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How HAITI Helped Create the United States of America

Updated October 8, 2012 10:46 PM

The idea of the day in the New York Times blog today is "How Haiti Helped Create the U.S." and the article suggests that the United States owes more to Haiti for her independence one might think.


Jean Jacques Dessalines

Many times you hear about George Washington and the forefathers of the American Revolution but rarely do you hear about sweats of the Haitian slaves who helped finance the American war of Independence.

Who would've thought that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake would bring this topic back to the surface?

Did Haiti help create the United States of America?

Here are some excerpts from the New York Times article:

"The United States owes a debt for its founding to what is now Haiti..."

"...the prosperous French colony [Haiti] was a vital transit hub for munitions and an economic engine behind French loans to the American cause."

"The United States might never have come into existence were it not for Saint Domingue, Haiti's French predecessor"

"France supported the American Revolution in part to protect its island jewel [Haiti] from a British takeover"

It was the "vast sums pouring into France from Saint Domingue [Haiti] at exactly the same time [The American Revolution that] made foreign aid to the New World [The United States] a distinctly more attractive option... "

"...the entire enterprise rested on the backs of the men and women whose labor powered it [The Haitian People]"

One interesting comment about the article is that of JL which states:

"Let's not forget that the Haitian revolution led directly to France selling the Louisiana Territories to the US - a favor we returned by embargoing the newly independent nation [Haiti]. So we have a double, no triple debt to Haiti."

Question:

How much does the United States really owe to Haiti?

Write a comment  (10)

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All Comments (10)

Loolee3 says...

loolee3,

emmece est tout le contraire du "low impact"
il y a
beaucoup de sauts au contraire...

et biensur rien a
voir avec la danse qui est un ART...

le emmece reste

Reply  ... More

Josy says...

I notice that a couple of replies (1&2) make absolutely no sense, and full of errors.

I suggest that you read the article carefully, and understand it completely before you write a reply.

It is not just about being on the internet, and writing comments.

Reply  ... More

Ernst Pierre says...

we all needs to stop this crapes about who owe us and who don't, how can you demands respect when you don't respect your self your country no body owe us nothing if there's someone who owe something is us who owe does who fight to remove us from slavery give us a flag sacrifices them self to put us where we are now.that our government don't respect or maybe they doesn't know the meaning of freedom, stop blaming others for our mi stick so let's started paying does people who did put them self together as one yo te kon sa me nou non comme disent notres drapeaux l'union fait la

Reply  ... More

Codo says...

Nothing new!!! Haiti did'nt help hell, the french did for polical purpose, for their own polical interest at the time. Haiti as we know it is for nothing.

Go and get credit for somethingelse.

This is a loser approach mendiants we are with our Kwi because our own fault, please stop trying to pretend other hard working people ows us. Thank you for

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Peter says...

If I were you i would not have worded it like that. It is not just the US that dont do anything because of good heart.

Let me ask you this question, do you do anything for free without seing something in it for you?

I dont. That's how that world goes around.

Reply  ... More

Turenne Jean-francois says...

This is true, and allso is now to late to claim anything from the USA, because at least 90% of our politician give their allegence to united stade of america so that they could flee whenever they want in case of rebelion from the small

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Anny says...

I am happy to see someone remembered what Haiti did for the USA, but they will never think they own us because when they say they gonna help you, it's because they see they will have some profit when they are helping you. They dont help people by heart but they see they can control haiti, take the good things in haiti.

So USA don't help nobody for nothing.

They realize before helping where they gonna take advantage of

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