The Haitian Relationship With the Dominican Republic Essays -- Politic

The Haitian Relationship With the Dominican Republic The Haitian revolution had tremendous repercussions in the social, political and economic arenas of the world, but especially for the relationship with the neighboring nation of the Dominican Republic. In order to understand the development of the Dominican-Haitian relationship after the Haitian revolution one must examine how the two colonies of Hispanola dealt with each other before it. Throughout history there has been constant stress between the interactions of these nations, yet there is no easy explanation for what has caused it. In effect, it has been an accumulation of events which has allowed for the present relationship to evolve. By the 1780’s Saint Domingue’s had the largest amount of slaves in the Caribbean. This large amount of slaves can be greatly attributed to the nearly 30,000 Africans imported to the colony between 1785-1790 (Beckles 403) . This extraordinary amount of slaves allowed Saint Domingue emerge as one of the wealthiest colonies of its time, but it also made the island susceptible to a successful upheaval for the transplanted African communities. In 1789 Saint Domingue had approximately 8,000 plantations which produced crops for export which generated two fifths of Frances foreign trade, "a proportion rarely equalled in any colonial empire" (Beckles 403). The majority of crops being exported were coffee, and sugar although cotton, indigo were also part of this colonies economic prosperity. The majority of the nearly 500,000 slaves on the island, at the end of the eighteenth century endured some of the worst slave conditions in the Caribbean. These people were seen as disposable economic inputs in a colony driven by greed. Thus, they receive... ...nue to occur which has developed great tension between these neighboring nations. Works Cited Beckles, Dr. Hillary, Verene Shepherd. Caribbean Slave Society and Economy. The New Press, New York. New York, N.Y. 1991. Bethell, Leslie. The Cambridge History of Latin America Vol. III. Cambridge University Press, London, England. 1985. Logan, Rayford. Haiti And The Dominican Republic. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. 1968. http://www.uhhp.com/haitrev1.html http://caribbeansupersite.com/domrep/history.htm - Dominican History http://www.uhhp.com/haitrev1.html - Haitian Revolution http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/americas/Haiti.GIF Haitian Map (Large) http://caribbeansupersite.com/haiti/history.htm -Haitian History http://www.eurohost.com/imagesof/flags/anthems.html -National anthems of Haiti and Dominican Republic