In 1789, before the slave uprising, the marquis bought 21 recently kidnapped Africans before leaving for France. But he didn’t say where they were supposed to work, so the commission priced them at the average, down to cents: 3,366.66 francs.
It ultimately gave Cocherel’s daughter, a newlywed, an average annual payment of 1,450 francs, or about $280 in the 1860s, over dozens of years, according to government publications. government on committee decisions.
In contrast, coffee farmers in Haiti made about $76 a year in 1863, Edmond Paul, a Haitian economist and politician, wrote at the time – barely enough to cover one meal a day of “lowest quality foods”.
It is reminiscent of slavery, he said.
‘Ready to fight’
The Haitian government ran out of money immediately. To complete the first payment, it emptied the state coffers, sent it all to France on a French ship, sealed in bags inside nailed crates reinforced with iron wire. That leaves no money for public services.
The French government threatened war to collect the rest.
“An army of 500,000 men is ready to fight,” the French foreign minister wrote in 1831 to his consul in Haiti, “and behind this mighty force lie two million in reserve.”
In response, President Boyer passed legislation ordering every Haitian to stand ready to defend the country. He built the leafy suburbs of Pétionville, now a fortress of Haitian elites, up the hill from the harbor – out of cannon fire.
Even French diplomats realized their threats had led the Haitian government to pour money into the military instead of to France.
A French diplomat read a letter in 1832: “France’s fear, which wants to pay the price, does not allow it to reduce its military status.
In late 1837, two French envoys arrived at Port-au-Prince with orders to negotiate a new treaty and recover the payments. The so-called independence debt was reduced to 90 million francs, and in 1838 another warship returned to France with a second Haitian payment, which swallowed much of Haiti’s revenue one Again.
According to the French abolitionist writer and politician, Victor Schœlcher, the army attracted another large part. After that, hospitals, public works and public welfare aspects are left very little. Education was assigned only 15,816 votes – less than 1% of the budget.
‘And then sell yourself’
From the start, French officials knew how disastrous the payments would be for Haiti. But they insisted on getting paid, and over the decades – with some exceptions, especially during times of political upheaval – Haiti found the money.
The Times has tracked every payment Haiti made for 64 years, drawing from thousands of pages of archives in France and Haiti, along with dozens of articles and books from the 19th and early 20th centuries. 20th century, including that of Haitian finance minister Frédéric Marcelin. .
In some years, Haitian payments to France accounted for more than 40% of total government revenue.
“They do not know which way to turn,” a French captain wrote to Baron Mackau in 1826 after obtaining a shipment of gold from Haiti.
“After trying out domestic loans, patriotic registration, forced donations, sale of public property, they ended up dealing with the worst of all options,” the captain wrote: 10 tax year exorbitant “so much in comparison to the obtainable resources of the country, that when each man sells all he owns, and then sells himself, not even getting half of the amount demanded . ”
