The document summarizes the difficult post-revolutionary period in Haiti between 1804 and 1825. It discusses how internal instability and external hostility undermined the fledgling Haitian state. The country was in ruins after the revolution and faced economic collapse, no management structure, a hostile international community, and the loss of its main revenue source from the slave trade. This led to political infighting and the eventual division of Haiti into two states ruled by opposing leaders, with the south generally facing more instability and poverty under Petion.
PowerPoint on The French Revolution for Grade 9
View via Google Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QSSlLjv8FrktifGbsr4sKu6FWsFtKJhvvUUwXUcSuK0/edit?usp=sharing
Hope it is helpful!
PowerPoint on The French Revolution for Grade 9
View via Google Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QSSlLjv8FrktifGbsr4sKu6FWsFtKJhvvUUwXUcSuK0/edit?usp=sharing
Hope it is helpful!
The French Revolution was a period of fundamental political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended in November 1799 with the formation of the French Consulate.
Learn about the French Revolution. Instigators, Major Events during this time period and the effects/ ending are covered here.
Not mine. My Professor made this.
The French Revolution of 1789 was a political and social rebellion in France which resulted because of the inequalities that existed between the rich and poor. The French Revolution began on July 14th, 1789 when the people of France stormed the Bastille in Paris - a royal fort that had been converted to a prison. The revolution lasted until 1799, resulting in the abolition of the French royal family, a change in government, further armed conflicts with other countries in Europe, the execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
French Revolution done in 2007 (IX Class) By Prabhat GauravSahil Gaurav
I hope that this ppt will help you a lot. This presentation consist of the facts about French Revolution in 2007....This would be helpful for the students in 9 class.
The late 18th and the early 19th centuries was a revolutionary age: the American revolution, the French revolution and the liberal and national revolutions. Liberalism was the bourgeoise ideology which defends the Capitalism as an economic system and the parlamentary system.
The American Independence.
The French Revolution.
The Crisis of the Old Regimen in Spain.
The Napoleonic Era.
The Bourbon Restoration.
The Liberal Revolutions and Nationalism.
Francisco de Goya.
This presentation provides a basic idea of why the French Revolution happened, what the estate was like, and the cause of the French Revolution and the fall of Louis XVI.
The French Revolution was a period of fundamental political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended in November 1799 with the formation of the French Consulate.
Learn about the French Revolution. Instigators, Major Events during this time period and the effects/ ending are covered here.
Not mine. My Professor made this.
The French Revolution of 1789 was a political and social rebellion in France which resulted because of the inequalities that existed between the rich and poor. The French Revolution began on July 14th, 1789 when the people of France stormed the Bastille in Paris - a royal fort that had been converted to a prison. The revolution lasted until 1799, resulting in the abolition of the French royal family, a change in government, further armed conflicts with other countries in Europe, the execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
French Revolution done in 2007 (IX Class) By Prabhat GauravSahil Gaurav
I hope that this ppt will help you a lot. This presentation consist of the facts about French Revolution in 2007....This would be helpful for the students in 9 class.
The late 18th and the early 19th centuries was a revolutionary age: the American revolution, the French revolution and the liberal and national revolutions. Liberalism was the bourgeoise ideology which defends the Capitalism as an economic system and the parlamentary system.
The American Independence.
The French Revolution.
The Crisis of the Old Regimen in Spain.
The Napoleonic Era.
The Bourbon Restoration.
The Liberal Revolutions and Nationalism.
Francisco de Goya.
This presentation provides a basic idea of why the French Revolution happened, what the estate was like, and the cause of the French Revolution and the fall of Louis XVI.
CXC Caribbean History School Base Assignment on haitian revolution.
THEME: RESISTANCE AND REVOLTS
TOPIC: What effect did the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) have on Haiti and the rest of the Caribbean?
Fr a n k l i n W . K n i g h tThe Haitian Revolution andJeanmarieColbert3
Fr a n k l i n W . K n i g h t
The Haitian Revolution and
the Notion of Human Rights
The Haitian Revolution, long neglected and occasionally
forgotten by historians, represents one of the truly noteworthy
achievements in the annals of world history. Among its many ac-
complishments was a bold, though unsuccessful, attempt to advance
universal human rights in the early nineteenth century. The measure
was bold and farsighted. Had it succeeded, one of the greatest rev-
olutions in the modern past would have fundamentally changed the
course of history and the relations between the peoples of the earth.
One of the cruel ironies of history is that so little is known or re-
membered of one of the greatest and most noble revolutions of all
time. And it is especially ironic that hardly anyone anywhere today
associates Haiti with either democracy or the exercise of human
rights. Nevertheless, Haiti played an inordinately important role in
the articulation of a version of human rights as it forged the second
independent state in modern history.
Haiti failed spectacularly as a symbol of political freedom. Yet
it established and maintained a viable state for more than a cen-
tury when state formation was a novel undertaking anywhere.
The attempt to promote human rights also largely failed because
those ideas were so far ahead of their time; even acknowledged
The Journal of The Historical Society V:3 Fall 2005 391
T h e J o u r n a l
humanitarians of that era failed to recognize the full equality of
all persons. After all, it was not until after the Second World War
that the then newly established United Nations made the pursuit
of human rights one of its goals. The Haitian ideals failed because
Haiti not only sought political freedom but also equality for black
people in a world where the power structure was overwhelmingly
white—and whites held a rigid, hierarchical view of the world that
they refused to have challenged at that time. Although they won
their freedom, the Haitians lost the long postwar publicity campaign
along with the early struggle to make human rights an international
issue. By the middle of the twentieth century, however, the history
of white-on-white atrocities and extreme forms of genocide forced
the world to reconsider the notion of international human rights—
which has become one of the interests of the United Nations since
1947.
In order to understand the Haitian role in the development of hu-
man rights it is vitally important to examine the context of that un-
usual revolution that took place in the French colony on the western
part of the island of Hispaniola at the end of the eighteenth century.
The Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution represents the most thorough case study of
revolutionary change anywhere in the history of the modern world.1
In ten years of sustained internal and international warfare a colony
populated predominantly by plantation slaves overthrew both its ...
Franklin W. KnightThe Haitian Revolution andthe Notion o.docxgreg1eden90113
Franklin W. Knight
The Haitian Revolution and
the Notion of Human Rights
The Haitian Revolution, long neglected and occasionally
forgotten by historians, represents one of the truly noteworthy
achievements in the annals of world history. Among its many ac-
complishments was a bold, though unsuccessful, attempt to advance
universal human rights in the early nineteenth century. The measure
was bold and farsighted. Had it succeeded, one of the greatest rev-
olutions in the modern past would have fundamentally changed the
course of history and the relations between the peoples of the earth.
One of the cruel ironies of history is that so little is known or re-
membered of one of the greatest and most noble revolutions of all
time. And it is especially ironic that hardly anyone anywhere today
associates Haiti with either democracy or the exercise of human
rights. Nevertheless, Haiti played an inordinately important role in
the articulation of a version of human rights as it forged the second
independent state in modern history.
Haiti failed spectacularly as a symbol of political freedom. Yet
it established and maintained a viable state for more than a cen-
tury when state formation was a novel undertaking anywhere.
The attempt to promote human rights also largely failed because
those ideas were so far ahead of their time; even acknowledged
The Journal of The Historical Society V:3 Fall 2005 391
The Journal
humanitarians of that era failed to recognize the full equality of
all persons. After all, it was not until after the Second World War
that the then newly established United Nations made the pursuit
of human rights one of its goals. The Haitian ideals failed because
Haiti not only sought political freedom but also equality for black
people in a world where the power structure was overwhelmingly
white—and whites held a rigid, hierarchical view of the world that
they refused to have challenged at that time. Although they won
their freedom, the Haitians lost the long postwar publicity campaign
along with the early struggle to make human rights an international
issue. By the middle of the twentieth century, however, the history
of white-on-white atrocities and extreme forms of genocide forced
the world to reconsider the notion of international human rights—
which has become one of the interests of the United Nations since
1947.
In order to understand the Haitian role in the development of hu-
man rights it is vitally important to examine the context of that un-
usual revolution that took place in the French colony on the western
part of the island of Hispaniola at the end of the eighteenth century.
The Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution represents the most thorough case study of
revolutionary change anywhere in the history of the modern world.1
In ten years of sustained internal and international warfare a colony
populated predominantly by plantation slaves overthrew both its
colonial status an.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
Introduction to AI for Nonprofits with Tapp NetworkTechSoup
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Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Safalta Digital marketing institute in Noida, provide complete applications that encompass a huge range of virtual advertising and marketing additives, which includes search engine optimization, virtual communication advertising, pay-per-click on marketing, content material advertising, internet analytics, and greater. These university courses are designed for students who possess a comprehensive understanding of virtual marketing strategies and attributes.Safalta Digital Marketing Institute in Noida is a first choice for young individuals or students who are looking to start their careers in the field of digital advertising. The institute gives specialized courses designed and certification.
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Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...
Discuss the view that internal instability and external
1. DISCUSS THE VIEW THAT
INTERNAL INSTABILITY AND
EXTERNAL HOSTILITY
UNDERMINED THE NOW
HAITIAN STATE BETWEEN
1804 AND 1825.
This is John’s presentation Sit back listen and
relax :D
2. Overview of the Haitian revolution
effects.
The immediate post-revolutionary period of Haitian history was a terribly difficult one.
The country was in shambles. Most of the plantations were destroyed, many skilled
overseers were gone (either dead, in hiding, or having fled for their lives because of
the treatment of slaves), skilled managers were often also gone, the former slaves did
not want to work someone else's plantation, there was a grave fear that France would
re-invade, and the rest of the international community was either openly hostile or
totally uninterested in Haiti. If ever an historical moment stood out, Haiti's Revolution
is one such event and is Haiti's glory forever, and a major source of national pride.
Perhaps with the determination of today's progressive groups, Haiti could be at the
beginnings of a new "great moment," though it is much slower to success than most
would wish -- but, then, so were the earliest years of the Revolution.
At any rate, January 1, 1804 left Haiti facing a desperate task. She was:
virtually broke.
her base of wealth, the agriculture of sugar, coffee, spices and indigo, was in physical
ruins, most plantations having been burned and ravaged.
3. the management structure of agriculture was in total disarray. Formerly
worked by unwilling slaves and overseen by foreigners, Haiti was now
populated by free peasants unwilling to work for another and wanting their
own land.
the international community was overtly hostile to this former slave nation.
Remember that the U.S., France, Britain and Spain were all still slave
nations. Haiti's servile revolution was a frightful model to these powerful
nations. (This hostility was not overridden by the fact that some nations,
Britain first and foremost and the U.S. to a significant degree, continued to
carry on a quiet trade with this nation that they regarded as an international
pariah.)
a huge source of revenue: slave trade, was now closed to Haiti. (Though
some Haitians suggested renewing it to increase the number of field
workers.)
despite a constitution of free persons, already in 1804 the directions toward
despotic rule by a small rich, powerful elite clique was forming.
finally, the external world was changing. The coming Industrial Revolution
was already coming to claim its place in world history. This would have
three notable impacts on Haiti:
4. Her agriculture products and slave trade, so central to European economy in the
previous century, would begin to make her potential economic potential less
important, even in some ideal world's free trade.
Her lack of natural resources appropriate to industrialization, the lack of capital
and skilled industrialists would condemn her to an increasingly less important
potential.
The international community's hostility toward Haiti and deliberate marginalization
of her, would mean that the Industrial Revolution world virtually pass Haiti by. If
one looks at Haiti in mid-1995, one sees a small modicum of electric service and
telecommunications, and a handful of assembly plants. But, in the main, nearly
200 years after the Haitian Revolution, and 150 years after the vigor of the
industrial revolution, Haiti is a nation to which the Industrial Revolution never
came.
This was the situation that depopulated Haiti faced on January 1, 1804. (Probably
fewer than 350,000 Haitians survived the revolution.)
The earliest days of the Haitian nation, from 1804 until 1820, are the story of the
response to these difficult conditions by three main leaders: Jean-Jacques
Dessalines, Henry Christophe and Alexander Petion. My treatment will emphasize
that the short rule of Dessalines, and the longer rule of Christophe in northern Haiti,
failed to solved these problems and to return Haiti to her position of wealth and
importance she held before independence. Further, I will argue that Petion's rule in
the south set the tone and social structures in place that determined the economic
and social life of Haiti for the next century.
5. External Hostility & Internal
Instability
Thus I would argue that two main factors dominate the short rule of
Dessalines:
• hatred of the French and readiness to defend against their suspected
return.
• the difficult task of rebuilding Haiti's agricultural system.
Dessalines first decided to get rid of the French who were in Haiti. Early in
1804, his first year of rule, he had the French killed, sparing only a few
doctors, priests and essential exporters. It is generally thought that around
20,000 French were slaughtered, and it was a brutal and harsh
extermination. This had important consequences for Haiti, giving her critics
something concrete to latch onto and helping to build the picture of a
savage nation incapable of being part of the world community.
6. At the same time, Dessalines, realizing the horrible economic position of Haiti decided to
get the economy moving again and decided to reinstate the French plantation system and
rebuild the sugar industry. This presented a difficult problem. How was one to get free
people to do the work formerly done by slaves?
This was not a new problem, thought the environment of the problem was new. The slaves
had been free since 1794. Toussaint had introduced a system call fermage and managed
to significantly rebuild the sugar trade. After Dessalines, Henry Christophe would have
even greater success with this system, but eventually the plantation system died out within
the first decade of independence.
Under fermage the land belonged to the government. It would be leased out to managers
and worked by workers who were obligated to remain on the land in much the same way
that serfs were in Europe. The workers, while bound to the land, did receive 25% of the
value of the crops to divide amoung themselves, and housing, food, clothing and basic
care. However, their lives were vigorously regulated and discipline was strict. While the old
slave whip was gone, discipline did use the cocomacaque stick.
When Dessalines heard that Napoleon was to be made an emperor, he decided to do so
too, and actually beat Napoleon to the coronation. On October 8, 1804 Jean-Jacques
Dessalines became JACQUES I, EMPEROR. Unlike Henry Christophe a few years later,
he did not create any other nobles, claiming that he alone was noble.
7. Perhaps that spirit characterizes much that went wrong with Dessalines. He was
stern, even cruel, demanded unflinching obedience and ruled with an iron hand. This
was not what most of the Haitian people thought that had fought a war of
independence for, and discontent was widespread.
Aside from the massacre of the French, another of Dessalines' actions which had
long-term affects was his invasion of Santo Domingo (today's Dominican Republic).
He was able to rush across Santo Domingo toward the capital city, but was not able
to take it, partially because of an accidental arrival of French ships. Eventually he
had to withdraw. But the entire war had been so brutally effected by Dessalines and
his troops that this laid the ground for the hatred between these two nations.
There was growing discontent with the rule of Jacques I. This was especially
pronounced in the south and Dessalines march on the south to put things in order.
On Oct. 17, 1806, just short of three years after independence, Emperor Jacques I
was assassinated as he marched.
Haiti was now plunged into a chaotic period of political maneuvering and civil war
that divided Haiti into two nations under two different leaders for the next 12 years.
Actually, at one time there were actually 4 Haitis, but for this story I'm just
concentrate on the two main Haitis.
8. The civil war came about because of political maneuvering. Henry
Christophe assumed that he would become the ruler to succeed Jacques I.
Alexander Petion, leading political figure in the south and a mulatto, had
other ideas. However, Petion's folks played up to Henry, then
outmaneuvered him politically. They agreed to elect him president, but then
saddled him with a constitution that left him with virtually no power, all the
genuine power being reserved for senate, of which Petion was the head.
(It is interesting to note that a very similar constitutional tactic is being
played out now. On March 29, 1987 Haiti received a new constitution. This
constitution downplayed the position of president and elevated the role of
Prime Minister. The first president to actually have to live under this new
constitution has been Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who, from a constitutional
standpoint, holds nothing like the powers of Haitian presidents from 1806
until today.)
At any rate, Christophe marched on the south, but the military move didn't
settle anything, and a sort of stand off occurred. Finally, Christophe simply
retreated into his strongly held north and declared the State of Haiti on Feb.
17, 1807. Shortly after, on March 9, 1807, Petion was elected president of
the Republic of Haiti, and there were two Haitis.
9. And two very different Haitis there were. My position on them is this. The north (soon to
become the Kingdom of Haiti) is well known, flashy and quite interesting. But, it is the
Republic of Haiti and the rule of Alexander Petion which is definitive of the future of Haiti.
Given this view, I will briefly treat of Christophe's colorful rule, and focus on what seems to
me the more important and formative of the two Haitis, Petion's Republic.
On March 26, 1811 Henry Christophe had himself crowned King Henry I and changed the
name of his "country" to the Kingdom of Haiti. Unlike Dessalines, he created a large batch
of nobles and organized his kingdom more along the lines of European monarchies. Henry
was a dictatorial king, but a man who saw the importance of development and set out to
bring his kingdom into the modern world. He began an ambitious project of education, at
least for the children of the elite, and spent incredible wealth and energy on monuments
and buildings.
Two of his most famous monuments were his own palace of Sans Souci in the village of
Milot and the Caribbean's most famous monument, the huge citadelle on the mountain top
of La Ferriere. The Citadelle had an ostensible military purpose. Like Dessalines, King
Henry I expected France to attempt to re-invade and retain Haiti as a colony. Since no one
formally recognized Haiti as an independent nation, she was, to the world at large, a
colony in rebellion. Henry's fears were not without solid foundation. His plan for the
Citadelle was to have an impregnable fortress to which he could retire with a large army
and from this fortress carry on a guerilla war. The strategy was a very good one, thought
the Citadelle never had to be tested for that purpose.
10. The civil war came about because of political maneuvering. Henry
Christophe assumed that he would become the ruler to succeed Jacques I.
Alexander Petion, leading political figure in the south and a mulatto, had
other ideas. However, Petion's folks played up to Henry, then
outmaneuvered him politically. They agreed to elect him president, but then
saddled him with a constitution that left him with virtually no power, all the
genuine power being reserved for senate, of which Petion was the head.
(It is interesting to note that a very similar constitutional tactic is being
played out now. On March 29, 1987 Haiti received a new constitution. This
constitution downplayed the position of president and elevated the role of
Prime Minister. The first president to actually have to live under this new
constitution has been Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who, from a constitutional
standpoint, holds nothing like the powers of Haitian presidents from 1806
until today.)
At any rate, Christophe marched on the south, but the military move didn't
settle anything, and a sort of stand off occurred. Finally, Christophe simply
retreated into his strongly held north and declared the State of Haiti on Feb.
17, 1807. Shortly after, on March 9, 1807, Petion was elected president of
the Republic of Haiti, and there were two Haitis.
11. On March 26, 1811 Henry Christophe had himself crowned King Henry I
and changed the name of his "country" to the Kingdom of Haiti. Unlike
Dessalines, he created a large batch of nobles and organized his kingdom
more along the lines of European monarchies. Henry was a dictatorial king,
but a man who saw the importance of development and set out to bring his
kingdom into the modern world. He began an ambitious project of
education, at least for the children of the elite, and spent incredible wealth
and energy on monuments and buildings.
Two of his most famous monuments were his own palace of Sans Souci in
the village of Milot and the Caribbean's most famous monument, the huge
citadelle on the mountain top of La Ferriere. The Citadelle had an
ostensible military purpose. Like Dessalines, King Henry I expected France
to attempt to re-invade and retain Haiti as a colony. Since no one formally
recognized Haiti as an independent nation, she was, to the world at large, a
colony in rebellion. Henry's fears were not without solid foundation. His plan
for the Citadelle was to have an impregnable fortress to which he could
retire with a large army and from this fortress carry on a guerilla war. The
strategy was a very good one, thought the Citadelle never had to be tested
for that purpose.
12. But this success in the production system was the beginning of the end of Henry I's power at
the same time. The Haitian masses did not fight a war of independence to be introduced to a
social system that looked to them very much like slavery. Many fled to the south where no
such system existed, and others, while not feeling the ability or desire to flee, built up and
increasing hatred of the system of Henry I, despite it's seeming "success."
Henry's world came crashing down once Petion died in the south and Jean-Pierre Boyer, his
successor, launched an attack on the north. This was a signal to those within Henry's realm
that an uprising was possible. Many in the masses rose up in personal indignation of the
fermage and other dictatorial aspects of Henry's rule. Many in the army and elite rose up in
an internal power struggle. Henry's own failing health due to a stoke, weakened his position
and finally on October 13, 1818, rather than be taken by his enemies, Henry I, Henry
Christophe, committed suicide, thus ending the divided Haitis.
Alexander Petion's Republic of Haiti, and the establishing of a social system.
In is my own view that the rule of Alexander Petion, and his successor Jean-Pierre Boyer, is
the most important rule in the history of Haiti. Obviously the this period from 1807 to 1818
under Petion and then 1820-1843 under Boyer is not possible without the revolution and the
particular designs of Dessalines and Christophe, nonetheless, the far reaching impact of
Petion's mode of government has shaped Haiti in a unique manner.
13. Alexander Petion was, in the main, a do-nothing leader. He
lived a comfortable life in Port-au-Prince, was fair and
quite honest, but didn't intend to exercise much force on his
people. He had an army and did utilize them to keep things
peaceful in his country, especially holding down the
rebellion of Goman in the Far Western part of the southern
peninsula.
Unlike Dessalines and Christophe, he did nothing to
reinvigorate the economy. Consequently there was little
economy. But the decisive decision of Petion was to
redistribute land as a means of paying soldiers, since the
treasury had no funds. Petion divided the land into small
portions, giving somewhat larger grants to officers and
smaller ones to the common soldier.
14. However, the effect was that Petion created a country of peasants
living on their own land doing subsistence agriculture and having little
or no involvement with government, or the life of the cities, much less
with the external world. Sugar virtually ceased to exist as a notable
crop and coffee, which could be harvested by the individual farmer on
his small plot, because the dominant crop.
Despite all of this change, Haiti looks much like the world of 1818!
The huge mass of Haitian people still struggle along doing subsistence
farming and supplementing this with a bit of trade at the markets. The
rich of the cities still make their money by ownership of rural land, and
exporting crops which they've gotten from the peasant for
sharecropping, or purchasing for a pittance at market. The elite are
more color-mixed than in the past, but it is still a very tiny portion of
the people, in the vicinity of 3% who live lives a great wealth,
extracting that wealth from the peasants, who live lives of extreme
poverty and powerlessness.
15. In 1825, the French King, Charles X, demanded that Haiti pay an
"independence debt" to compensate former colonists for the slaves
who had won their freedom in the Haitian Revolution. With warships
stationed along the Haitian coast backing up the French demand,
France insisted that Haiti pay its former coloniser 150m gold francs
– ten times the fledgling black nation's total annual revenues.
Under threat of a French military invasion that aimed at the re-
enslavement of the population, the Haitian government had little
choice but to agree to pay. Haiti's government was also forced to
finance the debt through loans from a single French bank, which
capitalised on its monopoly by gauging Haiti with exorbitant interest
rates and fees.
The original sum of the indemnity was subsequently reduced, but
Haiti still disbursed 90m gold francs to France. This second price
the French exacted for the independence Haitians had won in battle
was, even in 1825, not lawful.