THE IMPACT OF THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION ON HAITI

Political Impact:-

● Slavery was forever abolished and st domingue gained its independence from France and
was renamed Haiti
● Politics became characterized by constant change and instability. A variety of leaders
with their own respective political structures and policies, characterized by
authoritarianism, military rule and corruption.
● The 1805 constitution of Dessalines was characterized by racist ideas and approved
attacks against the former white plantation owners. (thus from the beginning of this new
state racism was built into politics). It also declared that all citizens irrespective of race be
classified under the generic category of “black”. This thus once again paved the way for
racism to be inherent in the new society as it did not preach equality of all races but the
superiority of the blacks. Constitution also denied whites the right to own any property.
Racial tensions between the coloured and black classes for power also emerged and
divided Haiti even more.
● “the oppressive sense of national security…fashioned to a large degree the socio
economic politics” Beckles and shephard
● From 1804 to 1820 Haiti was plunged into political instability as political leadership kept
changing, Dessalines was assassinated in 1806, after his death the nation was plunged
into chaos and the nation divided into two, Henri Christophe and his army of “blacks”
consolidated their position in the north and Petion was elected president of a new state
called the republic of Haiti in the south . both states were engaged in a civil war until
1818 when petion died. The country was united again in 1820 under Jean Pierre Boyer.
● In 1821 the two halves of Haiti were once again united under Boyer.

Economic Impact:-

● Was a ruined infrastructure and economy. Some estimate the cost of the war at over 1
billion francs and thus Haiti inherited a shattered economy and massive debt.
● Before Haiti was allowed to rejoin the world economy, the European powers made it pay
an “independence debt” to the French slave owners who were expelled from Haiti during
the Revolution and thus lost their plantations and- yes, get this- valuable slaves. So after
winning their freedom from the French, Haitians essentially had to buy it from them too.
(This is the only case I know of in history where the winners of a war have ever had to
pay the losers simply because they won.) • After resisting for 21 years, in 1825 Haiti
finally capitulated to France's terms, and in exchange for diplomatic recognition they
agreed to pay France 21 billion dollars in reparations.
 ● The debt was ten times Haiti's total revenue in 1825 and twice what the United States
paid France in 1803 for the Louisiana Purchase, which contained seventy-four times
more land. • This debt was a HUGE burden on Haiti's economy, and it was not paid off
until 1947. Some years, 80 percent of government revenue went towards debt service, at
the expense of investments in education, healthcare and infrastructure.
● Production of sugar and coffee dropped drastically and Haiti was transformed from a
large scale sugar monocultural society to one mainly based upon small scale peasant
agriculture.
● Economic embargoes and blockades were placed upon Haiti as France used their
influence to get its fellow slave owning nations to suspend all commercial relations with
the new nation.
● 1825 Boyer agreed to pay France an indemnity of 150 million francs (not fully paid until
1922)

Social Impact:-

● A new class system emerged which gave rise to new tensions between the black and
coloured masses of Haiti fighting for supremacy.
● Complete demographic change as most if not all whites fled the country as a result of the
new racist legislature against them.
● The first constitution of free Haiti tried to erase the colour question by stating that all
residents of the republic regardless of their origin were “ black”. This converted colour
into a matter of politics and not pigment. But the definitions of colour remained fluid,
subjective and sometimes whimsical, plaguing social and political relations until the
present.
● From the very beginning Dessalines did not focus on creating a stable new society but
instead placed emphasis on military preparedness in case of an attack by imperial powers,
and thus no stable social structure emerged.
● Whites were targeted heavily after the revolution, most of the leaders spoke of
themselves as the “regenerators of Africa”

***U.S. Reaction to Haiti The United States played a major role in ostracizing Haiti from the
international community. The U.S. blocked Haiti’s invitation to the Western Hemisphere Panama
Conference in 1825, refused to recognize Haiti’s independence until 1862, and did not establish
diplomatic relations until 1886.

FRANKLIN KNIGHT “THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION”

 The Haitian revolution sought not only merely the political independence of the state but
also the personal freedom of the more than 80% of the population who were enslaved.

To accomplish this goal, the revolution had to be, as its metropolitan correspondent, both radical
and destructive. The Haitians were forced to destroy the entire colonial socioeconomic structure
that was the raison d etre for their imperial importance; and in destroying the institution of
slavery, they unwittingly agreed to terminate their connection to the entire international
superstructure that perpetuated slavery and the plantation economy. That was an incalculable
price for freedom and independence.

The Haitian revolution occurred not because conditions in French St Dominque were inherently
more volatile than elsewhere in the tropical American world but merely because of its accidental
connection to France.

“ the Haitian revolution was the inadvertent step child of the French revolution”

Caste and class antagonisms everywhere combined to create a quite explosive situation in the
colony. And since St Domingue was the crown jewel of this world; it should not have been
surprising that conditions there made divisions sharper and more reciprocally irritable than
elsewhere in the Caribbean.

The armed revolt in the colony began within the white group, by the grand blancs, especially in
the north. The white revolt in the colony was the beginning of the end of white rule. Once the
superordinate group had resorted to violence on that scale there was no way the revolt could be
contained within caste or class sectors.

Violence beget greater violence. Once the moral authority, cohesion and vigilance of the free
slave owners were challenged or had eroded- as they had for the two years that the slaves saw
(and helped) their masters kill one another wantonly- the slaves grasped their opportunity to be
free.

**the fires that forged the birth of the state and the advent of Haitian nationalism unleashed such
essentially disintegrative socioeconomic forces that no leader after 1804 found the situation
manageable.

** as a revolution in its own right, the Haitian case represented the first complete social
revolution in modern history. If we accept a revolution as a complete change in the social basis
of political power then no greater change could be manifest than the slaves becoming the masters
of their destinees within a free state.
** But the revolution in Haiti is also a case study of the arrogance of power. The tragic mistake
that all the upper classes made- and it was common among the French administrators, the grand
blancs, the petit blancs, the free coloureds, the English and Spanish invaders- was to
underestimate the intelligence, sensitivity and feelings of self-worth of the majority of the black
populations. All assumed that somehow freedom and self-esteem were the special preserve of the
wealthy, non-black upper classes.

In the final analysis, the establishment of the independent state of Haiti represented a
monumental step forward, not just for black people but also for black power in the Caribbean. It
irreparably weakened the foundations for the slave system and held a faint beacon of hope for the
forces of non-European nationalism throughout the Americas.

Haiti represented a harsh choice between human dignity and material wellbeing. Haitians opted
for independence in 1804, not because they did not appreciate the advantages of wealth and
power but because they would rather be free men in a free land. ** they took the French
revolutionary slogans more seriously than the French themselves.

The declaration of Haitian independence in 1804 represented a victory for the popular forces.
The former slaves and descendants of slaves took over the new government and tentatively
sought to establish their independence in a hostile world. It was not easy.