Many years of colonization leaves a legacy on the country from economy, culture, religion, language, conflicts and much more till this day. Colonization left some great outcomes for example the United States but for some other countries the legacy of colonization is the one of the many reasons for the conflicts they deal with today, one of these countries being Saint-Domingue, now known as Haiti. Haiti, a country in the caribbean, was colonized in the 1700’s by France. It was once called “The Jewel on Antilles” because it was the wealthiest colony in the western hemisphere. More than a quarter of France’s economy was from the imports of sugar, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, cotton, indigo dye and much more from Haiti (Corbett). What use to be the
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The elites and now free slaves, noirs, struggled to coexist. They are both interdependent divisions with different customs and typical physical appearance. Both groups are aware of the large differences and social positions that it almost forms a caste system, but not to the extent between the whites and blacks in the United States (Bryan 25). The elites prefer lighter skin tones and european features as noir features remind them of their past and symbolizes lower class; though there are people in both classes who contradict the typical physical appearance. There are great differences between them being elites understand french and creole and noirs mostly creole (Bryan 26). Noirs owned farms while elites own big businesses and had jobs in politics (Bryan 27). They were now in charged for the future of the new established country but only worried about protecting their wealth. The problem is that all they knew that worked for the economy was the french labor system for agriculture. President Jean-Jacques Dessalines tried to enforce a system like serfdom, which failed. Many former slaves ran away to the mountains, this relocation defines several aspects of Haitian culture today (Corbett). When Dessalines was assassinated in 1806 Haiti was divided in the black controlled north and mulatto controlled south (Timeline: Haiti). The black elites and mulatto elites fought against each other but never came together as a whole for the rights of everyone. The little amount of wealth the country had was in the hands of upper class who were corrupt. Till this day the government is still very corrupt
The elites and now free slaves, noirs, struggled to coexist. They are both interdependent divisions with different customs and typical physical appearance. Both groups are aware of the large differences and social positions that it almost forms a caste system, but not to the extent between the whites and blacks in the United States (Bryan 25). The elites prefer lighter skin tones and european features as noir features remind them of their past and symbolizes lower class; though there are people in both classes who contradict the typical physical appearance. There are great differences between them being elites understand french and creole and noirs mostly creole (Bryan 26). Noirs owned farms while elites own big businesses and had jobs in politics (Bryan 27). They were now in charged for the future of the new established country but only worried about protecting their wealth. The problem is that all they knew that worked for the economy was the french labor system for agriculture. President Jean-Jacques Dessalines tried to enforce a system like serfdom, which failed. Many former slaves ran away to the mountains, this relocation defines several aspects of Haitian culture today (Corbett). When Dessalines was assassinated in 1806 Haiti was divided in the black controlled north and mulatto controlled south (Timeline: Haiti). The black elites and mulatto elites fought against each other but never came together as a whole for the rights of everyone. The little amount of wealth the country had was in the hands of upper class who were corrupt. Till this day the government is still very corrupt