Authority 3

After having told the assembled generals his true intentions, to assure forever a stable government for the natives of Haiti, (…) to make the country independent, and to enjoy a liberty consecrated by the blood of the people of this island; and after having gathered their responses, has asked that each of the assembled generals take a vow to forever renounce France, to die rather than live under its domination, and to fight for independence until their last breath.

From the original script of Haiti's declaration of independence.

Supreme General Dessalines and other generals. Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758-1806) was a former slave and became the supreme general in Haiti's struggle for independence. He proclaimed himself emperor in 1804 and ruled until 1806. His assassination triggered widespread unrest.

Haitian anti-slavery activists had been fighting for independence from France and against the island's white elite since 1791. Slavery was abolished in 1794. With the war of independence dragging on for several years, Napoleon (who had effectively returned to power in 1799) threatened to reintroduce slavery. But the Haitians won and, in 1804, became the first Latin American country to become independent. However, a coalition of European states and the United States boycotted the country, which led to its near ruin. Since the prosperity of colonial states was based on the plantation economy and therefore on the principle of slavery, they feared that the Haitian revolution could also inspire other colonised peoples. As a result, Haiti was forced into isolation in terms of foreign policy and the new state was obliged to make vast compensation payments to former slave owners. In return for recognising Haiti as an independent state in 1825, France demanded compensation of 150 million francs, with the sum later reduced to 90 million francs. It was not until 1947 that Haiti was finally able to pay off this amount which it did with the help of loans (Ziegler 2010). The high national debt it was saddled with immediately after independence is often seen as marking the start of Haiti's economic dependence on the outside world. At the World Conference Against Racism in 2001, Haiti demanded compensation from France.

*Project in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where youths work on history of enslavement. *C.L.R. James (1963): The Black Jacobins. New York: Random House.

1804