The History of the Revolution in Haiti

The Real Haiti: Vibrant, Proud, Resilient

I attended a lecture given by the Intercultural Program Series on the history and culture of Haiti. The presentation began with a history of how Haiti came to be a sovereign nation. I joined the discussion a few minutes late, due to a prior engagement, as the powerpoint was explaining the French Revolution in connection to Haiti. From prior knowledge, however, I know that the territory of Haiti was initially “discovered” by Christopher Columbus and governed by Spain until it was ceded to France as a result of a package of conditions.

Returning to the presentation, as the French Revolution wreaked havoc in France, slaves and free people of color were stirred into action by Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man. In 1791 the “Petit Blancs,” or poor white citizens of Haiti, gained control. Spain supported these revolts in Haiti because of their competition with France, but were nonetheless eventually kicked out of Haiti during the revolution.

Due to this turmoil, France abolishes slavery on the grounds that it would be better for the economy, when in reality they were merely trying to keep the peace on their colony. When Napoleon Bonaparte takes over in 1799, however, he argues that French laws do not apply to colonies and attempts to continue slavery in Haiti. L’Overture, the leader of the slave revolts, creates a separate constitution in response to this. This act of so-called defiance prompts Napoleon to send troops over to Haiti in order to regain control.

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Naturally, this leads to the second and final wave of the Haitian revolution and the slaves and their allies are able to defeat the French and force the troops off of their island. This history of Haiti is important because it is the recognized as the second free independent nation, established from most successful slave revolt in history. Moreover, Haiti is the first nation to be ruled by former slaves and helped to reinforce the idea that none should be slaves.

In the second half of the presentation, a Haitian woman who came to America when she was 12 years old gave her account of life in Haiti. To “work the crowd” so to say, she began with mouth-watering descriptions of typical Haitian food. Although I have not eaten Haitian food before, not only did her elaboration of the cuisine sound delicious, but also many listeners within the audience clapped and snapped their fingers in recognition and appreciation of this soul food. In terms of day-to-day activities, the woman mentioned helping in the fields and picking beans as a little girl. Even aside from agriculture, she talked about how she spent most of her time outdoors when she was young, especially playing soccer. On this subject, she explained the reason for Haitians rarely wearing shoes when playing soccer: Given that equipment, such as the necessary shin guards, is too expensive for most families, wearing shoes would hurt if one were to be kicked in the shins so thus they play barefoot. This first hand account was extremely interesting to listen to, given that I did not know very much about Haitian life or culture prior to this. She talked about the stigma that continues to exist around the island and its people and therefore how organizations such as Projects for Haiti are so hugely important to raise awareness about what the Haitians have overcome and what they continue to endure, to include the political turmoil, earthquakes, and general poverty.