HAITI: IT’S PAST AND PRESENT Haiti is the second largest Caribbean Island. It occupies a third of the western part of the island it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is also made up of several islands that surround the main territory. The capital is Port-au-Prince. It rains between November and March in the North of the island and between May and October in the South. “Once covered by forest, the country has been heavily logged for wood and fuel and to clear land for farming, and is now largely deforested.” Haiti is divided into “nine administrative departments.” Besides the capital, other important cities are Cap-Haitien and Gonaives. “Haiti is the most densely populated country in Latin America and has the lowest per …show more content…
Before the war, the whole island of Hispaniola had belonged to Haiti for 22 years. The Dominican War of Independence of 1844 was led by twenty year old Juan Pablo Duarte. Duarte along with Matias Ramon Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sanchez formed a group they called La Trinitaria or the Trinity. They recruited many people and kept their actions very secret to avoid detection by any Haitian authorities. The group was eventually discovered and it was forced to change its name to La Filantropica or The Philanthropic. The group continued to make trouble for the Haitians. In 1843 the group had a break as it worked with a “liberal Haitian party” they were able to overthrow the president. Their success continued and on February 27, 1844, Dominican rebels seized the Fortaleza Ozama in Santo Domingo. Within days all Haitian officials left Santo Domingo. The war continued and the Dominican Republic continued to defend against Haitian attacks. The Republic went on to win more wars against Haiti’s attacks. “In November 6, 1844 a Constituent assembly drafted a constitution, based on the Haitian and United States models, which established separation of powers and legislative checks on the executive.” The war continued throughout September and November of 1845. The war for independence was foreseeable as tensions built over the twenty two years in which Haiti had control of the island. The relationship between
Haiti Now was founded in 2010 by Alex Lizzappi. A successful Miami businessman today, Alex’s childhood was a very different story. His desire to help the Restavek children of Haiti is a reflection of his own life experiences and his understanding of how a child without a social network and social net worth can be left behind, regardless of their intelligence or potential.
Not many people know about the Haitian Revolution. The first successful slave revolution that was led by Toussaint L’ouverture. In what way Toussaint L’ouverture significant? Toussaint L’ouverture should be remembered as a military commander, ruler of Saint Domingue, and the liberator of slaves. L’ouverture should be remembered as a liberator of slaves.
The Haitian Revolution took place from 1791 to 1804 on the island of Saint Domingue. On this island, an unfair hierarchy took place where Grand-blancs who were at the top of the hierarchy were extremely wealthy while ninety percent of the population were enslaved and abused. Life was set up so that enslaved blacks and wealthy whites were not created equal. The political structure of Saint Domingue was the exact type of political system that Enlightenment Philosophers like Thomas Jefferson and Emmanual Kant advocate against. The Haitian revolution that uprooted this hierarchy therefore did fulfill Enlightenment values because of how Toussaint L’Overture abolished slavery and initiated paid labor and how the Haitian Declaration of Independence
Purpose: To understand how Haiti became what it is and all the trials it has endured
The cause and effects of the Haitian Revolution have played, and continue to play, a major role in the history of the Caribbean. During the time of this rebellion, slavery was a large institution throughout the Caribbean. The success of the sugar and other plantations was based on the large slave labor forces. Without these forces, Saint Domingue, the island with the largest sugar production, and the rest of the Caribbean, would face the threat of losing a profitable industry.
Illness and disease along with poverty still plague Haiti today. The effort to try and recover from the most recent earthquake tragedy has Haitians concerned. The conditions that they have endured in the past just to survive are worse than the conditions brought on by the earthquake. Some Haitian natives feel the Government is moving a bit slow in cleaning up and getting
The Haitian revolution took place in Saint-Domingue, a French colony and one of the richest of all European colonies in the Caribbean, on the western part of the island of Hispaniola, a major center of sugar production with hundreds of prosperous plantations. The population of the colony comprised of three groups, the white colonials, the gens de couleur, and the slaves. Many slaves ran away and established maroon communities that were self-sustained. As more and more slaves ran away, more and more slaves were being imported from Africa and other Caribbean islands, which resulted in the high prices of slaves. Since the French aided the North American colonists in their war for independence, they sent several hundreds of gens de couleur to the colonies. Once they returned to Saint-Domingue, they wanted independence themselves from the French.
Around this same time, Haiti basically divided into two Haitis. The major cities were all following the same government and considered the official nation of Haiti. Most people lived in the rural parts of Haiti. They felt as if they didn’t belong so they stayed away from Haiti’s government, army and agriculture as much as they could. These people living in the rural areas traded agricultural products with each other for cheaper than what they really were in the world.
Haiti is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It occupies one third of the Hispaniola Island, the other two thirds belong to its neighbor: the Dominican Republic. It measures 27, 750 sq km, just a little smaller than the state of Maryland. It is unfortunately located in a highly active hurricane area prone to storms and flooding between the months of June to October. Haiti is the poorest country of the western hemisphere. Political turmoil is part of the country’s history. Currently it counts with a democratically elected president, Michael Martelly, as Chief of State and a Prime Minister, Laurent Latmothe, as head of the government. A new president is elected every five years and the president cannot serve consecutive periods. The Prime Minister is appointed by the president and ratified by the National Assembly. The National Assembly is made up of 30 senators, elected by popular vote for six years terms and 99 deputies, also elected by popular vote, for four years terms; a little bit complex
Poverty, corruption, and poor access to education are the most serious disadvantages that Haiti faces. Two-thirds of the country depends on agriculture, consisting of mainly small-scale subsistence farming. This sector is high vulnerable to damage from natural disasters and the country’s widespread deforestation (which have caused periodic flooding). Additionally, Haiti suffers from high inflation, lack of investment,
In 1791 revolution broke out in the French colony of Saint Domingue, later called Haiti. The Haitian Revolution resounded in communities surrounding the Atlantic Ocean. One of the wealthiest European outposts in the New World, the Caribbean island's western third had some of the largest and most brutal slave plantations. Slave laborers cultivated sugar, coffee, indigo, and cotton, and they endured horrible death rates, requiring constant infusions of slaves from Africa. In 1789 roughly 465,000 black slaves lived in the French colony on the island, along with fewer than 31,000 whites. In addition, there were about 23,000 free blacks and mixed-race people called gens de couleur, who might own land and accrue wealth but had no political
Another achievement made during this transition was that the Marines from the US established reformation of the Haitian army. They replaced it by a National Police Force (La Garde d'Haiti) that dominated Haitian politics ever since. This army had been conceived as a nonpartisan peacekeeping force that would help ensure the right kind of political stability. During the occupation it did so. Afterward, however the existence of such a force ended by helping political strongmen stay in power.
The January 12, 2010 Haiti Earthquake caused an enormous destruction in the Caribbean nation. Hospitals and government buildings collapsed along with an unbelievable amount of homes. Tens of thousands of people were killed, and many more were wounded. The disaster added more misery to people already struggling to get by with everyday life. Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the world. The January 12 quake demolished almost every major building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. About 5,000 schools in the city were destroyed or damaged. Throughout Haiti, more than 220,000 people were killed, and more than 1 million were left homeless. A few days after the quake, the number of survivors stood at 121 as hopes of finding more became
The caribbean is where a small island, contains two countries within its borders and a long history of conflict. Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two different country, with completely different cultures, from religion, to the food they eat, Two countries, with two different, yet correlating stories. A story of conflict is what unites these two countries. This paper will attempt to analyse that story, and answer how this small island came to be divided into two countries, and inhabited by two peoples of such different cultures. This paper will also take a small look at the results of this history, and it’s effects on both countries.
Resistance is commonly known as a fight or the opposition of the system of slavery, whereas, revolt is the refusal to obey or confirm to a certain order. One of the main resistance and revolt that occurred in the Caribbean was the Haitian Revolution. This School Based Assessment (SBA) is aimed at identifying the main causes and effects of the Haitian Revolution.