Photo: Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer receiving Charles X’s decree recognizing Haitian independence on July 11, 1825 / Source: Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Last week, The New York Times published an investigative article detailing how Haiti’s “independence debt” to France contributed to the country’s underdevelopment. After the Haitian Revolution, in which Haitians revolted against French slaveholders and declared independence, France sent warships to the island and demanded reparations.
The New York Times article reported that the Haitian government paid a total of approximately $560 million to France in today’s dollars, funds which could have otherwise been invested in social services and infrastructure to improve the wellbeing of Haitians.
The article follows decades of scholarship by historians on the topic, many of them living in Haiti or among the Haitian diaspora. It also comes amid Haitian Heritage Month, celebrated every May in the United States to recognize the culture and history of Haitian Americans.
