Code) which was enacted by Louis XIV in 1685. This law code forbade slaves to do anything without their master's permission, made Catholicism the only permitted religion in French colonies, and outlined harsh punishments for rebellion or fleeing.

Haiti gained its independence from France during the Revolution under the leadership of a former slave named Toussaint L'Ouverture. The rebellion L'Ouverture posed a major challenge to the ideals of liberty and equality that the French were granting themselves in Europe. Events in France forced the legislature to grant Haiti independence, although Napoleon and Charles X made attempts to reconquer the former colony. In 1825 Charles X forced Haiti to pay a 150 million franc indemnity for damages the rebellion caused to the slave trade.

Haiti has the unique distinction of being the only successful slave revolt in history. However many of its neighbors viewed the example of Haiti as a threat to their own regimes that also relied on exploitative peasant/slave labor. Over the past two hundred years Haiti's government has been unduly influenced by foreign businessmen who in some case have organized coups against seated regimes. US Marines supported a coup in 1888, Germany helped suppress a reform movement in 1892, and American, German, and British forces invaded in early 1914 to protect western business interests. All in all there have been more than 30 coups over the last two centuries.

Haiti is one of many examples of the long-term consequences of European colonization that the world still contends with today.