Haitian History

Alexandre Dumas: The Black Count

Alexandre Dumas, born in Haiti 1762, was one of those unforgettable men. Dashing. Powerful. Intelligent. Kind. In battle, he performed like a superhero: single-handedly defeating dozens of men. With his wife, he performed like a romantic: writing soulful letters from the front. As a General commanding some 50,000 soldiers, he succeeded where others had failed, and knocked the Austrians off the Alps for France. He was a legend in his own time. He inspired The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, written by his grandson. Men like Alexandre Dumas are not forgotten -- they are wiped out, carefully, by other men.

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Carrefour Celebrates Bicentennial (May 1, 1813 - May 1, 2013)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - Founded on May 1, 1813, the municipality of Carrefour, the hub that is the crossroads to four departments, today celebrates its bicentennial. Carrefour also was the epicenter of the January 12, 2010 earthquake.

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April 26, 1963: Duvalier's Massacre

April 26, 1963 was a day of massacres in Haiti. The Duvalier regime organized mass killings after information circulated that an attempt to kidnap Francois Duvalier's son, Jean Claude was made. There were many victims of this massacre, former military but civilian as well. Homes were set on fire with the occupants still inside, children kidnapped and whole families arrested, tortured, killed, disappeared.

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William de Fleurville (1807-1868)

William de Fleurville (also known as "Florville") was a Haitian-born businessman who met Mr. Lincoln in New Salem in 1831. After Mr. Lincoln helped him attract clients in that community, Fleurville moved to Springfield where he eventually opened barbershop across from the State House and served as Mr. Lincoln's barber for 24 years.

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The Venerable Pierre Toussaint and The Old Saint Patrick's Cathedral

NEW YORK, USA (defend.ht) - The Venerable Pierre Toussaint (1766-1853) was a former slave of the French colony of Saint-Domingue who was brought to New York City by his owners at the age of 21.

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René Préval, PetroCaribe and the U.S. opposition

Former President René Préval doesn't get enough credit for making the bold determination to bring Parliament to ratify and bring Haiti into Venezuela's PetroCaribe agreement. Préval did this despite the efforts of the U.S. George W. Bush administration, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince and Big Oil, who aimed to stop Haiti from joining the program that was ultimately realized in March 8, 2008 and today accounts for more than half of current government of Haiti's annual national budget.

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Elizabeth Lange and the Emergence of Black Catholics and Baltimore, Maryland

BALTIMORE, USA (defend.ht) - Sister Elizabeth Lange and four other Saint Domingans, Haitians, refugees of the revolutionary war that migrated to the city of Baltimore between 1792 and 1797 established the first successful Catholic sisterhood for and by women of African descent, in the world, in 1828. The black Catholic movement begun by these Haitian refugees has since shaped the culture and identity of the city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland.

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Make Haiti's Thugs Tremble by John Kerry

WASHINGTON, D.C. (defend.ht) - In 1994, U.S. Senator John Kerry, today, the U.S. Secretary of State, supported an all-out military invasion on Haiti to restore who critics called an "America-hating communist dictator," former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. We analyze from his NY Times Op-Ed, "Make Haiti's Thugs Tremble", that the successor of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton differs with her as an economic predator, but militarily, very hawkish; if not towards middle eastern powers, definitely toward lowly countries in the western hemisphere. Granted, it was in the name of democracy.

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20,000 Haitians were Massacred 75 Years Ago

Most were slaughtered with bayonets and machetes. Infants had their heads smashed against walls. Women were speared with pitchforks. Many who were attempting to escape back to Haiti were captured at the border and killed. From October 2nd to October 4th 1937, 20,000 Haitian immigrant workers were massacred in the Dominican Republic and both governments, Haitian and Dominican colluded to deny justice.

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Haitians in the Fight for U.S. Independence

SAVANNAH, USA (defend.ht) - When the French allied with the United States in 1778 to help defeat the British in the Revolutionary War, French Commander Comte d'Estaing was accompanied by 500 free men of color from Saint Domingue, present-day Haiti, who fought for U.S. independence.

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Haiti - 1872: Extortion by the Germans

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - June 11th, 1872, the German Naval frigate, the Vineta led by Captain Basch, arrived in the harbor of Port-au-Prince, taking two Haitian hostages in demand for £3000 ($275,000.00 [U.S. today]) from the Haitian government.

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Bélizaire Says He Was Asked to Kill Prime Minister

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - In an article published May 13, 2005, Anel Bélizaire, explains the circumstances of his escape from the National Penitentiary as a result from someone from the interim government of Gerard Latortue (2004-2006) asked him to murder his cellmate, the former Prime Minister, Yvon Neptune.

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Memorial Service for Anthropologist Antenor Firmin

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - A memorial service will be held on Monday in Cap Haitien on the 100th anniversary of the death of Antenor Firmin, an anthropologist, journalist and politician who wrote the renowned work, "Essay on the Inequality of Human Races."

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U.S. and UN Officials Oversaw Integration of Ex-Army Paramilitaries into Haiti’s Police Force

Throughout 2004 and 2005, Haiti’s unelected de facto authorities, working alongside foreign officials, integrated at least 400 ex-army paramilitaries into the country’s police force, secret U.S. Embassy cables reveal.

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100: The First Days of President Michel Martelly

When Michel Joseph Martelly was elected the 56th President of the Republic of Haiti, the country, already facing an almost permanent economic crisis and on the verge of social explosion, faced the consequences of the earthquake of January 12, 2010.

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The Creation of the Tontons Macoutes, July 29, 1959

In July of 1958, A group of former Haitian military officers headed by former Lieutenant of the Haitian Armed Forces, Alix 'Sonson' Pasquet gathered in Miami, Florida to conspire an uprising to overthrow Francois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier.

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The Story of Choucoune Stolen Legacy: The Ordeal of Choucoune

For the past 500 years, Haiti has been part of the world's history. As a member of the society of nations, Haiti and Haitians have made numerous, worthy, but rarely heralded, contributions.

Need we mention the bravery of the future heroes of our Independence, who fought in Savannah under the banner of the French Army to help defeat the English Colonial forces and help free the United States of America?

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8,000 Foreign Soldiers Arrive to Begin Transition

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - In a ceremony Tuesday, Army General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira of the United Nations took control of 8,000, newly arrived, U.N. forces at the Haitian police academy.

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Daniel Fignolé: The 19 Day President

Daniel Fignolé was one of the first influential leaders of Haiti. He was a labor organizer, popular among the workers of Port-au-Prince, that at a moment's notice he could get masses of people in to the streets, known as the "woulo konpresé", the streamroller.

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The Congress of Arcahaie 1803

The first big highlight of 1803 was the death of Toussaint L'Ouverture on April 7.

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