The Colony of Saint-Domingue
The French Empire acquired the western part of the island of Hispaniola from the Spanish in 1697. Although the French followed the typical New World colonial route of exploitation; the demographics of Saint Domingue was unusual for a European colony. Unlike the Spanish and their conquistadors, or even the British sending and funding their population to settle in the thirteen colonies, the French never massively settled in Saint Domingue. French settlers opted to migrate to New France (Louisiana Territory and what’s now eastern Canada); this meant that there was only around 40,000 white people in Saint Domingue. The obvious answer to making this piece of tropical land into a lucrative business was to traffic 770,000 Africans into the colony. Under French colonial rule, the colony of Saint-Domingue was the richest colony on the planet, richer than the silver and gold mining Captaincy General of Peru, richer even than the plantation society of the Southern United States that had twice as many enslaved peoples.
Decline of Wealth and Stability
Even though Saint Domingue was the richest colony in the world, the wealth of the colony was concentrated in the grands blancs (big whites) who owned and ran the plantations and the plantation system. The enslavement of black people and the very little chances to obtain freedom from slavery ultimately, alongside the slipping grip of the colony from the French prior to Napoleon,led to a rebellion, which became the Haitian Revolution. With a white to black ratio of 1:40, the French lost de jure control of Saint Domingue, and the colony became independent Haitian states. Notice how I said “Haitian states”, and that wording is intentional, as Haiti wasn’t a singular state until 1820 under Jean-Pierre Boyer. Nearly 20 years after the Haitian declaration of independence and after the beginning of the invasion of Santo Domingo (present Dominican Republic), the French recognized Haiti as an independent nation, but with an exchange. The French Republic would recognize Haiti as an independent nation on the condition that the state payed the French 100 million Francs (equivalent to ~$21 billion USD in 2026) in reparations for loss of produce. At that time, Haiti’s GDP was approximately 1 million Francs a year (~$37.5 million). Haiti had to take out loans from European banks in order to pay the sum of money to the French. From 1915 ’til 1934, Haiti was under US occupation; in which the United States controlled the financial policy of the country, further pushing the nation into further destabilization. In 1943, Boyer was overthrown and Haiti lost Santo Domingo in a war against the Dominican military. This is where many mark the beginning of Haiti as a state, since after this point Haiti continued to have roughly fourteen coups in 179 years. Even as Haiti finished paying its debt to France in 1949, the rise of the Duvalier family occurred. The Duvalier Family was infamous for being an iron fisted hereditary dictatorship which utilized the Tonton Macoute (secret police) to silence political opposition. Since the fall of the regime in 1986, general Haitian society has had low trust in government and bureaucracy.
Current State
The current state of Haiti is one that has made international news repeatedly, especially in the United States and Canada where 1.7 millions Haitians live. The Haitian Government as of 2026 has no legislators in its Congress, no President, an extremely small military, and constantly postponed elections. With the 2010 earthquake that rocked Haiti and destroyed key infrustrucre like hospitals, schools, and homes causing 316,000 deaths and displacing 1.6 million Haitians, the country had no way of recovering before oil crises, inflation, and corruption caused civil unrest in 2018. The assassination of Jovenel Moise in 2021 caused an enormous power vacuum which enabled gangs to take control over major hubs and roadways. It’s projected that now in 2026, even after foreign intervention through the UN Security Council, that gangs such as Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies, Viv Ansanm, and 400 Mawozo control up to 90% of Port-Au-Prince. The first phase of planned elections is set to begin December 13, 2026, with both optimistic and pessimistic views of the possible outcome, or lack there of ,involving the first election in a decade.
Takeaway
The history of Haiti is one of both triumph, but also prolonged hardships influenced from internal effects and Neo-colonialsm. With constant changes in government and long lasting totalitarianism, the Haitian people have yet to reap the fruits of the land in which they live. The current GDP per capita of Haiti is $2,694 USD. For comparison, the Dominican Republic has a GDP per capita of $12,610, Costa Rica at $20,299, and Venezuela at $4,140. Venezuela is a country that has many similarities when it comes to corruption in government and dictatorships, but even it has an economy many times stronger than Haiti’s. Nicaragua has the second lowest GDP per capita in the Americas at $3,173 with a current authoritarian government. Most would immediately go to blaming the US or France for constantly influencing the politics and economy of the country; but the hard pill to swallow is that the current problems of the country isn’t the fault of other nations, it’s the fault of Haitians. This isn’t to say that Haitians as a society are collectively guilty for their living conditions, but the gangs who are in control of the country are, and they’re Haitian. The past governments that didn’t allow the Haitian people to have democracy were Haitian. I would even say that a lot of the blame for the current state of Haiti’s conditions are also on some of the ideals of the fathers of the nation such as Toussaint Louverture who believed that the annihilation of most white’s in Saint Domingue was necessary and that the general Haitian population should stay on plantations. Check back soon to read my next page on the creolization of Haiti and how it compares to other former French colonial possessions in the Americas.
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