Haiti in its fight to Political Freedom
In his route to Asia, Christopher Columbus landed on the Island in 1492, naming it Hispaniola. As we learned in this course, Christopher Columbus was one of the first conquistadores who were seeking land and wealth in order to get high class standing. At the time, the Tainos lived in the land; they had a peaceful encounter at first where they exchanged gifts then second encounter, they n took over the land and enslaved the indigenous people who later died under forced labors (Arthur 1999, 17). This is how Haiti find itself in the Latin American countries, first by being colonized by Spain. Then as part of the island was ceded to France, Haiti at that time called Saint Domingue became part of Latin American …show more content…
What many people don’t understand from that point was the real reason behind the revolution and people who started which is will have a long impact in the political system of Haiti. During the time of slavery, the slaves were more or less willing to accept their new ways of life, sometimes they coupled with their masters and from that come out a new category, the mulattoes (Arthur 1999, 19). Those were the free men, they were given land but they couldn’t run for office, nor be physicians. The black slaves then decided to join the Creoles because of the abuse and the harsh punishment that was going on. This struggle between the Black and the Mulattoes later known as the Creoles will determine the fate of the country and most likely impact it in mostly negatives ways. During those periods of time, the country faced a lot of challenges trying to recover from the indemnity, trying to make a working economy after the years of U.S occupation (1914-1934); then from the ruled of the Duvaliers to the first elected Democratic election and president in 1990 which got Aristide elected. During all this time, the country continues to be plagued by the power struggle between the creole elites who control two-third of the country’s wealth, and the peasants who were left with …show more content…
At that time, the majority of the population made up of black ex-laves no longer wanted to go back to the lands and instead had hope for the opportunity to work their own; on their side, the small majority of mulattoes wanted to inherit the majority of the wealth and power that the French colonist had Arthur 1999, 45). Dessalines, just like his antecedent Toussaint Louverture wanted to reinstate the agricultural system but, fell victim to the power struggle between the mulattoes and the black. This was just the beginning of the long term racial struggle that kept going which, it led to the division of the country in two parts, the South and the North under the rules of King Henry and Petion after Dessalines’ death (Arthur 1999,20). After that, the government was just up for power grab, from anyone who wants to fill their pocket and they did as fast as they could before being removed from power by coups (Arthur 1999,47). Then there was the U.S. Occupation which basically worse the economy of the country by reinstating a version of slavery in the country which was the forced labors known as the corvée (Dubois 2012, 239). After the occupation, the country was left the people were left to pick up the pieces then, there were the dictatorships of the Duvaliers shaped the political system of the country and in a way restored its economy, but the people still thirst for a
In his route to Asia, Christopher Columbus landed on the Island in 1492, naming it Hispaniola. As we learned in this course, Christopher Columbus was one of the first conquistadores who were seeking land and wealth in order to get high class standing. At the time, the Tainos lived in the land; they had a peaceful encounter at first where they exchanged gifts then second encounter, they n took over the land and enslaved the indigenous people who later died under forced labors (Arthur 1999, 17). This is how Haiti find itself in the Latin American countries, first by being colonized by Spain. Then as part of the island was ceded to France, Haiti at that time called Saint Domingue became part of Latin American …show more content…
What many people don’t understand from that point was the real reason behind the revolution and people who started which is will have a long impact in the political system of Haiti. During the time of slavery, the slaves were more or less willing to accept their new ways of life, sometimes they coupled with their masters and from that come out a new category, the mulattoes (Arthur 1999, 19). Those were the free men, they were given land but they couldn’t run for office, nor be physicians. The black slaves then decided to join the Creoles because of the abuse and the harsh punishment that was going on. This struggle between the Black and the Mulattoes later known as the Creoles will determine the fate of the country and most likely impact it in mostly negatives ways. During those periods of time, the country faced a lot of challenges trying to recover from the indemnity, trying to make a working economy after the years of U.S occupation (1914-1934); then from the ruled of the Duvaliers to the first elected Democratic election and president in 1990 which got Aristide elected. During all this time, the country continues to be plagued by the power struggle between the creole elites who control two-third of the country’s wealth, and the peasants who were left with …show more content…
At that time, the majority of the population made up of black ex-laves no longer wanted to go back to the lands and instead had hope for the opportunity to work their own; on their side, the small majority of mulattoes wanted to inherit the majority of the wealth and power that the French colonist had Arthur 1999, 45). Dessalines, just like his antecedent Toussaint Louverture wanted to reinstate the agricultural system but, fell victim to the power struggle between the mulattoes and the black. This was just the beginning of the long term racial struggle that kept going which, it led to the division of the country in two parts, the South and the North under the rules of King Henry and Petion after Dessalines’ death (Arthur 1999,20). After that, the government was just up for power grab, from anyone who wants to fill their pocket and they did as fast as they could before being removed from power by coups (Arthur 1999,47). Then there was the U.S. Occupation which basically worse the economy of the country by reinstating a version of slavery in the country which was the forced labors known as the corvée (Dubois 2012, 239). After the occupation, the country was left the people were left to pick up the pieces then, there were the dictatorships of the Duvaliers shaped the political system of the country and in a way restored its economy, but the people still thirst for a