Haitian History Blog

Welcome to Haitian History a blog interested in providing tumblr users with a brief introduction to Haitian history by putting a special focus on the country's political history.

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WHY I CREATED THIS BLOG/NEW BEGININGS. In 2013, I felt compelled to create this blog in response to the prevailing narratives surrounding Haiti. Following the 2010 Haitian earthquake, I was troubled by the oversimplified and inadequately contextualized analyses often presented by Western journalists regarding Haiti, its people, and its history. Additionally, I observed a tendency among some first and second-generation Haitians in various Western countries to interpret Haitian history solely through the lens of victimhood. This perspective appeared to overlook the role of Haitian political and economic elites in contributing to the country's current challenges.

As a first-year History Master’s student, this blog provided me with an opportunity to explore my diverse interests in Haitian history beyond the confines of my thesis. It emerged during a period of heightened academic interest in Haitian history, particularly in the United States. Over the years, I benefited from the collaboration and discussions with Falina E. Polynice and Yves Hyppolite, both of whom have played integral roles in shaping my own intellectual development. Our numerous conversations about Haitian history, intellectual discourse within and beyond academia, and the broader landscape of Haiti have contributed significantly to my growth, both as a scholar and as an individual. Looking back after more than a decade, I am grateful for the chance to have grown alongside them.

I am immensely grateful to everyone who has been active within the Tumblr ecosystem and to those who have stumbled upon this blog. During this time, we have engaged in many passionate debates. I like to believe that the silver lining is the recognition that history is not merely a thing of the past; it is very much a part of the present, with contested meanings.

After more than a decade, I feel that the time may have come to explore new endeavors. However, this does not entail permanently deleting this blog. (I view the blog as a testament to my graduate school years, and I will always cherish it for that!) Rather, it means redirecting our efforts, with the assistance of Falina, Yves, and now David, to a new platform. This new platform will better align with our current interests and provide enhanced security for preserving our work.

From the 'Haitian History Blog on Tumblr' (let’s ignore the actual first name of this blog!) to 'La Nouvelle Ronde: A Haitian History blog,' I look forward to seeing you all on our new platform as we embark on a new adventure together.

Until then, I once more extend my heartfelt thanks for your presence throughout these years. It has been a wonderful adventure, and I speak for all four of us when I say we are excited to continue it with you!

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231 Years Ago, the French National Convention Abolished Slavery

On February 4, 1794, the French National Convention made a radical decision: it abolished slavery in all its colonies. Enslaved people, who had been legally classified as biens meubles (property under French law), were now recognized as French citizens.

The decree formalized changes that were already underway in Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti), where enslaved people had launched a massive uprising against their masters in August 1791. By 1793, French commissioners Léger-Félicité Sonthonax and Étienne Polverel had already abolished slavery on the island. Historians widely agree that the Convention’s bold move influenced Toussaint Louverture’s decision to switch alliances during the ongoing colonial war, abandoning the Spanish to fight alongside the French. (Read more)

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Inca past and symbolism in 18th century Saint-Domingue (part I)

One of the most peculiar developments near the end of the Haitian Revolution was the adoption of the name Inca and children of the Sun by Jean-Jacques Dessalines. According to historian Thomas Madiou, Dessalines began using the name by the autumn of 1802, referring to those who submitted to him in opposition to the forces of Leclerc (Madiou 451). However, Dessalines dropped the Inca name after July 1803, when he began to refer to his forces as Armée Indigène, asserting indigeneity in opposition to the French (Geggus 52). Although a number of observers and historians have commented on this “Inca Episode” in the history of the Indigenous Army, contextualizing it within the broader context of nationalist struggles in the Americas demonstrates the power of Inca symbolism across much of the Americas, extending even into the Caribbean. Rebecca Earle’s The Return of the Native: Indians and Myth-Making in Spanish America, 1810–1930 provides a context for understanding the appeal of the Inca to the Haitian independence movement. Thus, this brief post will endeavor to elucidate the origins of Inca symbolism and its appeal to the people of Saint Domingue in the 18th century, and connect it to the independence movement that led to independence in 1804. By the conclusion, hopefully Antillean “Incas” will seem less aberrant or surprising.

[haitianhistory]

The Cacicazgo of Xaragua: The Zenith of Indigenous Caribbean Polities

The history of Xaragua, perhaps meaning Country of the Lakes, remains elusive. Despite its recognition by authorities such as Las Casas as the zenith of the Taino chiefdoms on Hispaniola, and perhaps in the entire Caribbean, we know little about it besides what the Spanish chronicles have described. Indeed, with the exception of Behechio and Anacaona, we know nothing about its previous rulers. Furthermore, archaeological research in Haiti has been less rich than other parts of the Greater Antilles, so who knows what may be buried under Leogane and Port-au-Prince that could shed light on the indigenous past of the region? (...)

To learn more about the Pre-Columbian history of Hispaniola, follow this link!

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Impending announcement

Hello all, stay tuned! Important news is coming soon!

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On Haiti's 220th anniversary

Two hundred and twenty years ago, former slaves and free people of color accomplished the seemingly impossible: defeating one of the most formidable European armies of the day and establishing a new state where bondage, as it existed before 1791, would be forever abolished.

For those who have followed this blog since 2013, you know that I (admin A) have rarely allowed myself any sentimentality when discussing Haitian history. I have tried to present a nuanced portrait of Haiti’s past by addressing the weight of the many isms that have plagued its history (colonialism, racism, neoliberalism…) and by taking a critical look at the role of Haitian leaders throughout all these episodes.

Two hundred and twenty years after the unthinkable, Haiti finds itself without a president, grappling with what seems to be a permanent problem of armed gangs, little security, renewed multifaceted tensions with its Dominican neighbour, and on the brink of a new UN occupation through a Kenyan mission. The young woman who started this blog a decade ago would have said that there are little reasons for us as Haitians to celebrate—not because of a difficulty appreciating the great shoulders on which we stand, but because, at twenty-two years old, I didn’t believe in what I felt was useless romanticism binding us to a distorted past while also blinding us to the reality of the disastrous present.

Today, it’s not so much that I find much to rejoice in given the current state of affairs. It’s that I realize, what is the point of all this if there is no hope? Why this blog, why study the history of Haiti at all, why care about the country? For those of us with family there, why not temporarily send money in the hope of helping them relocate here, there, and anywhere except Haiti? Why not congratulate the complete erosion of Haitian sovereignty, as post-1986 Haiti, and especially Haiti of the last two decades, has shown so vividly the complete utter failure of its foreign-backed governing class?

I don’t know what hope is supposed to look like in this situation. Hope for what? Hope for a change under what conditions, under whose authority? On what would this hope be grounded? Perhaps, despite the best efforts of my twenty-two-year-old self, I am becoming as naive and sentimental as the people I silently criticized then...

Perhaps, however, I recognize that Haiti does matter. Even the most cynical among us would admit that there is something profoundly radical in breaking the bonds of slavery, in affirming that people of African descent could not be stripped of their humanity, that there is something poetic in saying “no” in the face of impressive odds. Newly independent Haiti did not live up to some of the promises of its complicated Revolution. The 1825 French imposition of an indemnity severely affected freshly formed Haiti (beyond the 19th century), but it does not excuse the incompetence of Haitian governments, then and now. Haiti could, may have, and I certainly hope, will change, will remember what 1804 ought to have meant.

Perhaps, especially for the people who currently live in Haiti, particularly the women of all ages who face the constant threats of sexual violence, Haiti has a responsibility to itself, to its unprecedented idealism, to all of us.

Given all these reasons, I find it necessary to maintain a guarded optimism, acknowledging that ideas hold significance and possess the potential to materialize into reality.

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Today in Haitian History - October 17, 1806 – Assassination of Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Born a slave in 1758, Jean-Jacques Dessalines rose to become one of the most important military figures of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804). He served as Haiti’s first head of state, initially as “Gouverneur Général” and then as emperor, until his assassination in the fall of 1806.

Dessalines’s office remains difficult to fully assess. While, by all accounts, he ruled as a despotic leader and, very much in the same fashion of Toussaint Louverture before him, ignored the needs of the nouveaux libres (former slaves), more recent scholarship suggests that he attempted to carry out a more complex national project. The 1805 Constitution, which for many remains one of Dessalines’ greatest achievement as leader of independent Haiti, made clear in Article 14 that “the Haytians shall hence forward be known only by the generic appellation of Blacks.” For Sibylle Fischer (2004), this represented an important break from the colonial period. She stresses that “from the taxonomic lunacy of a colony that had more than one hundred different terms to refer to different degrees of racial mixture and color, we moved to a generic denomination: black.”  In an attempt at state and nation building, “black” was to serve as part of the new country’s identity. While Dessalines, like his predecessor, favoured a form of “militarised” agricultural production and gave “citizens” of the new nation the choice of either being soldiers and labourers, historians like Claude Moïse (1988) have noted how the 1805 constitution presented clear dispositions guaranteeing personal liberty (such as articles five and six) suggesting yet another attempt at breaking away from the arbitrary law that embodied most of Haiti’s colonial history. 

The achievements of 1805 could not temper the mounting opposition to Dessalines’s style of governing. Through colour politics have led many to simply imagine dissidence against Dessalines as an affair opposing the anciens libres (personified by Alexandre Pétion) and the nouveaux libres (embodied by Dessalines himself), Dessalines had also managed to alienate the former slaves, the very people his leadership should have served. While trying to crush a rebellion in the South headed by the “mulâtre” fraction of the elite, he was ambushed and murdered in October 1806.

In her article “Revolutionary Commemorations: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haitian Independence Day, 1804–1904” (2016), Erin Zavitz analysed how the memory of Dessalines appeared and disappeared from collective memory and state-sponsored celebrations of Haiti’s founding throughout the nineteenth-century. In many ways, it was only during the preparations leading up to Haiti’s centennial anniversary in 1904 that true efforts were made to reintegrate Dessalines as the founding figure of Haiti’s independence. Today, despite remaining a controversial figure, most Haitians proudly sing “La Dessalinienne” on January 1rst. 

Image: “Mural on wall of Lycée Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Port-au-Prince.” Courtesy of:  Paul Clammer (2016).

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Today in Haitian History - August 23, 1791 - Saint-Domingue’s slaves revolt against their masters 

Although by August 1791 Saint-Domingue was already the theatre of much violence, it was the slave uprising during the night of August 22nd to August 23rd that most historians today recognize as the starting point of the Haitian Revolution. 

The French Revolution sent waves throughout the Atlantic. In Saint-Domingue, while the grand blancs population (taking advantage of the calling of the Third Estate) was arguing for more autonomy from the metropole, most of the gens de couleur libres demanded equal rights to their white counterparts (which, in effect, should have been guaranteed by the Code Noir of 1685).  Against this backdrop of violence erupting between the two fractions (and other competing groups like the petit blancs) Saint-Domingue’s slaves lunched a massive attack against their masters in hopes of freeing themselves. 

Back in Europe, reports regarding the situation in Saint-Domignue triggered various debates and made it clear that the question of slavery had now become too explosive to be silenced. The slave uprising pushed the logic of Rights of Man to its fullest and dared to suggest the humanity of slaves.

It would take another  thirteen years with many twists and turns (including a failed abolition of slavery in 1794, a civil war and a formal removal of French authority) for Haiti to emerge as an independent nation late in 1803. 

Original Painting: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. / For more sources of the Haitian Revolution, see here.

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The entire team at haitianhistory on tumblr wishes you a very Happy Haitian Flag Day! 

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Image: François Duvalier on July 30, 1958 following the first serious coup attempt against his authority. Courtesy of:  Haïti-Référence. 

Duvalier, power and symbolism : The case of the 1964 flag

Much mystery surrounds the adoption and the true colours elected for the would-be Haitian flag espoused by Dessalines at Arcahaie in May 1803. The often cited story of Dessalines theatrically ripping the white portion of the French tricolor and the remains being sewed back together by Catherine Flon has been interpreted in popular culture as the tale of an alliance between black and mulâtres fractions to defeat the French. Each color represented a group and their joining together in the flag added both a metaphorical and literal meaning to the entreprise. This dramatic incident was to represent a formal agreement between the two factions committed to liberty or death. The Haitian flag therefore tells an important message about unity, anti-slavery and anti-colonialism. While scholars such as Philippe R. Girard (2009), known for his often controversial take on Haitian revolutionary figures, have more recently disputed this tale as a later fabrication (claiming instead that, given the timing of its adoption, the flag represented much less a symbol of unity between blacks and mulâtres than an appropriation of French revolutionary iconography), the Haitian flag continues to be understood as a potent symbol in Haiti.

As President of Caribbean Republic between 1957 and 1971, François Duvalier utilised and appropriated various such symbols to defend his political programme. As argued by Haitian historian Wien Weibert Arthus (2012), both in forging a domestic and foreign agenda, Duvalier boosted his Noirist credentials. His move to change the Haitian flag in 1964 reveals much about his desire to manipulate popular emblems.

While scholars still debate the true genealogy of the Haitian flag, as expressed by Michael C. Reyes (2017), they generally concur that there exists “limited historical support among contemporary historians” regarding the May 1803 events at Arcahaie (Reyes, p. 35). Similarly, while Girard (2009) may be overstating his argument regarding the French origins of the Haitian flag, he is correct in pointing out that the insurgent army, even before the final break for independence, adopted various flags and that some of these existed simultaneously. It is perhaps this confusion which opened the door, already in 1957, for Duvalier and his entourage to discuss a possible change to the Haitian national colours.

Haitian flag, 1964. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

In 1805, following his proclamation as emperor, it is widely believed that Dessalines altered the flag from blue and red bands placed horizontally to black and red vertical bands. (Nicholls, 1996 [1971], p. 234.) Henri Christophe fashioned a similar flag in his kingdom until his suicide in 1820. It was, however, the flag of Alexandre Pétion’s Republic, now under Jean-Pierre Boyer’s control following Pétion’s death in 1818, that would prevail in the reunited Haiti. This horizontal flag, featuring blue and red bands, was conferred legal status in the 1843 Constitution (Haiti-Référence). By 1957, the newly elected Duvalier and some of the intellectuals his regimes seemed to have attracted argued that the “true” colours of the Haitian flags were in fact black and red and efforts should be made to restore the national colours (Nicholls, p. 235). Although Nicholls’ work has been rightly criticised for the way it sometimes exaggerated the differences between blacks and mulâtresand at times even seemed to suggest that class and colour were synonymous in Haiti (see for instance the essays in Politics and Power in Haiti [2013] edited by Kate Quinn and Paul Sutton), the British scholar was probably correct in asserting that Duvalier’s determination to alter the flag was part of his desire to affirm the Noirist calibre of his administration. Indeed, it represented a particular reading of Haitian history where Dessalines and Christophe, both black leaders, shared a greater legitimacy than the “mulâtre” President Pétion. Duvalier therefore placed himself in continuity with the work of Haitian revolutionary figures. The 1957 proposal to the National Assembly for a change to the flag was eventually dropped but in 1964, a much stronger Duvalier who in the words of historian Matthew J. Smith (2009) had “systematically uprooted his opposition through forced exile, torture, and murder” (p. 187) felt confident enough to make such move. As most of the political opposition disappeared, often time literally, Duvalier could intact his ideas with much more leisure. 1964 was perhaps one of the most violent years in the history of the regime. In June of that year, as the flag was being amended, Duvalier was declared president-for-life. In August, as retribution for the assault of Jeune Haïti, who had attempted to topple his regime, Duvalier proceeded to massacre their families in the infamous “Massacre des Vêpres jérémiennes.” Entire families, including women and children, related to the members of the militant group in the Jérémie region were slaughtered. In 1964, the regime entered a critical phase where Duvalier had mostly consolidated his power. While the conflict with the Catholic Church would prevail until 1966, it was already clear by 1964 that no sector of Haitian society had been left untouched by duvalierism and that little opposition would be permitted to exist.  

Ultimately, Duvalier’s move to change the Haitian flag was yet another way in which he could present himself as an “authentique” and reassert his political supremacy. It showed the ease with which the Haitian president reinterpreted history, particularly the revolutionary period (1791-1804) to serve the purposes of his administration. Any allegiance to the national flag, a symbol which all Haitians could abide to, therefore implicitly also became a sign of loyalty to the president-for-life. In 1966, he was quoted declaring, “je suis le drapeau haïtien, un et indivisible. Dr François Duvalier” or “I am the Haitian flag, one and indivisible. Dr François Duvalier” (Arthus, 2011 p. 59). The story of the 1964 change of the Haitian flag therefore tells more than a political manoeuvre by an adept politician, it also forces a reflection on the psychological dimensions of duvalierism.  (–LVB)

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Catherine Flon by Haitian-American artist Alexandra Barbot.

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According to Haitian folklore, Catherine Flonwas a female revolutionary who sewed the first Haitian flag together after Jean-Jacques Dessalines had ripped apart the white section of the French tricolour, therefore, graphically representing a break from the metropole. Catherine Flon’s action (of sewing the flag) was understood, by some, as sort of declaration, demanding that insurgents band together for the last battles of the Revolution. More symbolically even, It also meant that a new country would be born out of this union between different groups and individuals. (Image Credit)

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I read a blog regarding Daniel Fignole, and I was looking to find the video of his return to Haiti and could not find it there. Will you direct me please?

Hello! Many thanks for your question! The only video of his return I know of is this one. I've made some commentary in the past about post Jean-Claude Duvalier Haiti reacting to his presence after almost three decades outside of Haiti. I hope this helps!

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Celebrating Haiti’s founding anniversary 

Celebrating the anniversary of “unthinkable” history

While for many years scholars considered that the Haitian Revolution had been “silenced” both in Western academia and in popular culture (Trouillot, 1995), today, the thirteen-year struggle that led to the creation of Haiti as a nation-state is largely acknowledged as one of the most important events in the Age of Revolution (1774-1849). As historian Jeremy D. Popkin (2012) notes, the Haitian Declaration of Independence “struck a blow against the institutions of slavery and racial hierarchy” across the Americas (p. 2). To opponents and supporters of slavery alike, it presented a challenge to conventional wisdom regarding black humanity. Unlike many similar movements in the Atlantic where the question of liberty was often discussed symbolically, the Haitian Revolution disputed common wisdom regarding rights and placed the issue of freedom at its very center. Although Haiti’s 215th anniversary may pass in some circles without a mention, it remains one of the most significant examples of a successful anticolonial struggle in modern world history.

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Today in Haitian History - October 17, 1806 – Assassination of Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Born a slave in 1758, Jean-Jacques Dessalines rose to become one of the most important military leaders during the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) and Haiti’s first head of state until his assassination in 1806 following an insurrection in the South. 

Although Dessalines’ overall legacy has greatly evolved with time and most historians today recognize the importance of his state-building initiatives, scholars remain divided as to his ultimate legacy. On the one hand, they point out the violent tendencies of Dessalines’ regime. In his influential Haiti, State Against Nation: The Origins and Legacy of Duvalierism (1990), Michel-Rolph Trouillot stresses that while Dessalines preserved much of Toussaint Louveture’s governing methods, the Haitian leader particularly insisted on militarizing agriculture, which caused great dissatisfaction among the nouveaux libres. Historian Claude Moïse (2009) echoes much of Trouillot’s assessment and argues that civil and military functions were almost indistinguishable and served to favour Dessalines and those loyal to him. On the other hand, many historians also acknowledge the important achievements of Dessalines’s rule, in particular through his imperial Constitution of 1805. To this respect, historian Julia Gaffield (2007) notes that “in the constitution of 1805, Jean-Jacques Dessalines attempted to define Haiti as a distinct nation by focusing on citizenship, political organization and culture. As both Trouillot and Nicholls have argued, Haiti became a symbol of black equality and freedom in this period.”

While it appears pointless to debate whether Dessalines was a hero or a despot (or if such categories can do justice to the complexity of his political rule), it should be remembered that the Haitian leader inhered many of the unsolved problems of the Haitian Revolution. In 1804, the emerging Haitian state was a multilayered society where deep antagonism existed among the nouveaux and the anciens libres. Pushing the French out of Haiti created only a temporary truce between black military leaders and their “mulatto” counterparts. More than attempting to create a sense of national unity among vastly different individuals, Dessalines also had to deal with the problem of revitalizing the Haitian economy at a time when the country enjoyed no formal recognition from its former metropole nor from the United States (the only other independent nation of the Americas). 

If Haiti was to survive and not succumb to the re-establishment of slavery (like most of the French Caribbean experienced after 1802), it would need to be a stable state. Though it seems possible that Dessalines could have chosen to sit his authority more democratically, the formidable task of governing a unique country in a hostile (and mostly slave-owning Atlantic) world may have inspired some of the leaders’ aggressiveness. Only more scholarship can help us better comprehend the figure and political leader behind Jean-Jacques Dessalines. 

Image Courtesy of: Latin American Studies.org

[haitianhistory]

Today in Haitian History - August 23, 1791 - Saint-Domingue’s slaves revolt against their masters 

Although by August 1791 Saint-Domingue was already the theatre of much violence, it was the slave uprising during the night of August 22nd to August 23rd that most historians today recognize as the starting point of the Haitian Revolution. 

The French Revolution sent waves throughout the Atlantic. In Saint-Domingue, while the grand blancs population (taking advantage of the calling of the Third Estate) was arguing for more autonomy from the metropole, most of the gens de couleur libres demanded equal rights to their white counterparts (which, in effect, should have been guaranteed by the Code Noir of 1685).  Against this backdrop of violence erupting between the two fractions (and other competing groups like the petit blancs) Saint-Domingue’s slaves lunched a massive attack against their masters in hopes of freeing themselves. 

Back in Europe, reports regarding the situation in Saint-Domignue triggered various debates and made it clear that the question of slavery had now become too explosive to be silenced. The slave uprising pushed the logic of Rights of Man to its fullest and dared to suggest the humanity of slaves.

It would take another  thirteen years with many twists and turns (including a failed abolition of slavery in 1794, a civil war and a formal removal of French authority) for Haiti to emerge as an independent nation late in 1803. 

Original Painting: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. / For more sources of the Haitian Revolution, see here.

[haitianhistory]

Today in Haitian History - August 18, 1944 – Death of Haitian political activist and novelist Jacques Roumain

Born into wealthy “mulatto” family in Port-au-Prince in June 1907, Jacques Roumain rose to become one of the most celebrated figures of his time. While outside of Haiti, he is often remembered for his posthumous magnum opus, Gouverneurs de la Rosée, published shortly after his death, Roumain’s importance extends beyond literature and carries into politics. His political engagement notably as the co-founder of the Parti communiste haïtien or PCH (the Haitian Communist Party) led to his imprisonment (on repeated occasions). Analyse schématique 32-34, the political text released shortly after the creation of the PCH, remained for a long time an inspiration for generations of Haitian Marxists and Communists and guaranteed Roumain a central place as one of the most influential individuals the Haitian Left. While his death in 1944, that of his close collaborator Christian Beaulieu the previous year coupled with the increased intolerance of the Lescot government (1941-1946) for any political opposition, did provide for a momentary blow to the Left, a new movement emerged during the “Revolution of 1946.″ Many of the central agitators of the other Haitian Revolution cited Roumain and his life as inspiration for their political awakening. 

Images Courtesy: Île en Île and World Literature.

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Today in Haitian History - August 12, 1915 – Sudre Dartiguenave elected president of Haiti 

Born in Anse-à-Veau, Haiti in 1863, Philippe Sudre Dartiguenave was trained and worked as a lawyer before entering the Haitian Senate in 1910. He was already a political figure of some importance when the United States Marine Occupation of Haiti (1915-1934) began on July 28, 1915. As the need to pick a new president following Guillaume Sam assassination became imminent, U.S. authorities favoured Sudre Dartiguenave’s appointment in August 1915 in opposition the nomination of the charismatic caudillo-like Rosalvo Bobo whom they feared, was unstable and too dangerous to their interests.

Voted in office by the National Assembly, Dartiguenave became Haiti’s first president while under U.S. control and is often remembered for the rather docile manner in which he accepted Haitian capitulation to Washington. Whether a true assessment or an exaggeration of difficult circumstances that were placed before the head of state, he would go on to sign the very unpopular September 16, 1915, Haitian–American Convention (which, among other concessions, granted the United States the right to administer Haitian finances). Dartiguenave ruled the country as president for seven years as prescribed by both the 1889 Constitution and Americans. In 1922, Louis Borno assumed the presidency. 

Image Courtesy: Digital Library of the Caribbean.