COLONIAL
ERA
INDEPENDENCE
OCCUPATION
DUVALIER
TO PRESIDENT
It
is to the slave-holding system that the origins of modern Haitian society,
with its internal class and color conflicts, can be traced.
It
was the slave rebellion of 1791, led by a group of blacks, including
Boukman, a maroon and voodoo priest, and Georges Biassou and his aide
Toussaint Louverture, among others, which set the colony on the path
to independence.
On
January 1, 1804, Haiti declared independence, becoming the second independent
nation (after the United States) in the West and the first free black
republic in the world.
The
early regimes of Haiti, whether led by mulattos or blacks, were dictatorial,
keeping access to education, wealth, and power to themselves.
Haiti
was poor, but proud: Even though 80% of its national budget went to
debt payment, and corruption and coups were common, Haiti had never
defaulted on a debt.
The
United States ... established the Haitian National Guard (Garde d'Haïti)
... which would later be harnessed by Duvalier to create a repressive
regime that would last thirty years.
Instead
of improving the lives of the black majority, Duvalier set out to build
a family dictatorship by changing the constitution to solidify his power.
Although
"Baby Doc" was not as brutal as his father nor as politically
astute, he continued policies of arbitrary imprisonment and torture
of perceived opponents.
The
opposition movement could not be quashed; from a small church in a slum
emerged a parish priest, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
|
History
To a large extent, Haitian history has been shaped by foreign powers:
first Spain, then France, and finally the United States. A rich, lush
land with a strategic location, Haiti has often been viewed as a valuable
piece of real estate.
The
Colonial Era
When Columbus arrived on the island of Hispaniola on December 6, 1492,
he was greeted by the Taino/Arawak Indians in their lush, green paradise.
But the Spanish conquerors proved to be intolerant, abusive, and greedy;
by 1550, the indigenous population had been almost entirely wiped out
in violent uprisings or from inhumane forced labor and exposure to European
diseases. In their quest for gold and other mineral riches, the Spaniards
resorted to forcefully bringing West Africans to the New World to work
as slaves.
Lacking economic potential, Santo Domingo, as Hispaniola was known under
Spanish rule, was soon condemned to neglect by the mother country, especially
after the conquest of New Spain (Mexico) and the rich Incan kingdom in
Peru. A Spanish presence was maintained, however, since Santo Domingo
remained strategically important as the gateway to the Caribbean, from
where many riches were shipped to the West.
Tortuga Island, off the northwest coast of Hispaniola, was the first
French foothold. Reportedly expelled by the Spanish from the nearby island
of St. Christopher (St. Kitts), the first French residents of Tortuga,
joined by runaway slaves from Hispaniola, survived by curing meats, tanning
hides, and pirating Spanish ships. They became known as "buccaneers,"
from the Arawak word for smoking meats.
In 1659, Louis XIV commissioned the first permanent settlement on Tortuga.
Settlers steadily encroached on the northwest part of Hispaniola; the
French West India Company was established in 1664 to direct the expected
commerce between France and the colony. In 1670, the French made Cap Français
(present-day Cap Haïtien) their first major settlement on Hispaniola,
taking advantage of its remoteness from the Spanish capital of Santo Domingo.
The western part of the island was commonly referred to as Saint-Domingue,
which became its official name after Spain relinquished the area to France
in 1697 in the Treaty of Ryswick.
Relying on slavery, the French turned Saint-Domingue into one of its
richest colonies. It produced nearly 60% of the world's coffee and about
40% of France's sugar imports. These products, in conjunction with cotton
and indigo, accounted for approximately two-thirds of France's commercial
interests abroad and about 40% of its foreign trade. Because of the high
death rate among male slaves, France continually brought new slaves from
Africa; the number of enslaved Africans "imported" by France
totaled over half a million.
It is to the slave-holding system that the origins of modern Haitian
society, with its internal class and color conflicts, can be traced. Many
of the white French slavemasters kept African women as concubines, producing
a small, elite mulatto population that constituted a class apart from
(and above) the impoverished black majority. Colonial society consisted
of three classes: les blancs, or white colonists; les affranchis,
or free blacks (usually mulattos, called gens de couleur);
and the black slaves. Discrimination and resentment were quite evident:
the slaves were abused and oppressed by all, while the privileged mulatto
class was forbidden by law from marrying whites, practicing certain professions,
wearing European clothes, and socializing with whites. However, the affranchis
were not restricted from buying land and lending money, which enabled
them to accumulate wealth.
In the mid-1700s, the number of runaway slaves, known as maroons,
grew. From the safety of the mountains and forests, guerrilla bands attacked
the white colonists. The colonial authorities, often with what was probably
the forced help of the mulattos, were able to repel the attacks. But the
seeds of rebellion were sown. Although the colonial system had made them
wealthy, the mulattos desired equality with whites; so when the Colonial
Assembly refused to grant suffrage to the land-owning, tax-paying mulattos,
as required by the National Assembly in Paris, the mulattos also began
to revolt.
But it was the slave rebellion of 1791, led by a group of blacks, including
Boukman, a maroon and voodoo priest, and Georges Biassou and his aide
Toussaint Louverture, among others, which set the colony on the path to
independence. The first gruesome attacks on northern settlements were
answered by brutal reprisals elsewhere. Given this instability, the mulattos,
under the leadership of Alexandre Pétion and others, also mounted
attacks. The mulattos, desiring equality, were fighting the white colonists
(Royalists), but not the whites of the new French Republic, who favored
mulatto enfranchisement and the enforcement of human rights. The black
(slave) forces were also split; some fought against the white colonists,
while others fought both the whites and mulattos. Spain and Britain found
these conditions quite favorable for intervention, and a very complex
situation ensued. By 1793, black forces had joined the Commissioners of
the French Republic to fight the white colonists in exchange for a promise
of freedom. However, two black leaders of the revolution, one of them
Biassou, were understandably suspicious of the French and refused to commit
their forces; instead they pledged their allegiance to Spain. It was at
this time that Toussaint Louverture, fighting for Spain, came to command
his own forces and by the end of the year had control of north-central
Saint-Domingue.
By 1794, Spain and Britain were on the verge of total victory when tropical
disease began to take its toll on their troops. Toussaint Louverture,
well-positioned, then made a crucial decision: he pledged his support
to France. Although promising freedom, Spain had shown no signs of moving
in that direction, while Britain had actually reinstituted slavery in
areas under its control. The French Republicans seemed the best choice
for freedom. Thus in 1796, when Toussaint rescued the French commander
from mulattos seeking to depose him, Toussaint was rewarded by being named
Lieutenant Governor of Saint-Domingue. From this seat of power, he set
out to ensure the continuation of an autonomous Saint-Domingue; he trusted
neither foreigners nor mulattos, believing that only black leadership
could protect the masses.
Although Toussaint tried to get mulatto support for his national project,
the French tried to use the tension between the classes to their advantage.
In the end, however, Toussaint won out, and by 1800 he was in command
of all Hispaniola. He abolished slavery, but in order to ensure stability
and economic survival, he reinstated the plantation system, using enforced
contract labor, and became a military dictator. However, he had never
formally declared independence from France, and his de facto autonomy
was a thorn in the side of both the French and foreign slave-holding nations.
In 1802, Napoleon sent forces to depose Toussaint, and again the French
attempted to use the mulattos to attain victory. Forced into surrender,
Toussaint was assured by the French that he could retire quietly. But
a short time later, he was taken and exiled to France, where he died in
prison. After this deception, the remaining Haitian forces, both black
and mulatto, took up the battle cry against the French. Because French
forces were mobilized on two fronts, fighting the Haitians as well as
the British in Europe, Napoleon was unable to look after his interests
in Louisiana. So, in 1803, he conceded to the U.S. purchase of Louisiana,
dashing French ambitions in the West and enabling U.S. expansion. On January
1, 1804, Haiti declared independence, becoming the second independent
nation (after the United States) in the West and the first free black
republic in the world.
Independence:
Ruling a New Nation
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a former slave who had commanded the black and
mulatto forces at the close of the revolution, became the leader of the
new nation. Knowing only military organization, he used the military to
govern, beginning what became an established tradition of military rule.
The newly independent Haiti was not formally recognized by the foreign
Western powers. The United States, itself a slave-holding power, feared
Haiti's example as a self-governing black republic, and thus withheld
recognition until 1862, after the slave-holding south had seceded from
the Union. Yet Haiti remained a covert trading partner, a fertile market
for U.S. goods. In 1838, Haiti received its long-awaited recognition from
France, after final payment of its "independence debt" (begun
in 1825). But independence and recognition came at a high price; the payment
of this debt emptied the treasury and placed the country in debt from
which it never quite recovered.
It was also during the early years that the division of Haitian society
into an elite class of the privileged few and the majority of poor farmers
and laborers became entrenched. After the revolution, the collaboration
of blacks and mulattos, which had won Haiti independence, turned to conflict.
This oppressive class system, a legacy of French colonial rule, no longer
cut so clearly across color lines, however. The black generals of the
slave armies were also now competing for power and wealth. Thus, the early
regimes of Haiti, whether led by mulattos or blacks, were dictatorial,
keeping access to education, wealth, and power to themselves.
From its beginning as an independent nation, then, Haiti was populated
by two distinct societies. The elite lived in towns, controlling the government,
military, and trade; they imitated a European lifestyle, using the French
language for government, commercial affairs, and education. The peasants,
on the other hand, lived in the peyi andeyò, or "the
country outside." They farmed small plots of land, having little
to do with the mechanisms of government and commerce. Although the peasants
paid taxes, the government did little to improve conditions in rural areas.
Conducting their lives according to African-based traditions and speaking
only Creole, they were effectively disenfranchised and totally isolated.
The majority peasant population remained outside the formal political,
educational, and economic structure. This pattern of power, education,
and wealth remains unchanged to this day.
The
American Occupation
In 1915, Haitian political instability, American trade and investments,
growing U.S. concern over German interests and influence in Haiti, and
Haiti's strategic importance to the United States led to a U.S. invasion
and occupation that would last almost 20 years.
U.S. intervention in smaller, neighboring nations to protect U.S. interests
and promote regional stability was quite common during this period. The
United States intervened in Colombia in 1903, in Cuba in 1906, in Honduras
in 1907, in Nicaragua in 1912, and in Mexico in 1914. Following the Roosevelt
Corollary of the Monroe Doctrine, the United States had declared itself
the policeman of the Western Hemisphere, warning Europe to keep its distance.
On occasion, during revolutions, if a foreign debt went unpaid, the U.S.
marines were sent in to seize the customhouses, generally the main source
of revenue, and thus ensure that loans were paid off. Haiti, however,
was a special case. Haiti was poor, but proud: Even though 80% of its
national budget went to debt payment, and corruption and coups were common,
Haiti had never defaulted on a debt.
Nevertheless, by 1915 Haiti's political instability (in the previous
72-year period Haiti had experienced 102 revolts, revolutions, civil wars,
and coups) and increasing German influence and control moved the United
States closer to intervention. Of greatest concern to the United States
was the fact that on the eve of World War I, Germany was said to control
nearly 80% of Haiti's international trade. The United States also feared
that Germany would establish a military base in Haiti, a turn of events
that would have constituted a very real threat to the security of the
newly-opened Panama Canal. Roger Farnham, an American banker with business
interests in Haiti, became an adviser to Secretary of State William Jennings
Bryan, further setting the stage for a U.S. intervention. But it was a
bloody insurrection on July 26th, 1915, that provided the pretext for
a U.S. invasion to establish order.
Under the American occupation, Haitian figureheads were installed, but
the United States had veto power over all government decisions, and the
Marine Corps served as administrators in the provinces. The United States
declared martial law, took control of Haiti's finances, and passed legislation
permitting foreigners to own land in Haiti for the first time since 1804.
It also established the Haitian National Guard (Garde d'Haïti),
Haiti's first professional military force, which would later be harnessed
by Duvalier to create a repressive regime that would last thirty years.
The occupation imposed stability and order. Infrastructure and health
conditions improved; roads, schools, and hospitals were built. These improvements
were concentrated in Port-au-Prince, however, ensuring its position as
the economic center of the country. The racial prejudices and disdain
felt by the American occupiers were obvious, and all Haitians, whether
mulatto or black, were excluded from real positions of power in both the
government and the new, U.S.-trained military force. Thus, any improvements
forged by the U.S. occupation proved to be temporary.
When the United States withdrew from Haiti in 1934, the level of poverty
and illiteracy remained unchanged. The United States left behind a legacy
of anti-American feeling and a well-trained national military force. In
the absence of any political or social institutions, the military remained
the only cohesive institution in the country, becoming the only tool by
which a government could rule.
Duvalier
to the Present
After the American withdrawal, a series of leaders came and went, all
under the control of the U.S.-trained military force, which held virtual
veto power over election results. After a particularly chaotic period,
François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, a doctor who had served
as a rural administrator of a U.S.-funded anti-yaws campaign, was elected
president in 1957. Perceived as an honest and humanitarian public-health
expert, as well as a proponent of black power, Duvalier initially enjoyed
the support of both the Haitian army and the United States.
Instead of improving the lives of the black majority, however, Duvalier
set out to build a family dictatorship by changing the constitution to
solidify his power. Knowing that an independent military was a threat
to his presidency, he created the elite Presidential Guard and replaced
U.S.-trained officers with younger men who owed their loyalty to him.
To maintain power outside the capital, he created a rural militia, commonly
known in Creole as the tonton makouts, whose mysterious and brutal
tactics terrified the population. Using corruption and intimidation, he
created a new elite of his own; many of the old elite were either co-opted
or eliminated, although some managed to emigrate. In 1964, Duvalier declared
himself President-for-Life.
Duvalier's regime was marked by terror, corruption, and extremes of wealth
and poverty. At one point, his blatant misappropriation of aid money angered
the Kennedy administration into suspending aid. After Kennedy's death,
however, U.S. aid and support for Duvalier continued because of the regime's
anti-communist stand and Haiti's strategic location near communist-led
Cuba.
Naming his 19-year-old son Jean-Claude as his successor, "Papa Doc"
died in 1971. Although "Baby Doc" was not as brutal as his father
nor as politically astute, he continued policies of arbitrary imprisonment
and torture of perceived opponents. Corruption and poverty also continued,
as did U.S. aid and support. But it was opposition from young Haitians,
as well as priests and nuns angered by the poverty and suffering, which
eventually led to Duvalier's downfall. Encouraged by a grass-roots church
movement, anti-government protests swept through Haiti in 1985. Alarmed
as people took to the streets, the United States withdrew its aid and
support and arranged for Duvalier to step down. After hastily naming a
National Council of Government made up of former military supporters,
Jean-Claude fled in 1986.
"Duvalierism," however, continued. Conditions for the masses
did not improve. On election day in November 1987, Haitians were killed
at polling stations by soldiers and former tonton makouts. But
the opposition movement could not be quashed; from a small church in a
slum emerged a parish priest, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who preached about
the need for a lavalas, a flood to cleanse the country of corruption
and make it new. His church was burned to the ground, but his message
captured the spirit of the oppressed masses. He was elected president
in December 1990, but the underlying structure of the society and its
long tradition of violence, control, and retribution had not changed.
There continued to be strong and sometimes violent opposition to Aristide
and his followers. Aristide at times used very strong rhetoric, which
has been interpreted by some as encouraging violence against the rich
and the opposition; he also reportedly sought to oust the military and
control the judiciary. The military and the wealthy, however, still wielded
power, and in September 1991, the army staged a coup d'etat, forcing Aristide
into exile.
After Aristide's departure, many Haitians fled the island nation, some
for economic reasons, others in fear for their lives. Conditions were
quickly reaching a crisis state in all sectors. The U.S. policy of interdiction
at sea did not seem to stem the flow. The Governors Island Accord of 1993,
in which General Raoul Cédras agreed to step down in preparation
for Aristide's return, was not honored. The United States then applied
pressure in the form of a trade embargo, making life intolerable for the
majority of Haitians. After threats of a U.S. invasion, a U.S. negotiating
team persuaded the military leadership to step aside so that the democratically-elected
Aristide could return to his rightful position. To ensure stability, U.S.
military troops were sent to Haiti as a peacekeeping force. The military
leaders went into exile, and on October 15, 1994, Aristide returned to
power to begin the long, arduous task of rebuilding Haiti.
|
|