Haiti then known as Saint-Domingue
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2025 9:18 am
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France intervened even more directly than the United States to thwart its success. In July 1825, the King of France, Charles X, sent an armed flotilla of warships to Haiti with the message that the young nation would have to pay France 150 million francs to ensure its independence, or suffer the consequences. consequences. This was 10 times the amount the United States had paid to France in the purchase of Louisiana, which had doubled the size of the United States.
Almost literally at gunpoint, Haiti gave in to the demands of France in order to guarantee its independence. The amount was too high for the young nation to pay it straight away, and so it had to take out loans at high phone number library interest rates from a French bank. Over the next century, Haiti paid French slave owners and their descendants the equivalent of $ 20 billion to $ 30 billion in today’s dollars. It took 122 years for Haiti to pay it off. Professor Marlene Daut writes that this “seriously undermined the ability of the newly independent country to prosper”.
Right the wrongs
After the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti completely, academics and journalists wrote a letter to the French president demanding that France reimburse Haiti. French economist Thomas Piketty resurrected the idea in 2020, arguing that France owes Haiti at least $ 28 billion. The French government, under several presidents, has balked at the idea, and it is unlikely to reimburse Haiti anytime soon.
But if the rich world wants to help right the wrongs done to Haiti in the past, perhaps the most effective policy now would be to accept more Haitian refugees. It would not be just a human policy that would improve their lives and that of their future families. It would also likely be a boost to the Haitian economy. According to the World Bank, Haitian expatriates sent $ 3 billion in funds to Haiti in 2018, or nearly a third of the island nation’s total GDP.
France intervened even more directly than the United States to thwart its success. In July 1825, the King of France, Charles X, sent an armed flotilla of warships to Haiti with the message that the young nation would have to pay France 150 million francs to ensure its independence, or suffer the consequences. consequences. This was 10 times the amount the United States had paid to France in the purchase of Louisiana, which had doubled the size of the United States.
Almost literally at gunpoint, Haiti gave in to the demands of France in order to guarantee its independence. The amount was too high for the young nation to pay it straight away, and so it had to take out loans at high phone number library interest rates from a French bank. Over the next century, Haiti paid French slave owners and their descendants the equivalent of $ 20 billion to $ 30 billion in today’s dollars. It took 122 years for Haiti to pay it off. Professor Marlene Daut writes that this “seriously undermined the ability of the newly independent country to prosper”.
Right the wrongs
After the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti completely, academics and journalists wrote a letter to the French president demanding that France reimburse Haiti. French economist Thomas Piketty resurrected the idea in 2020, arguing that France owes Haiti at least $ 28 billion. The French government, under several presidents, has balked at the idea, and it is unlikely to reimburse Haiti anytime soon.
But if the rich world wants to help right the wrongs done to Haiti in the past, perhaps the most effective policy now would be to accept more Haitian refugees. It would not be just a human policy that would improve their lives and that of their future families. It would also likely be a boost to the Haitian economy. According to the World Bank, Haitian expatriates sent $ 3 billion in funds to Haiti in 2018, or nearly a third of the island nation’s total GDP.