CSEC  

CARIBBEAN HISTORY
SCHOOL BASED ASSESSMENT 
(S.B.A) 
2021

Candidate Name: Renay Campbell

Candidate No: 1000490502

School Centre No: 100049 

Territory: Jamaica

Title: What evidence is there to show that the Haitian Revolution was more disastrous than

beneficial to the Haitian Revolution? 

 Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgement...........................................................................................................................1

Research Question...........................................................................................................................2

Thesis Statement..............................................................................................................................3

Rationale..........................................................................................................................................4

Introduction......................................................................................................................................5

Body of Research.............................................................................................................................6

Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9

Bibliography..................................................................................................................................10

Appendices....................................................................................................................................11
 Acknowledgement
The successful execution of this study would not have been possible without the aid and

cooperation of my family and friends, subsequently, I’d like to express my appreciation to my

aunt, Felicea McCarthy who has given me reassurance regarding the information and stimulation

I needed to finalize this assignment. I would like to give God thanks for the health and strength

that was essential for me to complete this research. Appreciation goes out to my subject teacher,

Ms. Williams, for being extremely contributory in getting me the information and assistance I

needed to successfully attain the requirements of this assignment.

 
 Research Question

What evidence is there to show that Haitian Revolution was more disastrous than beneficial to

the Haitian society?

 Thesis Statement

The destruction of properties, decrease in sugar and coffee production and the loss of diplomatic

and trade relations due to the Haitian Revolution led to a disastrous impact on the Haitian

Society.
 Rationale

Haiti is considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere; the researcher thinks that the

Haitian Revolution is the cause of this and as such this topic was chosen to better analyze,

interpret, understand, and possibly prove that the Haitian Revolution was more disastrous than

beneficial to the Haitian society. For the researcher, History stimulates critical thinking and this

topic provided that opportunity. 

Even though Haiti was the first to be colonized in the Caribbean; they did not expect that their

freedom would come with the destruction of properties, decrease in sugar and coffee production

and the loss of diplomatic and trade relations. 

It is the aim of the researcher to show that these negative impacts were rather disastrous to the

Haitian society than beneficial. 

 Introduction

The Haitian Revolution has frequently been portrayed as the largest and most successful slave

rebellion in the Western Hemisphere. Slaves inaugurated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1804 they

succeeded in ending not just slavery but the control that the French had on the colony. The

Haitian Revolution, however, was much more complicated, as it consisted of several revolutions

happening synchronously. 

According to Britannica (2020) “Haitian Revolution, a series of conflicts between 1791 and 1804

between Haitian slaves, colonists, the armies of the British and French colonizers”. Through the

struggle, the Haitian people ultimately won independence from France and thereby became the

first country to be founded by former slaves”

In conducting this research, the receiver used secondary sources such as books, articles, and the

internet to help in giving information and better comprehension about the research. These were

all used to investigate that the destruction of properties, decrease in sugar and coffee production

and the loss of diplomatic and trade relations due to the Haitian Revolution led to a disastrous

impact on the Haitian Society.

 Body of Research

After the revolution, most of Haiti’s properties were destroyed. Le Cap was burned to the ground

by rebelling slaves. (Fig 1). 1Haiti was in shambles after years of warfare destroyed the capital

base. After the destruction of the land and property of the plantation system, Haiti needed

investment in order to rebuild its economy and develop as a nation. Unfortunately, there was

insufficient wealth among Haitians to promote domestic investment. In addition to that, 2during

the first weeks of the revolution, the slaves destroyed the whites and their property with much

the same ruthlessness and cruelty that they had suffered for so many years at the hands of their

masters. This led to a disastrous impact on the Haitian society as the destruction of these

buildings may have caused the majority of Haitians to be without homes and virtually broke as

the plantation system was completely destroyed due to being burned or ravaged. Therefore they

could not provide for their families and no income was coming for the country overall. 

         Haiti also had a decrease in sugar and coffee production after the revolution. With the

revolution and the ensuing chaos, disaster was brought to Haiti’s economy. The once-booming

sugar-based economy was now seriously crippled and the newly freed Haitians were faced with

the difficult task of rebuilding the country they had won. Haiti’s base of wealth came from the

agriculture of sugar and coffee which was burned, leaving nothing but ruins and the newly freed

people of colour without any food or place to grow food, hence the reason why Haiti is the

poorest country in the Americas. Haiti was now populated by free peasants unwilling to work for

another and wanting their own land where whatever they produce is consumed domestically and

there are no exports of sugar or coffee.   3Before this period St. Domingue had been the leading
1
Mckey.Colin.The Economic Consequences of the Haitian Revolution. Page 2.
www.scholarsbank.uoregon.edu. 25-11-2020,”accessed”
2
Shen, Kona. The Revolutionary Builds 1791-1792.27 Oct.2015, www.library.brown.edu.
3
 Dyde, Brian. Greenwood, Robert. Hamber, Shirley. Emancipation to Emigration. Germany: Macmillan
Publishers Limited, (2008). page 23
sugar producer in the West Indies, and in 1791 had exported 73,000 tons of sugar. By 1804 this

had dropped to 20,500 tons and by 1825 Haiti exported under one ton. Coffee exports did not

decline so dramatically. They fell from 30,500 tons in 1791 to 14,000 tons in 1804 and 10,000

tons in 1818. Another reason for this decline could also be the fact that many coffee and sugar

producers fled to other countries such as Jamaica. 

       Haiti had no trade relations, diplomatic relations, or official recognition, so Haiti could not

access markets for its products. 4Due to aversion towards Haiti because they were the first to be

colonized, and their neighbouring countries did not want to trade with them as they did not want

to reward their rebellious behaviour and unintentionally giving their own slaves any ideas,

western nations boycotted Haiti and placed an embargo upon the nation. Haiti had no trade

relations, diplomatic relations, or official recognition, so Haiti could not access markets for its

products; another reason for the country becoming virtually broke. 5After the revolution which

concluded in January, 1804, Haiti became the second free country in the Western World (after

the United States), and the first black republic. However, the United States was still a slave

nation, as was England. The international community decided that Haiti's model of a nation of

freed slaves was a dangerous precedent. An international boycott of Haitian goods and

commerce plunged the Haitian economy into chaos. Here was a nation of ex-slaves trying to rise

to democratic self-rule, rising to run an economy in which the masses had only served as slaves

before. The international boycott of Haitian products at this time was devastating for Haiti's

long-term economic development.

4
Mckey, Colin. The Economic Consequences of the Haitian Revolution. page 2-3.
www.scholarsbank.uoregon.edu. 26-11-2020, “accessed”
5
Corbet, Bob. Why is Haiti so Poor? The Haitian Project Newsletter: Bob
Corbet,(1968),http://faculty.webster.edu
 Conclusion

Haiti is among the poorest nations in the world and it is the single poorest country in the western

hemisphere; and one could argue that this is a result of the Haitian Revolution for many reasons.

The immediate post-revolutionary period of Haitian history was a terribly difficult one. The
country was in shambles. Most of the plantations were destroyed, many skilled overseers were

gone (either dead, in hiding, or having fled for their lives because of the treatment of slaves),

skilled managers were often also gone, the former slaves did not want to work someone else's

plantation, there was a grave fear that France would re-invade, and the rest of the international

community was either openly hostile or totally uninterested in Haiti. Haiti prohibited foreign

investment and foreign property ownership, but foreigners were uninterested in investing in this

nation after a slave revolt in addition to that, during the first weeks of the revolution, the slaves

destroyed the whites and their property with much the same ruthlessness and cruelty that they

had suffered for so many years at the hands of their masters in addition to that, many coffee and

sugar plantations were destroyed during the years of the warfare and whatever coffee and sugar

producers they had left fled to nearby countries. This meant that Haiti’s sugar and coffee output

were greatly reduced. In conclusion, it can be said that the destruction of properties, decrease in

sugar and coffee production and the loss of diplomatic and trade relations due to the Haitian

Revolution led to a disastrous impact on the Haitian Society.

Bibliography

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Haitian Revolution". Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 

Mar. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Haitian-Revolution. Accessed 19 March 2021.

 Corbet, Bob. “Why is Haiti so Poor?” The Haitian Project Newsletter, Bob Corbet, 1968,

http://faculty.webster.edu. Accessed 27 November 2020.

Dyde, Brian, et al. Emancipation to Emigration. Germany, Macmillan Publishers Limited,

2008.page 23

McKey, Colin. “The Economic Consequences of the Haitian Revolution.” The Economic

Consequences of the Haitian Revolution, Colin Mckey, June 2016,

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/. Accessed 25-11-2020.

Shen, Kona. “The Revolutionary Builds 1791-1792.” History of Haiti, Brown's Department of

Africana Studies, 27 10 2015, https://library.brown.edu/haitihistory/6.html. Accessed 27-11-

2020.

Appendices
 Fig 1: Le Cap being to the ground by rebelling slaves  

Criteria P2 (UK + EC)

1. Identify an Area of Research (2mks)
 Area of Research clearly identified 2 marks
 Area of research not clearly Identified 1 mark

2. Develop a Rationale (3mks)

 Rationale for selecting area of research fully 3marks
developed
 Satisfactory development of rationale 2 marks
 Limited development of Rationale 1 mark

3. Collection of Data (8mks)

 Excellent use of sources 7-8 marks
 Good use of sources 5-6 marks
 Satisfactory use of sources 3-4 marks
 Weak use of sources 1-2 marks

4. Analysis and Interpretation (6+4=10 marks)

 Excellent analysis of data 5-6 marks
 Satisfactory analysis of data 3-4 marks
 Weak analysis of data 1-2 marks

4 marks
 Conclusions are fully supported by data 2-3 marks
 Conclusions are partially supported by the 1 mark
data
 Conclusions are minimally supported by the
data

5. Presentation and Documentation (6+6=12 marks)

 Excellent language Skills 5-6 marks
 Satisfactory language skill 3-4 marks
 Weak language skills 1-2 marks

5-6 marks
 Excellent use of the conventions for writing a
research paper 3-4 marks
 Satisfactory use of conventions for writing a
research paper 1-2 marks
 Weak use of convention when writing a
research paper

TOTAL / 35 marks