The Haitian Republic

Written by Jacob Sullivan Edited by Zach Batson

Haiti had been a colonial possession of France since 1697, and during this time it experienced some of the most brutal conditions for slaves in the New World, as they were harshly oppressed by their French colonizers forcing them to produce sugar. Although conditions in Haiti were horrendous, the colony was considered to be the most profitable in the world, making it the crown jewel of the French Empire. In 1789, the political situation in France took a drastic turn, as King Louis’ assassination sparked the French Revolution. The wars of the Coalition that followed the revolution had caused France’s connections to its colonial provinces to be completely cut off, as the British and Spanish fleets began indiscriminately attacking any vessel bound for France by 1790. The economic isolation that the colonies faced increased tensions within Haiti, and laid the groundwork for their own revolution.

The stirrings of revolution had already begun in Haiti well before their revolution in 1791. Vincent Ogé had attempted to lobby for colonial reforms in Paris, but he was assassinated by French colonial slave owners. The true rebellion started in 1791 when Toussaint L'ouverture led a slave revolt that blossomed into a full-scale revolution. The battle for independence in Haiti was bloody and fierce, as not only did the slaves have to face their French oppressors, but they also skirmished with the Spanish in Santo Domingo and British colonial troops who had sailed in from Jamaica in an effort to secure the island of Hispaniola for Spain. Toussaint died in 1796, but his Lieutenants continued the fight until they ultimately secured the island in 1800. Jean-Jacques Dessalines helped to draft Haiti’s first constitution, creating a new republic on the island. Although his intentions were at first to rule Haiti autocratically, Dessalines ultimately decided on a republican model more akin to that of the United States, no doubt in an effort to make Haitian independence sound more appealing to its powerful neighbor.

Due to the ongoing blockade by the British, the French did not hear of Haiti’s independence movement until 1801, when they managed to send a delegation to the United States of America in an effort to secure a military alliance. By this point, Haiti had already ingratiated itself in American politics by offering a forthright trade agreement in exchange for the USA’s support of their independence. Although Napoleon was unhappy with the idea of losing the crown jewel of the French colonial empire, securing the goodwill of the United States was more pressing to the new Emperor. Furthermore, slavery had been abolished in 1794, and the reimplementation of such a policy on their colony would have been politically disastrous for the emperor. After fierce negotiations, France recognized Haiti’s independence in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Accords, after which the United States formally guaranteed the nation protection from colonialism.

Haiti prospered from independence, and maintained close ties with both the United States and France. Following the eventual collapse of the Spanish empire, the Haitian Republic incorporated Santo Domingo, uniting the island under one state. Despite Hispaniola’s small size, the Haiti of today maintains one of the world's most stable economies, with Haitian corporations having branches in countries and colonies throughout the known systems. The plantation industry allowed their economy to skyrocket in the early 1800s, and Haitian bankers reinvested much of the profit into aether technology in the United States, which continues to pay dividends to this day.

Type

Geopolitical, Republic