Despite many Haitians inability to pay for school, almost anyone in the country can give a short run down of how their ancestors secured freedom.  The colony had been held by Spain, after being stumbled upon by Columbus on his first voyage, and then, briefly, occupied by pirates.  In fact, in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie Jack Sparrow often goes to “Tortuga” which is an island off the north coast of Haiti.  In 1791, almost 100 years after France took possession of the colony from Spain, the various components of the French colony of San Dominique population included white French citizens, mulatto citizens, poor whites, free blacks, and the vast majority, black slaves taken from Africa.

This same year, as any Haitian would be glad to tell you, is when the war that eventually culminated in the slave’s freedom began.  They battled and were victorious over all of the European empires: British, Spanish, and French.  On January 1, 1804, Jean Jacques Dessalines declared San Dominique’s independence from France and gave the country the name Haiti.  Dessalines had chosen the same name the indigenous Arawaks had giving the land, meaning “mountainous”, even though all of them had been long dead from European colonist brutality and the introduction of new infectious diseases.  For the next 20 years, Haiti existed as an unrecognizable pariah, until the French came with an offer.  If Haiti gave up all of their wealth, technically to reimburse France for its “stolen” colony, France would resume diplomatic and economic relations.  Haiti obliged, under threat of war, and the enormous debt to France crippled the economy for the next 100 years and its effects are still felt today.

The United States did not officially recognize Haiti’s independence until 1863, even though Haiti was born out of the second revolution in the Americas.  There has been a tenuous relationship, at best, between the United States and Haiti for the almost 150 years since.  Haiti has been twice occuped by the U.S.  Marines, once from 1915-1934 and again in 1994.  Haiti has served as an outlet of cheap labor for American baseballs and garments.  It was also briefly considered as an acceptable location for a U.S. naval base that was eventually placed at Guantanamo, Cuba.  Since the end of World War II, the United States economic policies, through the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Interamerican Development Bank, have been avenues to manipulate and control political outcomes not favorable to the vast poor population of Haiti.  In the 204 years since its revolution, Haiti has yet to be allowed to maintain an effective Independence.