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Hati is the first republic in the world to have been led by a person of African descent: Jean-Jaques Dessalines. This is not however the only historically significant aspect of this country. Notably, it is Dessalines' victory over Rochambeau, in Vertieres, that forced Napoleon to abandon his bid for the control of Louisiana and eventually, the rest of the 'New World'. Therefore, weren't it for Dessalines and his troops of freed slaves of African origin, the United States of America would most likely not be what they are today. One is also forced to notice some similarities between the early histories of Hati and the U.
S. A. Both were formerly inhabited by indigenous populations which were decimated by colonists. Both prospered economically through the labor of slaves shipped in from Africa, and both fought for inference around the turn of the 18 th century.
Their post-independence path, especially from an economic standpoint have however been very different -- The U. S. A. is today the largest economic power in the world while Hati is economically in the bottom five. At this time, Toussaint Louverture, free since 1777, formed a battalion of former slaves which, under the French flag, drove away the British invaders. He further defeated the mulattoes during the war of knives and, for his courage and valor at the front, was installed as governor of Saint Domingue.
In 1801, Toussaint went on to conquer the Eastern part of Hispaniola, abolished slavery there, and installed himself as governor of the entire island. Bonaparte saw this as a threat to France's control of the island and sent his brother Leclerc, along with 20, 000 troops, with for mission the capture of Toussaint and the re-establishment of slavery in the colony. Toussaint was deceived into capture in 1802 and shipped to France where he died while imprisoned in a cold jail cell in the Jura. Toussaint's allies Henri Christophe and Jean-Jaques Dessalines had also surrendered to the French but remained on the island. Two factors led these men to start the Haitian revolution: the news that France was re-establishing slavery in its colonies and the fact that Leclerc's troup's contracted Yellow Fever. The North went up in arms, united with the Southern troup's of Person, and defeated the French Rochambeau (successor of Leclerc who had died of malaria) at the famed Battle of Vertieres, outside of what is today Cap-Haitian, on November 18, 1803.
Dessalines proclaimed the independence of the colony at Gonaives on January 1, 1804 and gave it back its native name of Haiti. The first republic in the world to be led by a person of African descent was thus born. Bibliography:
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