Dear
Editor:
Although
Toussaint L'ouverture was
given all the credit, it
was Bookman, a slave sent
from Jamaica, who
organized the slave revolt
in Haiti in 1791, like Nat
Turner would attempt in
James Town, Virginia,
United States ,40 years
later.
Explored
by Columbus on December 6,
1492, Haiti's native
Arawaks fell victims to
Spanish rule.
In
1697 Haiti became a French
Colony of Saint Dominique,
which became a leading
sugar cane producer
dependent on slaves.
In
1791 an insurrection
erupted among the 480,000
slave population in Haiti,
resulting in the
declaration of
independence by Pierre
Dominique-Toussaint
L'ouverture in 1801.
Napoleon
Bonaparte suppressed the
independent movement, but
it eventually triumphed in
1804 under Jean Jacques
Dessaline, who gave the
New Nation the Arawak name
Haiti. It was the first
independent Black Nation
in the post-slavery era.
The
revolution wrecked Haiti's
economy. Years of strife
between the light skin
mulattos who dominated the
economy and the black
population, plus dispute
with neighbouring Santo
Domingo, continued to hurt
the nation's development.
After
a succession of dictators
— such as Dessaline, the
ferocious; Christoph
Henry; and Souloque, the
butcher — bankrupt Haiti
accepted a United States
Customs receivership from
1905 to 1941. Occupation
by United States Marines
from 1915 to 1934 brought
stability.
Haiti's
high population growth
made it the most densely
populated nation in the
hemisphere. In 1949, after
four years of democratic
rule by President Dumarsis
Estime, dictatorship
returned under General
Paul Magloire, who was
succeeded by Francois
(Papa doc) Duva-lier's in
1957. Duvalier Secret
police ensured political
stability by brutal
efficiency; his son, Jean
Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier,
succeeded him as ruler
when he died in 1971.
Unrest generated by
economic crisis forced
Baby Doc to flee the
country in 1986.
You
don't have to be a genius
to see the subtle way in
which the Republic of
Haiti is being undermined;
some may say that it is
because of a succession of
dictators, but the reason
is more profound.
Because
of Haiti's aggressive
history, going all the way
back to slavery, powerful
nations will continue to
keep the Republic of Haiti
in check.
That
is why among critical
thinkers, the
destabilization of Haiti
is no surprise.
Yours
sincerely,
Prince
G. Smith
Freeport,
Grand Bahama
