So spoke my dear uncle Ti Jean
Once upon a time there was an Island the Indians called Haiti, Quiskeya, or Boyo. Christopher Columbus came, killed them all and took over their little paradise. He named it Hispaniola. The European powers would fought over it for years; dividing it in two, some times tree parts. The Indians out of the way, they set out to exploit the fertile land and all the natural resources that it possesses.
In the 17 hundreds, they invaded Africa. There they kidnapped its inhabitants, put them on ships, in the most horrible conditions known to man. They brought them to Hispaniola to work the land as slaves. The Island prospered even more and became the envy of all Europe; La perle des Antilles. The Aristocracy in France and Spain lived opulently, lavishly, wastefully, on the backs of those African slaves.
The slaves would revolt several times, with one revolt more successful than the other; but none resulted in the reversal of the system that has enslaved them. The Masters successfully divided the Island in two portions; one controlled by the French and the other by the Spanish.
But, the whole island was known as Saint Domingue or Santo Domingo. Meanwhile the masses in France, disgusted by the lavish life of the “Bourgeoisie” would revolt against the King and their beneficiaries. The fight for equal right would be riverbed all over the world.
The English saw opportunities in the infighting among the French citizens. They invaded the Island by way of the Americas. They convinced some of the slaves to fight in their camps by making them false promises of freedom. Others would stay with the French side; among them, emerged a sixty year old slave leader named Toussaint Breda. He later changed his name to Toussaint Louverture. His army of the “sans culottes” would do as they are please in St. Domingue; fighting for the French one day and for the Spanish on the next. He would take his army to which ever side proved to be more genuine in their promises at the time.
Finally, he settled in with the French against everyone else. He would become a General of the French army; leading blacks, mulatoes, and whites to battles and wining one after the other.
Toussaint Louverture was an excellent General and was feared by all. He played his card so right that he managed to expulse the French and ordered everyone in the Island free. But they would come back later, with overwhelming force and beat him into submission. He negotiated his terms with them to stay in the Island as a civilian but, won high post for his Lieutenants with the French army. The French feared his power none the less; kidnapped him one day and sent him to die in Fort de Jour in France.
Toussaint out the way, the French starts talking about re-establishing slavery. Jean Jacques Dessalines, one of Toussaint’s protégée would emerge as the new slave leader this time around. He was said that his army was so brave that his cavalries would braise through the flying bullets of the enemy to beat them into submission. They beat the most successful army in the world; the army of Napoleon, and baptized the newly freed Republic, Haiti; in January 1st, 1804.
The New King was short live, though. He was assassinated on his way back from putting down a rebellion in Les Cayes, on October 17, 1806; thus, the beginning of the infighting.
Haiti would be divided in two consequently, with the Emperor Christophe in the North and Northwest and President Petion in the Center and South. The newly born republic, the 1st independent country of the Americas after United States, the 1st Black republic of the western world would for ever be marred in infighting. There would be countless presidents and kings; all the while the people suffers. The country will never recover from mass fires of the wars of Independence. Agriculture, once feeding the whole France was disappearing in rapid paces. Three land re-distributions saw the farms reduced into very small parcels of land.
There were very few moments in the history of the Republic for us to be proud of. But, fewer as they maybe, after independence, the country was instrumental in the abolishment of slavery all over the continent. Single-handedly, Haiti armed and help Bolivar in the liberation of South America (Venezuela, Columbia, Peru, Equator, and Bolivia). The intellectual life also flourished from time to time. But, political disputes specially, kept the country from advancing. There were also other circumstances that prevented them from progressing. But, nothing that they could not overcome, have they put their heads together for the good of the country and the people.
The decades of 1970s, 80s, and 90s saw the exodus of the best and brightest of Haitian minds from the country in search of a better life abroad. The farms were deserted too, as people jump into boats toward Miami. The rest ended up in Port-au-Prince; living in most inhumane conditions; squalors and beggars filled the streets creating one of the most unsafe places on earth.
Then, on January 12, 2010; an earthquake of the magnitude of 7.0 on the rector scale devastated Port-au-Prince, flattened everything, rich and poor. Is it the end? What is next for this 1st black nation in the western hemisphere? What's going to happen to the place once called “The pearl of the Antilles” but now baptized “the poorest country in the western hemisphere? Is there any hope?
In the 17 hundreds, they invaded Africa. There they kidnapped its inhabitants, put them on ships, in the most horrible conditions known to man. They brought them to Hispaniola to work the land as slaves. The Island prospered even more and became the envy of all Europe; La perle des Antilles. The Aristocracy in France and Spain lived opulently, lavishly, wastefully, on the backs of those African slaves.
The slaves would revolt several times, with one revolt more successful than the other; but none resulted in the reversal of the system that has enslaved them. The Masters successfully divided the Island in two portions; one controlled by the French and the other by the Spanish.
But, the whole island was known as Saint Domingue or Santo Domingo. Meanwhile the masses in France, disgusted by the lavish life of the “Bourgeoisie” would revolt against the King and their beneficiaries. The fight for equal right would be riverbed all over the world.
The English saw opportunities in the infighting among the French citizens. They invaded the Island by way of the Americas. They convinced some of the slaves to fight in their camps by making them false promises of freedom. Others would stay with the French side; among them, emerged a sixty year old slave leader named Toussaint Breda. He later changed his name to Toussaint Louverture. His army of the “sans culottes” would do as they are please in St. Domingue; fighting for the French one day and for the Spanish on the next. He would take his army to which ever side proved to be more genuine in their promises at the time.
Finally, he settled in with the French against everyone else. He would become a General of the French army; leading blacks, mulatoes, and whites to battles and wining one after the other.
Toussaint Louverture was an excellent General and was feared by all. He played his card so right that he managed to expulse the French and ordered everyone in the Island free. But they would come back later, with overwhelming force and beat him into submission. He negotiated his terms with them to stay in the Island as a civilian but, won high post for his Lieutenants with the French army. The French feared his power none the less; kidnapped him one day and sent him to die in Fort de Jour in France.
Toussaint out the way, the French starts talking about re-establishing slavery. Jean Jacques Dessalines, one of Toussaint’s protégée would emerge as the new slave leader this time around. He was said that his army was so brave that his cavalries would braise through the flying bullets of the enemy to beat them into submission. They beat the most successful army in the world; the army of Napoleon, and baptized the newly freed Republic, Haiti; in January 1st, 1804.
The New King was short live, though. He was assassinated on his way back from putting down a rebellion in Les Cayes, on October 17, 1806; thus, the beginning of the infighting.
Haiti would be divided in two consequently, with the Emperor Christophe in the North and Northwest and President Petion in the Center and South. The newly born republic, the 1st independent country of the Americas after United States, the 1st Black republic of the western world would for ever be marred in infighting. There would be countless presidents and kings; all the while the people suffers. The country will never recover from mass fires of the wars of Independence. Agriculture, once feeding the whole France was disappearing in rapid paces. Three land re-distributions saw the farms reduced into very small parcels of land.
There were very few moments in the history of the Republic for us to be proud of. But, fewer as they maybe, after independence, the country was instrumental in the abolishment of slavery all over the continent. Single-handedly, Haiti armed and help Bolivar in the liberation of South America (Venezuela, Columbia, Peru, Equator, and Bolivia). The intellectual life also flourished from time to time. But, political disputes specially, kept the country from advancing. There were also other circumstances that prevented them from progressing. But, nothing that they could not overcome, have they put their heads together for the good of the country and the people.
The decades of 1970s, 80s, and 90s saw the exodus of the best and brightest of Haitian minds from the country in search of a better life abroad. The farms were deserted too, as people jump into boats toward Miami. The rest ended up in Port-au-Prince; living in most inhumane conditions; squalors and beggars filled the streets creating one of the most unsafe places on earth.
Then, on January 12, 2010; an earthquake of the magnitude of 7.0 on the rector scale devastated Port-au-Prince, flattened everything, rich and poor. Is it the end? What is next for this 1st black nation in the western hemisphere? What's going to happen to the place once called “The pearl of the Antilles” but now baptized “the poorest country in the western hemisphere? Is there any hope?
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