The Unspoken History
The Wealth of Haiti
In the late 1700's Haiti (known as Saint-Domingue at the time) was producing 40 to 50 percent of Frances gross national product
60% of Europes coffee
40% of Europes sugar
Saint-Domingue became known as the "Pearl of the Antilles", the richest colony in the 18th century
Slavery
Slavery was a primary reason that Haiti was productively rich land
In the second half of 1780's Saint-Domingue accounted for a third of the Atlantic slave trade
The colony received about 40,000 slaves a year
Most slaves where African born and worked in the fields, as servants and as boilermen
They endured lots of hardships and terrible working conditions
Thousands of slaves fled from there masters forming communities and raiding other plantations
The French rulers created discriminatory laws against the slaves
The Revolutionary Period (Early 1790's)
A number of Haitian-born revolutionary movements emerged simultaneously
In response to this the General assembly enacted legislation
It called for "all local proprietors... to be active citizens"
Led to a three sided war between the planters, free blacks, and petit blacks
The enslaved was led by Toussaint l'Overture
The area of the colony led by rebels continued to grow
By 1801 l’Overture expanded the revolution beyond Haiti, conquering the neighboring Spanish colony
He abolished slavery in the Spanish-speaking colony and declared himself Governor-General for life over the entire island
Creating the first black republic
Reparations
In 1825 France promised the government of Haiti that they would invade once again unless they pay the price of 90 million in gold francs (the equivalent to 22 billion dollars) for decompensation of the “lost property” of the French and France itself.
Haiti paid French slaveholders and their descendants the equivalent of between $20 and $30 billion in today's dollars.
