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89-558: Mireille Duval Jameson is born and raised in the United States, her parents are from Haitian descent. Her parents move back to Haiti. While vacationing at her parents' house with her husband and child in Haiti, she is kidnapped. When her father, who by now has become a wealthy Haitian developer, refuses to pay her ransom, she is gang-raped and tortured by her captors, who keep her imprisoned for 13 days before finally releasing her. In

178-537: A Ceasefire with the Holy Roman Empire, and on 21 September, a Treaty of Peace and Commerce with the Dutch Republic. When Charles fell seriously ill, Leopold used it as an excuse to delay signing; one frustrated negotiator claimed "it would be a shorter way to knock (Charles) on the head, rather than all Europe be kept in suspense." The Spanish king recovered, while William threatened to dissolve

267-461: A diacritical mark (used to show that the second vowel is pronounced separately, as in the word na ï ve ), while the H is silent. (In English, this rule for the pronunciation is often disregarded, thus the spelling Haiti is used.) There are different anglicizations for its pronunciation such as HIGH-ti , high-EE-ti and haa-EE-ti , which are still in use, but HAY-ti is the most widespread and best-established. In French, Haiti's nickname means

356-513: A failed state . Haiti (also earlier Hayti ) comes from the indigenous Taíno language and means "land of high mountains"; it was the native name for the entire island of Hispaniola . The name was restored by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue, as a tribute to the Amerindian predecessors. In French, the ï in Ha ï ti has

445-514: A "riveting debut" that "captivates from its opening sentence and doesn't let go." The Los Angeles Times called it "suspenseful, immediate and realistic." The A.V. Club awarded it an A letter grade and praised it as "a gripping psychological portrait of how trauma remakes the body to respond only to itself." Gay was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Fiction in 2015 for An Untamed State . In March 2016 director Gina Prince-Bythewood announced she would be adapting

534-554: A clause that allowed, for the first time, foreign ownership of land in Haiti, which was bitterly opposed by the Haitian legislature and citizenry. The occupation improved some of Haiti's infrastructure and centralized power in Port-au-Prince. 1700 km of roads were made usable, 189 bridges were built, many irrigation canals were rehabilitated, hospitals, schools, and public buildings were constructed, and drinking water

623-634: A dual approach of a diplomatic offensive to seek support, while keeping the French Army on a war footing. The increase in Habsburg power following victory in the Great Turkish War with the signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 was offset by the growing independence of states like Bavaria , which looked to Louis, rather than Leopold, for support. The war diverted resources from both

712-462: A few years. Many enslaved persons died from diseases such as smallpox and typhoid fever . They had low birth rates , and there is evidence that some women aborted fetuses rather than give birth to children within the bonds of slavery . The colony's environment also suffered, as forests were cleared to make way for plantations and the land was overworked so as to extract maximum profit for French plantation owners. As in its Louisiana colony ,

801-627: A national martyr. During Senate hearings in 1921, the commandant of the Marine Corps reported that, in the 20 months of active unrest, 2,250 Haitians had been killed. However, in a report to the Secretary of the Navy, he reported the death toll as being 3,250. Haitian historians have claimed the true number was much higher, but this is not supported by most historians outside Haiti. Peace of Ryswick The Peace of Ryswick , or Rijswijk ,

890-447: A passing stranger raped Sleeping Beauty as she lay unconscious, or that Snow White 's jealous stepmother not only called for her death but wanted to eat her liver and lungs. Roxane Gay's striking debut novel, 'An Untamed State,' is a fairy tale in this vein, its complex and fragile moral arrived at through great pain and high cost." An Untamed State received positive reviews upon publication. Nolan Feeney writing for Time called it

979-468: A payment of 150 million francs . By an order of 17 April 1826, the King of France renounced his rights of sovereignty and formally recognized the independence of Haiti. The enforced payments to France hampered Haiti's economic growth for years, exacerbated by the fact that many Western states continued to refuse formal diplomatic recognition to Haiti; Britain recognized Haitian independence in 1833, and

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1068-659: A rebellion in the 1750s; however, he was later captured and executed by the French. Inspired by the French Revolution of 1789 and principles of the rights of man , the French settlers and free people of color pressed for greater political freedom and more civil rights . Tensions between these two groups led to conflict, as a militia of free-coloreds was set up in 1790 by Vincent Ogé , resulting in his capture, torture and execution. Sensing an opportunity, in August 1791

1157-518: A revolution began, led by General Fabre Geffrard , Duke of Tabara. In December of that year, Geffrard defeated the Imperial Army and seized control of most of the country. As a result, the Emperor abdicated his throne on 15 January 1859. Faustin was taken into exile and General Geffrard succeeded him as president. The period following Soulouque's overthrow down to the turn of the century was

1246-520: A significant uprising, capitulated to the rebels, effectively ending Haitian rule of eastern Hispaniola. In March Rivière-Hérard attempted to reimpose his authority, but the Dominicans inflicted heavy losses. Rivière-Hérard was removed from office by the mulatto hierarchy and replaced with the aged general Philippe Guerrier , who assumed the presidency on 3 May 1844. Guerrier died in April 1845, and

1335-543: A slave holder and isolationist, kept the United States neutral, although private US citizens at times provided aid to French planters trying to put down the revolt. John Adams , a vocal opponent of slavery, fully supported the slave revolt by providing diplomatic recognition, financial support, munitions and warships (including the USS Constitution ) beginning in 1798. This support ended in 1801 when Jefferson, another slave-holding president, took office and recalled

1424-690: A small community of German settlers wielding disproportionate influence in Haiti's economy. The German influence prompted anxieties in the United States, who had also invested heavily in the country, and whose government defended their right to oppose foreign interference in the Americas under the Monroe Doctrine . In December 1914, the Americans removed $ 500,000 from the Haitian National Bank, but rather than seize it to help pay

1513-593: A turbulent one for Haiti, with repeated bouts of political instability. President Geffrard was overthrown in a coup in 1867, as was his successor, Sylvain Salnave , in 1869. Under the Presidency of Michel Domingue (1874–76) relations with the Dominican Republic were dramatically improved by the signing of a treaty, in which both parties acknowledged the independence of the other. Some modernisation of

1602-564: Is a member of the International Monetary Fund , World Trade Organization , and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States . Historically poor and politically unstable, Haiti has the lowest Human Development Index in the Americas. By 2024, Haiti has faced severe economic and political crises , gang activity, and the collapse of its government. With no elected officials remaining, Haiti has been described as

1691-516: Is often too painful to relate. From the first sentence, we know Mireille has found a way to craft her story to make it bearable. She frames it as a fairy tale: 'Once upon a time, in a far-off land, I was kidnapped'". In the New York Times , Holly Bass said in contrast to contemporary, happy-ending-focused fairy tales, Gay's interpretation of the genre recalled "the real horrors of the original Brothers Grimm stories and their ilk ... that

1780-563: Is our land." In the Haitian community the country has multiple nicknames: Ayiti-Toma (as its origin in Ayiti Tomè), Ayiti-Cheri (Ayiti my Darling), Tè-Desalin (Dessalines' Land) or Lakay (Home). The island of Hispaniola , of which Haiti occupies the western three-eighths, has been inhabited since around 6,000 years ago by Native Americans who are thought to have arrived from Central or northern South America. These Archaic Age people are thought to have been largely hunter gatherers. During

1869-460: The Code Noir ("Black Code"), prepared by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and ratified by Louis XIV , which established rules on slave treatment and permissible freedoms. Saint-Domingue has been described as one of the most brutally efficient slave colonies; at the end of the eighteenth century it was supplying two-thirds of Europe's tropical produce while one-third of newly imported Africans died within

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1958-565: The Santa María ran aground near the present site of Cap-Haïtien . Columbus left 39 men on the island, who founded the settlement of La Navidad on 25 December 1492. Relations with the native peoples, initially good, broke down and the settlers were later killed by the Taíno. The sailors carried endemic Eurasian infectious diseases , causing epidemics that killed a large number of native people. The first recorded smallpox epidemic in

2047-695: The 1st millennium BC , the Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taino people began to migrate into the Caribbean. Unlike the Archaic peoples, they practiced the intensive production of pottery and agriculture. The earliest evidence of the ancestors of the Taino people on Hispaniola is the Ostionoid culture, which dates to around 600 AD. In Taíno society the largest unit of political organization

2136-598: The American Colonization Society and its efforts in Liberia . Many found the conditions too harsh and returned to the United States. In July 1825, King Charles X of France , during a period of restoration of the French monarchy , sent a fleet to reconquer Haiti. Under pressure, President Boyer agreed to a treaty by which France formally recognized the independence of the state in exchange for

2225-702: The Americas . Acquisition of these territories by either France or Austria would change the European balance of power. Recognising he was not strong enough to impose his preferred solution to the Spanish question, Louis wanted to prevent its discussion, by dividing the Grand Alliance and isolating Leopold. In the 1696 Treaty of Turin he made a separate peace with the Duchy of Savoy . Other concessions were

2314-600: The Caribbean Sea , east of Cuba and Jamaica , and south of The Bahamas . It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic . Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean , and with an estimated population of 11.4 million, is the most populous Caribbean country. The capital and largest city is Port-au-Prince . Haiti was originally inhabited by

2403-704: The Dutch and French navies , and although the Dutch still dominated the Far East trade, Ryswick marked a turning point in England's rise as a global maritime power. Previously focused on the Levant , its mercantile interests began challenging Spanish and Portuguese control of the Americas, where the French struggled to compete. The huge debts accumulated by the Dutch weakened their economy, while London replaced Amsterdam as

2492-591: The Duvalier family (1957–1986). After a coup d'état in 2004 , the United Nations intervened . In 2010, a catastrophic earthquake and a deadly cholera outbreak devastated the country. Haiti is a founding member of the United Nations , Organization of American States (OAS), Association of Caribbean States , and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie . In addition to CARICOM , it

2581-448: The French colonial government allowed some rights to free people of color ( gens de couleur ), the mixed-race descendants of European male colonists and African enslaved females (and later, mixed-race women). Over time, many were released from slavery and they established a separate social class . White French Creole fathers frequently sent their mixed-race sons to France for their education. Some men of color were admitted into

2670-576: The German government supported suppression of the reform movement of Anténor Firmin , and in 1897, the Germans used gunboat diplomacy to intimidate and then humiliate the Haitian government of President Tirésias Simon Sam (1896–1902) during the Lüders Affair . In the first decades of the 20th century, Haiti experienced great political instability and was heavily in debt to France, Germany and

2759-540: The Kingdom of Haiti in the north directed by Henri Christophe, later declaring himself Henri I , and a republic in the south centered on Port-au-Prince, directed by Alexandre Pétion , an homme de couleur . Pétion's republic was less absolutist, and he initiated a series of land reforms which benefited the peasant class. President Pétion also gave military and financial assistance to the revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar , which were critical in enabling him to liberate

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2848-516: The Taíno people. In 1492, Christopher Columbus established the first European settlement in the Americas , La Navidad , on its northeastern coast. The island was part of the Spanish Empire until 1697, when the western portion was ceded to France and became Saint-Domingue , dominated by sugarcane plantations worked by enslaved Africans. The 1791-1804 Haitian Revolution made Haiti

2937-525: The Viceroyalty of New Granada . Meanwhile, the French, who had managed to maintain a precarious control of eastern Hispaniola, were defeated by insurgents led by Juan Sánchez Ramírez , with the area returning to Spanish rule in 1809 following the Battle of Palo Hincado . Beginning in 1821, President Jean-Pierre Boyer , also an homme de couleur and successor to Pétion, reunified the island following

3026-416: The genocide of nearly all the remaining white men, women, children; between January and April 1804, 3,000 to 5,000 whites were killed, including those who had been friendly and sympathetic to the black population. Only three categories of white people were selected out as exceptions and spared: Polish soldiers, the majority of whom had deserted from the French army and fought alongside the Haitian rebels;

3115-656: The "Pearl of the Antilles" ( La Perle des Antilles ) because of both its natural beauty and the amount of wealth it accumulated for the Kingdom of France . In Haitian Creole , it is spelled and pronounced with a y but no H : Ayiti . Another theory on the name Haiti is its origin in African tradition; in Fon language, one of the most spoken by the bossales (Haitians born in Africa), Ayiti-Tomè means: "From nowadays this land

3204-403: The 1679 Treaty of Nijmegen , including Freiburg , Breisach and the Duchy of Lorraine ; conversely, it retained Strasbourg . The Nine Years' War was financially crippling for its participants, partly because armies increased in size from an average of 25,000 in 1648 to over 100,000 by 1697. This was unsustainable for pre-industrial economies; the war absorbed 80% of English state revenue in

3293-571: The 1788 Census, Haiti's population consisted of nearly 25,000 Europeans, 22,000 free coloreds and 700,000 Africans in slavery. In contrast, by 1763 the white population of French Canada , a far larger territory, had numbered only 65,000. In the north of the island, those enslaved were able to retain many ties to African cultures, religion and language; these ties were continually being renewed by newly imported Africans. Some West Africans in slavery held on to their traditional Vodou beliefs by secretly syncretizing it with Catholicism. The French enacted

3382-497: The 18,000-strong Haitian army, with a 5,000-man Dominican counterattack failing to oust them. The way to Santo Domingo was now clear. But the news of discontent existing at Port-au-Prince, which reached Soulouque, arrested his further progress and caused him to return with the army to his capital. Emboldened by the sudden retreat of the Haitian army, the Dominicans counter-attacked. Their flotilla went as far as Dame-Marie on

3471-455: The Alliance if Leopold did not sign before 1 November; he finally did so on 30 October. The treaty essentially restored the map of Western Europe to that agreed by the 1679 Treaty of Nijmegen ; France kept Strasbourg , the strategic key to Alsace , but returned other territories occupied or captured since then, including Freiburg , Breisach , Philippsburg and the Duchy of Lorraine to

3560-542: The Americas erupted on Hispaniola in 1507. Their numbers were further reduced by the harshness of the encomienda system, in which the Spanish forced natives to work in gold mines and plantations. The Spanish passed the Laws of Burgos (1512–1513), which forbade the maltreatment of natives, endorsed their conversion to Catholicism, and gave legal framework to encomiendas . The natives were brought to these sites to work in specific plantations or industries. As

3649-630: The British initially preferred to continue fighting, William became anxious to finalise peace. William and Louis appointed the Earl of Portland and Marshal Louis-François de Boufflers as their personal representatives; they met privately outside Brussels in June 1697, and quickly finalised terms, with de Quiros being overruled. The peace consisted of a number of separate agreements: on 20 September 1697, France signed Treaties of Peace with Spain and England,

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3738-417: The Dominicans were given a further breathing space in which to consolidate their independence. But, when in 1848 France finally recognized the Dominican Republic as a free and independent state and provisionally signed a treaty of peace, friendship, commerce and navigation, Haiti immediately protested, claiming the treaty was an attack upon their own security. Soulouque decided to invade the new Republic before

3827-520: The Empire, such as Baden and Bavaria , sent representatives, although they were not party to the treaties. Talks proceeded slowly; Leopold habitually avoided making decisions until absolutely necessary, and since the terms failed to address the inheritance question, he would only agree to a ceasefire. One of the Spanish negotiators, Bernardo de Quiros, ignored instructions from Madrid to make peace at any price, and agreed to support this demand. Although

3916-528: The French Government could ratify the treaty. On 21 March 1849, Haitian soldiers attacked the Dominican garrison at Las Matas . The demoralized defenders offered almost no resistance before abandoning their weapons. Soulouque pressed on, capturing San Juan . This left only the town of Azua as the remaining Dominican stronghold between the Haitian army and the capital. On 6 April, Azua fell to

4005-535: The French troops at the Battle of Vertières on 18 November 1803, establishing the first state ever to successfully gain independence through a slave revolt. Under the overall command of Dessalines, the Haitian armies avoided open battle, and instead conducted a successful guerrilla campaign against the Napoleonic forces, working with diseases such as yellow fever to reduce the numbers of French soldiers. Later that year France withdrew its remaining 7,000 troops from

4094-708: The Holy Roman Empire. French forces also evacuated Catalonia , Luxembourg , Mons and Kortrijk in the Spanish Netherlands . Louis recognised William as king, withdrew support from the Jacobites , and abandoned claims to the Electorate of Cologne , and the Electoral Palatinate . In North America, positions returned to those prevailing before the war, with France regaining Acadia , although in reality low-level conflict persisted around

4183-468: The Marines had taken control of the capital city and its banks and customs house. The Marines declared martial law and severely censored the press. Within weeks, a new pro-U.S. Haitian president, Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave , was installed and a new constitution written that was favorable to the interests of the United States. The constitution (written by future US President Franklin D. Roosevelt ) included

4272-578: The Peace was generally viewed as a truce; Charles' death in 1700 led to the War of the Spanish Succession . In Europe and North America , the terms essentially restored the position prevailing before the war, though Spain recognized French control of the island of Tortuga and the western portion of Hispaniola ( Saint-Domingue ). In Europe, France evacuated several territories it had occupied since

4361-424: The Spanish re-focused their colonization efforts on the greater riches of mainland Central and South America, Hispaniola became reduced largely to a trading and refueling post. As a result piracy became widespread, encouraged by European powers hostile to Spain such as France (based on Île de la Tortue ) and England. The Spanish largely abandoned the western third of the island, focusing their colonization effort on

4450-448: The U.S. financial advisor-general receiver handled the budget until 1941. The U.S. Marines were instilled with a special brand of paternalism towards Haitians "expressed in the metaphor of a father's relationship with his children." Armed opposition to the US presence was led by the cacos under the command of Charlemagne Péralte ; his capture and execution in 1919 earned him the status of

4539-537: The US Navy. With slavery abolished, Toussaint Louverture pledged allegiance to France, and he fought off the British and Spanish forces who had taken advantage of the situation and invaded Saint-Domingue. The Spanish were later forced to cede their part of the island to France under the terms of the Peace of Basel in 1795, uniting the island under one government. However, an insurgency against French rule broke out in

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4628-618: The United States not until 1862. Haiti borrowed heavily from Western banks at extremely high interest rates to repay the debt. Although the amount of the reparations was reduced to 90 million in 1838, by 1900 80% of Haiti's government spending was debt repayment and the country did not finish repaying it until 1947. After losing the support of Haiti's elite, Boyer was ousted in 1843, with Charles Rivière-Hérard replacing him as president. Nationalist Dominican forces in eastern Hispaniola led by Juan Pablo Duarte seized control of Santo Domingo on 27 February 1844. The Haitian forces, unprepared for

4717-531: The United States. A series of short lived presidencies came and went: President Pierre Nord Alexis was forced from power in 1908, as was his successor François C. Antoine Simon in 1911; President Cincinnatus Leconte (1911–12) was killed in a (possibly deliberate) explosion at the National Palace; Michel Oreste (1913–14) was ousted in a coup, as was his successor Oreste Zamor in 1914. Germany increased its influence in Haiti in this period, with

4806-627: The boundaries. Conversely, in the Caribbean Spain recognized French control of the western portion of Hispaniola and the island of Tortuga ; France had in fact established its colony of Saint-Domingue years earlier. Meanwhile, the Dutch returned the colony of Pondichéry in India to France. All sides interpreted Ryswick to be a truce, and expected conflict to resume when Charles died. The war demonstrated that France could no longer impose its objectives without allies. Louis therefore adopted

4895-527: The colony. Six months later, the National Convention , led by Maximilien de Robespierre and the Jacobins , endorsed abolition and extended it to all the French colonies. The United States , which was a new republic itself, oscillated between supporting or not supporting Toussaint Louverture and the emerging country of Haiti, depending on who was President of the US. Washington, who was

4984-730: The command of his brother-in-law, Charles Leclerc , to reassert French control. The French achieved some victories, but within a few months most of their army had died from yellow fever . Ultimately more than 50,000 French troops died in an attempt to retake the colony, including 18 generals. The French managed to capture Louverture, transporting him to France for trial. He was imprisoned at Fort de Joux , where he died in 1803 of exposure and possibly tuberculosis . The enslaved persons, along with free gens de couleur and allies, continued their fight for independence, led by generals Jean-Jacques Dessalines , Alexandre Pétion and Henry Christophe . The rebels finally managed to decisively defeat

5073-508: The commercial centre of Europe. The Nine Years' War, together with the subsequent War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), marked the end of the Dutch Golden Age . At the same time, the determination of the Tory majority in Parliament to reduce costs meant that by 1699, the English army had been reduced to less than 7,000 men. This seriously undermined William's ability to negotiate on equal terms with France, and despite his intense mistrust, he co-operated with Louis in an attempt to agree

5162-419: The country. These have become national symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions. Modern-day Léogâne , started as a French colonial town in the southwest, is beside the former capital of the caciquedom of Xaragua. Navigator Christopher Columbus landed in Haiti on 6 December 1492, in an area that he named Môle-Saint-Nicolas , and claimed the island for the Crown of Castile . Nineteen days later, his ship

5251-404: The debt, it was removed for safe-keeping in New York, thus giving the United States control of the bank and preventing other powers from doing so. This gave a stable financial base on which to build the economy, and to enable the debt to be repaid. In 1915, Haiti's new President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam sought to strengthen his tenuous rule by a mass execution of 167 political prisoners. Outrage at

5340-537: The east, and in the west there was fighting between Louverture's forces and the free people of color led by André Rigaud in the War of the Knives (1799–1800). The United States' support for the blacks in the war contributed to their victory over the mulattoes. More than 25,000 whites and free blacks left the island as refugees. After Louverture created a separatist constitution and proclaimed himself governor-general for life, Napoléon Bonaparte in 1802 sent an expedition of 20,000 soldiers and as many sailors under

5429-428: The eastern two-thirds. The western part of the island was thus gradually settled by French buccaneers ; among them was Bertrand d'Ogeron, who succeeded in growing tobacco and recruited many French colonial families from Martinique and Guadeloupe . In 1697 France and Spain settled their hostilities on the island by way of the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697, which divided Hispaniola between them. France received

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5518-401: The economy and infrastructure also occurred in this period, especially under the Presidencies of Lysius Salomon (1879–1888) and Florvil Hyppolite (1889–1896). Haiti's relations with outside powers were often strained. In 1889 the United States attempted to force Haiti to permit the building of a naval base at Môle Saint-Nicolas , which was firmly resisted by President Hyppolite. In 1892

5607-407: The family farm in Nebraska . Commentary on An Untamed State frequently cites the novel's emphasis on fairy tale . Reviewing the novel for the Los Angeles Times , Chris Daley suggests the fairy tale theme serves to translate unspeakable trauma: "Written from Mireille's perspective, 'An Untamed State' is an account of what is normally unaccountable: a level of trauma that, even if it is survived,

5696-461: The first sovereign state in the Caribbean , the second republic in the Americas, the first country in the Americas to officially abolish slavery, and the only country in history established by a slave revolt . The 19th century saw political instability, international isolation, debt to France , and failed invasions of the Dominican Republic, including a costly war . U.S. forces occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934, followed by dictatorial rule of

5785-428: The first portion of the book, called "Happily Ever After," the novel moves back and forth in time between Mireille's captivity and her earlier life, meeting and falling in love with husband Michael during graduate school in the Midwest of the United States. The latter section of the novel, "Once Upon a Time," follows Mireille in the aftermath of her trauma , including her time living with Michael's mother, Lorraine, on

5874-528: The first slave armies were established in northern Haiti under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture inspired by the Vodou houngan (priest) Boukman, and backed by the Spanish in Santo Domingo – soon a full-blown slave rebellion had broken out across the entire colony. In 1792, the French government sent three commissioners with troops to re-establish control; to build an alliance with the gens de couleur and enslaved persons commissioners Léger-Félicité Sonthonax and Étienne Polverel abolished slavery in

5963-518: The huge financial costs, coupled with widespread famine and economic dislocation, meant both sides needed peace. Negotiations were delayed by the question of who would inherit the Spanish Empire from the childless and terminally ill Charles II of Spain , the closest heirs being Louis and Emperor Leopold I . Since Louis could not impose his preferred solution, he refused to discuss the issue, while Leopold refused to sign without its inclusion. He finally did so with great reluctance on 30 October 1697, but

6052-638: The island and Napoleon gave up his idea of re-establishing a North American empire, selling Louisiana (New France) to the United States , in the Louisiana Purchase . Throughout the revolution, an estimated 20,000 French troops succumbed to yellow fever, while another 37,000 were killed in action , exceeding the total French soldiers killed in action across various 19th-century colonial campaigns in Algeria, Mexico, Indochina, Tunisia, and West Africa, which resulted in approximately 10,000 French soldiers killed in action combined. The British sustained 45,000 dead. Additionally, 350,000 ex-enslaved Haitians died. In

6141-440: The killings led to riots, and Sam was captured and killed by a lynch mob. Fearing possible foreign intervention, or the emergence of a new government led by the anti-American Haitian politician Rosalvo Bobo , President Woodrow Wilson sent U.S. Marines into Haiti in July 1915. The USS  Washington , under Rear Admiral Caperton , arrived in Port-au-Prince in an attempt to restore order and protect U.S. interests. Within days,

6230-581: The military. More of the free people of color lived in the south of the island, near Port-au-Prince , and many intermarried within their community. They frequently worked as artisans and tradesmen, and began to own some property, including enslaved persons of their own. The free people of color petitioned the colonial government to expand their rights. The brutality of slave life led many people in bondage to escape to mountainous regions, where they set up their own autonomous communities and became known as maroons . One maroon leader, François Mackandal , led

6319-489: The new republic. The Southern politicians who were a powerful voting bloc in the American Congress prevented U.S. recognition for decades until they withdrew in 1861 to form the Confederacy . The revolution led to a wave of emigration. In 1809, 9,000 refugees from Saint-Domingue, both white planters and people of color, settled en masse in New Orleans , doubling the city's population, having been expelled from their initial refuge in Cuba by Spanish authorities. In addition,

6408-438: The newly arrived enslaved persons added to the city's African population. The plantation system was re-established in Haiti, albeit for wages; however, many Haitians were marginalized and resented the heavy-handed manner in which this was enforced in the new nation's politics. The rebel movement splintered, and Dessalines was assassinated by rivals on 17 October 1806. After Dessalines' death Haiti became split into two, with

6497-508: The novel into a feature film for Fox Searchlight . Prince-Bythewood and Gay will co-write the film, to star Gugu Mbatha-Raw . Prince-Bythewood will direct and will also produce with Michael De Luca . Prince-Bythewood and Mbatha-Raw previously collaborated on Beyond the Lights . Haiti Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a country on the island of Hispaniola in

6586-570: The period, while the huge manpower commitments badly affected the economy. The 1690s also marked the coldest point of the so-called Little Ice Age , a period of cold and wet weather affecting Europe in the second half of the 17th century. Harvests failed throughout Europe in 1695, 1696, 1698 and 1699; in Scotland and parts of Northern Europe, an estimated 5–15% of the population starved to death. Although fighting largely ended in Europe after 1695,

6675-483: The primary issue of European politics for the last 30 years: the Spanish inheritance. By 1696, it was clear Charles II of Spain would die childless, and his potential heirs included King Louis XIV of France and Emperor Leopold I . The Spanish Empire remained a vast global confederation; in addition to Spain, its territories included large parts of Italy , the Spanish Netherlands , the Philippines , and much of

6764-509: The process, Dessalines became arguably the most successful military commander in the struggle against Napoleonic France. The independence of Saint-Domingue was proclaimed under the native name 'Haiti' by Jean-Jacques Dessalines on 1 January 1804 in Gonaïves and he was proclaimed "Emperor for Life" as Emperor Jacques I by his troops. Dessalines at first offered protection to the white planters and others. However, once in power, he ordered

6853-488: The return of the Duchy of Luxemburg to Spain; considerably larger than the modern state, it was essential to Dutch security. Louis also agreed to recognise William III as monarch of England and Scotland, rather than the exiled James II . Formal discussions between the delegations were held in the Huis ter Nieuwburg at Ryswick, mediated by Swedish diplomat and soldier Baron Lilliënrot  [ sv ] . Many members of

6942-412: The small group of German colonists invited to the north-west region ; and a group of medical doctors and professionals. Reportedly, people with connections to officers in the Haitian army were also spared, as well as the women who agreed to marry non-white men. Fearful of the potential impact the slave rebellion could have in the slave states , U.S. President Thomas Jefferson refused to recognize

7031-605: The subsidiary conflict known as King William's War continued in the Americas. A French fleet arrived in the Caribbean in early 1697, threatening the Spanish treasure fleet , and English possessions in the West Indies . England occupied the French colony of Acadia , while the French repulsed attacks on Quebec , captured York Factory , and caused substantial damage to the New England economy. Talks were dominated by

7120-888: The suicide of Henry Christophe. After Santo Domingo declared its independence from Spain on 30 November 1821, Boyer invaded, seeking to unite the entire island by force and ending slavery in Santo Domingo. Struggling to revive the agricultural economy to produce commodity crops , Boyer passed the Code Rural, which denied peasant laborers the right to leave the land, enter the towns, or start farms or shops of their own, causing much resentment as most peasants wished to have their own farms rather than work on plantations. Starting in September 1824, more than 6,000 African Americans migrated to Haiti, with transportation paid by an American philanthropic group similar in function to

7209-511: The war against the Dominicans having become very unpopular in Haiti, it was beyond the power of the new president, General Jean-Baptiste Riché , to stage another invasion. On 27 February 1847, President Riché died after only a year in power and was replaced by an obscure officer, General Faustin Soulouque . During the first two years of Soulouque's administration the conspiracies and opposition he faced in retaining power were so manifold that

7298-462: The west coast of Haiti, which they plundered and set on fire. After another Haitian campaign in 1855, Britain and France intervened and obtained an armistice on behalf of the Dominicans, who declared independence as the Dominican Republic. The sufferings endured by the soldiers during the campaign of 1855, and the losses and sacrifices inflicted on the country without yielding any compensation or any practical results provoked great discontent. In 1858

7387-545: The western third and subsequently named it Saint-Domingue, the French equivalent of Santo Domingo , the Spanish colony on Hispaniola . The French set about creating sugar and coffee plantations, worked by vast numbers of those enslaved imported from Africa , and Saint-Domingue grew to become their richest colonial possession, generating 40% of France’s foreign trade and doubling the wealth generation of all of England’s colonies, combined. The French settlers were outnumbered by enslaved persons by almost 10 to 1. According to

7476-540: Was a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Rijswijk between 20 September and 30 October 1697. They ended the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War between France and the Grand Alliance , which included the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire . One of a series of wars fought by Louis XIV of France between 1666 and 1714, neither side was able to make significant territorial gains. By 1695,

7565-508: Was also introduced to Haiti, and sugarcane and cotton became significant exports, boosting prosperity. Haitian traditionalists, based in rural areas, were highly resistant to U.S.-backed changes, while the urban elites, typically mixed-race, welcomed the growing economy, but wanted more political control. Together they helped secure an end to the occupation in 1934, under the Presidency of Sténio Vincent (1930–1941). The debts were still outstanding, though less due to increased prosperity, and

7654-432: Was brought to the main cities. Agricultural education was organized, with a central school of agriculture and 69 farms in the country. However, many infrastructure projects were built using the corvée system that allowed the government/occupying forces to take people from their homes and farms, at gunpoint if necessary, to build roads, bridges etc. by force, a process that was deeply resented by ordinary Haitians. Sisal

7743-733: Was led by a cacique , or chief, as the Europeans understood them. At the time of European contact, the island of Hispaniola was divided among five 'caciquedoms': the Magua in the northeast, the Marien in the northwest, the Jaragua in the southwest, the Maguana in the central regions of Cibao, and the Higüey in the southeast. Taíno cultural artifacts include cave paintings in several locations in

7832-416: Was stopped on the frontier. On 1 January 1846 Pierrot announced a fresh campaign to reimpose Haitian suzerainty over eastern Hispaniola, but his officers and men greeted this fresh summons with contempt. Thus, a month later – February 1846 – when Pierrot ordered his troops to march against the Dominicans, the Haitian army mutinied, and its soldiers proclaimed his overthrow as president of the republic. With

7921-402: Was succeeded by General Jean-Louis Pierrot . Pierrot's most pressing duty as the new president was to check the incursions of the Dominicans, who were harassing the Haitian troops. Dominican gunboats were also making depredations on Haiti's coasts. President Pierrot decided to open a campaign against the Dominicans, whom he considered merely as insurgents; however, the Haitian offensive of 1845

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