Like much of the colonial world, Tahiti and its surrounding islands were subject to the intense brutality and domination of European imperialism. The native people were manipulated, their culture was eradicated, and their freedom was greatly limited as both the French and the British struggled for control over the Polynesian’s 65 inhabitable islands. What makes Tahiti distinctive from the colonial world, though, is the lack of violence commonly associated with independence movements. Instead, Tahiti’s progression from a colony to a territory of limited independence has been, for the most part, rather peaceful due to the area’s unique history and geography.
The area known as French Polynesia is spread out across 2,000,000
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Over a 30 year period, they slowly expelled the British and in 1880 forced King Pomare V to abdicate which officially ended British control over the region. By 1901, the French had colonized most of the habitable islands in the region and had established many local governments.
Many Tahitians served in the French military during the first half of the twentieth century, and most notably in World War II. After the War, many of these Tahitians returned home yearning for greater political autonomy and hence, in 1946, the first territorial assembly was established. By 1949, a functional island government existed and the people of Tahiti, and its surrounding islands, gained representation in the French assembly.
Over the next fifty years, Tahiti gained more and more autonomy from France. Today, it is completely independent, except in matters of defense and foreign policy. There has also been a powerful rebirth of native culture. The music and art destroyed by the British missionaries in the early nineteenth century has stunningly resurfaced; and the Tahitian language, although it is not the official language of the land, is widely spoken and taught in schools. There have been many calls for independence made by Tahitian citizens though the local government is opposed to such a move due the region’s economic dependence on France. Today, Tahiti exists primarily as a tourist attraction, as well as a tropical
Toussaint, then encountered conflict with the Spanish and British, so he allied with the French for help. The people of Saint-Domingue were determined to avoid a return to slavery at all costs. The Spanish and British posed the threat of reinstating slavery in Saint-Domingue. Being an excellent military strategist, Toussaint was able to drive out these two major colonial powers. He was granted the position of the governor of Saint-Domingue. He faced challenges such as rebuilding the shattered economy of
Planned with brilliance Duarte and his social group decided to oust the Haitians in 1843 and unfortunately
On September 8, 2000, the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) made a formal apology for the their participation in ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of the Indigenous Nations of the Western Territories of the Unites States.2 From forced relocation to obscure lands and forced assimilation into the white man’s view of the world, the BIA previously set out to ‘destroy all things Indian’.3 Through the colonization of Turtle Island (North America), the American Federal policy set out to eliminate in part or as a whole, the Indigenous populations.4 The attitudes of the colonists were intentionally detrimental and the process is naturally exterminatory.5 The process of colonization was often exemplified by violent confrontations, deliberate massacres, and in some cases, total annihilations of a people.6 The culture of conquest was developed and practiced by Europeans well before they landed on Turtle Island as the practice was developed, and perfected well before the fifteenth century.7 Taking land and imposing values and ways of life on the social landscape created a conflictual relationship with the Indigenous peoples and forced a new way of life that ultimately destroyed those that previously existed there.8 Modern Europe
By 1792, the French had sent troops in to try and restore order. These battles differed from the battles in the United States because they centered on ideas of racial equality. Poorly treated slaves and angry mixed race citizens fought not only for their right to have an independent nation, but for a literal freedom and equality for themselves. When Toussaint L’Overture, a former slave, took over the Haitian armies in 1793, he was fighting both the British and the French, two armies fighting to possess an island rich in resources, including the slaves who were fighting against them. He was a powerful leader and an intelligent military strategist, and his capacity to control the rebelling slaves greatly improved their organization. Battles with the French dragged on until 1803, when Napoleon no longer had the resources to sustain the warfare and withdrew his troops. By 1804, Haiti was an independent republic governed by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who in a final expression of racial tension had the remaining white citizens massacred. Both the United States and Haiti helped secure their independence through successful military campaigns, but Haiti’s independence had race as a focal point in a way colonists of the United States did not
In 1848, An event called the “Mahele” changed the traditional Hawaiian system of land tenure from communal use to private ownership (Kameeleihiwa 3). Events in the past of Hawaii, like the Mahele of 1848, left a devastating mark in Hawaii’s history; It helped eventually lead to the overthrow of the monarch and still affects today’s problems in Hawaii.
France want to sell all this land? For one, there was a civil war in the Island of Haiti.
After the Second World War, the great European Empires started to lose their colonial territories all over the world. England was losing its colonies in India and in parts of Asia while France had lost their South East Asian colony of Indochina. This defeat was terrible for France and to further exasperate the problem for the nation, the new independence of Indochina persuaded other French colonies such as Tunisia and Morocco to also revolt against their colonial oppressor and gain independence. However the biggest loss to France was its loss of their colony in Algeria. Algeria had been a French colony for the past 100 years and over a million French settlers, known as pied noirs, were currently living inside the colony (Lowe).
The Hawaiians were further depicted as "thieves" like the rest of the "people in Polynesia," and plagued with the barbaric accusation of committing infanticide. These so called "facts" were enough for the Euro-American forces to send out missionaries to regulate the Hawaiian people and take over their land and all their practices. (Stannard, 381- 417)
However, when Napoleon Bonaparte attempted to reinstate slavery at the beginning of the 19th century, there was much objection specifically by Toussaint (de Breda) Louverture. Toussaint created a new constitution for Saint-Dominque without slavery and placed administrators in charge over the islands government, commerce, and legislation (Dubois/Garrigus,169). Napoleaon sent troops to Saint-Dominque, arrested Toussaint and deported him to France; however, this only furthered intensified the fighting. After much strife, Napoleon eventually gave up and the Haitian Declaration of Independence was created on January 1, 1804 and later a constitution in 1805 (Dubois/Garrigus,188).
Why does one nation strike against another? It strives to rise in social, political, and economical power. In over fifty countries around the world, Steven Kenzer reported government change, revolution, and social disturbance, one being in Hawaii. Hawaii was in the middle of a huge argument between modern ways of thinking and acting, and tradition. A small group of conspirators attempted to overthrow Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii’s government.
The first person to unite the island was Kamehameha. He was born as Paiea, the lonely one. His uncle, Kalani’opu’u was the ruler of Hawai’i before Kamehameha conquered the islands. He/Kamehameha wasn’t supposed to become the king after all. Until he achieved so many mana from all the battles he won and from the people who respected him, he was able to become the king, Kamehameha the Great.
After Kamehameha unified the island he rewarded his loyal followers making them chiefs and letting them rule the land. During this time the chief was the manager of the land and that was a title one received as a birthright.But this start to change with Kamehameha the III and the great Mahele. AIII divided the into two separate categories with act 1850. It’s divided by between the chiefs and the commoners. In order for chiefs or commoners to receive a portion of the land,they needed to prove that they actually cultivated farmed those lands for a living.
Toussaint Louverture organized an army of twenty thousand that controlled most of Saint-Domingue and spread a constitution that granted equality and citizenship to all of its residents. However, he did not want to declare independence from France because he did not want to aggravate Napoleon Bonaparte into attacking the island, which he ended up doing later. After his death following his arrest, the black generals that succeeded Toussaint defeated the French troops that survived yellow fever and had driven them out of the colony. In late 1803, they declared independence, the establishment of Haiti soon followed. Although they had abolished French rule, French is the main language spoken in Haiti today. The victory of the Haitian revolution signifies the first and only successful slave revolt in modern
This action transformed the conflict. Louverture abandoned the Spanish and began to fight for the French and the freedom of his people. Over the next couple of years, Louverture consolidated power on the island and created rigid rules that compelled ex-slaves to work on plantations so as to make the island productive again. In 1795, because of events in Europe, the Spanish signed a peace treaty that ceded their colony on the island to the French. In 1798 Louverture negotiated a treaty with the British, convincing them to leave the island and promising not to support any slave rebellions in British colonies. He also sought to develop commercial relations with the United States, even as the Quasi-War (1798-1800) broke out with France, by sending Joseph Bunel to Philadelphia. Bunel was so successful that he dined
A Key conflict that endures as one of the most noteworthy events in New Zealand’s early history is the Waikato war of 1863-1864. The significance of the battles lies in the definition of the status of Maori and Pakeha in New Zealand. Particular historic debate surrounds whether the Waikato war was caused more primarily over the dispute of land or sovereignty. Maori were rising against British control and domination over them exhibited by establishment of the Kingitanga movement and the resistance to land sales. Responding in a way they saw that they had the right British invaded the Waikato. The outcomes of these events still hold debate and controversy in the regions of occurrence even today. With large loss of lives on both sides directly from the clashes, as Maori retained their pride refused to surrender to the British’s superior technology. New laws were passed as a result of the resistance involving shameless policy’s which marginalised Maori and there rights further. The consequences of this war were drawn out until the late 20th, when finally reparations were made in full.