Haitian Imperialism

The Spanish-American War was considered short lived and relatively mild in terms of American casualties compared to the many wars that our nation has fought. However, it served as a historical marker that set the imperialistic momentum of our nation. It played a significant role in our nation’s strategic move towards acquiring trade routes and further strengthened our naval power. Throughout my research paper I will touch on what led to the Cuban revolution against Spain, America’s political climate at the time, and why our nation eventually decided to intervene and aid the Cubans in their fight for independence.

In the 19th century, Enlightenment ideas were spreading all over Europe and Latin American which influents the white elites in Haiti to want a capitalist market and control of it own resources. Latin America’s elite class became anti-imperialist and favored exportation based on capitalism. Also, the white elites in Haiti saw that France was fully engaged in the Napoleonic Wars and seized the

Furthermore, the population of Saint-Domingue around this time was approximately 500,000, and of that total population ninety-percent of it was slaves. With the abolishment of slavery in Haiti’s constitution, the commodities produced, especially the sugar economy, took a massive hit. As a result, the sugar produced in Saint-Domingue was drastically reduced; for example: in 1801, its

In 1959, Cubareceived 74 percent of its imports from the US, and the US received 65 percentof Cuba’s exports. On February 3, 1962, the United States imposed a fulltrade embargo on Cuba, completely ending any type of trade between the twocountries. This embargo remains in effect today, more than four decades later,and has grown ! to be a huge center of debate and controversy (DeVarona 8).Opponents to the embargo argue that the embargo does nothing more than hurt theCuban people, while proponents argue that the embargo places pressure on Castroto repair Cuba’s mismanaged and corrupt government. Both the supportersand the opponents of this embargo have strong arguments and evidence to supportthese

One way the French Revolution impacted the Haitian Revolution was by changing the mindsets of the Haitians in all social classes. The events occurring in France opened the Haitians’ eyes to a point where slaves weren’t the only ones in Haiti who wanted a change, but thanks to the French Revolution, everyone was angry. To begin with, the grand blancs wanted to terminate their trade agreement with France so they could sell to the highest bidder and keep the money they earned. Like the members of the Third Estate, they didn’t want to be controlled by the weak and tyrannical French monarchy. Speaking of the Third Estate, they might have been located in France, but the petit blancs still associated themselves with them, which is logical, as they were poor working classmen. These blancs were inspired by the citizens in France and their determination, as well as their desire for acquiring the rights they felt they deserved. Nevertheless, they turned to violent measures and began attacking the grand blancs. The petit blancs weren’t the only ones who wanted to be treated equally to the grand blancs; the gens de couleur had a yearning for this as well. Although they had

Similar to the American Revolution, the Haitians too seeked to create a republic founded on the values of the Enlightenment - but unlike the Americans, Haiti took this a step further, by outlawing slavery and becoming the first modern nation ruled by Africans. As the French Revolution began, there was a political crisis in St. Domingue, France’s wealthiest colony, and supplier of nearly 40% of Europe’s sugar imports. Planters were threatened by the Revolution, which aimed to remove many of the privileges enjoyed by the aristocracy (who made up the planter class). Wealthy free blacks, some of who owned plantations themselves, began to demand equal rights to whites. Poor whites, felt that the Revolution did not include blacks, and imagined a new society where they had enough to own slaves themselves. Out of the chaos of this political struggle, the slave population of St. Domingue, which made up nearly 90% of the colony’s population, revolted and seized power for themselves. By 1794, Haiti had seen one of the largest, and successful, slave rebellions in the course of human

The Haitian Revolution is recorded as the only known completely successful slave revolt in world history. Taking place from 1791 to 1804, the rebellion ended slavery in Saint Domingue, and rebirthed the area into the Republic of Haiti. The Revolution carried effects on a grand scale. Globally, other countries began to become fearful due to the rebellions, and this rage was voiced by citizens around the world. The French government’s political role in the lives of Haitians during the rebellion was expressed in numerous governing documents. The social impact of the revolution can be seen through the perspectives of slaves during the time period.

Cuba was one of the territories that United States imperialized. The US was a heavy consumer of the sugar produced in Cuba but didn’t meet the sugar industry demands. The international market collapsed, and the US used this opportunity to purchase the sugar mills in Cuba “Cuban sugar mills into bankruptcy … sensing an opportunity, investors from the United States

St. Domingue, what is now Haiti, was a place of sugar rich plantations owned by the french. A collection of rebel slaves started the Haitian Revolution in 1791,they were inspired by the French revolution. The successful revolts lead by general Toussaint L’Ouverture earned the slaves control over a third of St. Domingue. While the rebels maintained control of the place, they kept an alliance with France. Two years after Napoléon’s ambition came into power, he decides to send 30,000 soldiers to take St. Domingue back. Early in the continuing year, french forces dropped to less than 10,000 troops. Relations with Britain were dwindling fast, war was imminent, Napoléon’s decided to cut St. Domingue out of his plans. In 1803, the nation of Haiti gave Napoléon Bonaparte his first defeat. Part of Bonaparte’s plan

The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing

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.

"Two hundred years ago, our precursors in Haiti struck a blow for freedom, which was heard around the world, and across centuries." – Baldwin Spencer

The Haitian Revolution is based on the political purpose that France had when they fought to possess Saint-Domingue (now called Haiti). France, like other empires at the time, was trying to extend its wealth and power. Therefore, possessing Haiti, having a lot of gold, sugar, coffee, indigo and others were one way to be strong and powerful. Being driven by the profits that Haiti were emanating, African slaves were continuously brought to Haiti, first to replace the Aboriginals that had died previously, but also to increase their profits. This led to the slaves outnumbering the French colonizers. Later on, the free people of color were demanding more right to the French government and after their refusal, the slaves and the free people of color revolted which led to the Haitian revolution (Simpsons 1942, 487). The French colonizers were already struggling about the equality between themselves because there was a hierarchy present within the White community. Moreover, what created a reaction to help slaves to revolt was the “religious ceremony performed at Bois Caïman by the Maroon voodoo priest Dutty Boukman, which was attended by representative slaves from several plantations” (Laguerre 1989, 1). Boukman called the help of the spirits to revolt against the white colonists. The revolution of Haiti in 1804 was a social and political uprising in the French Colony of Saint-Domingue. Voodoo rapidly became Haiti’s way out of slavery, as it helped them reunite together and gain the

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.

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