Rationale
The researcher chose to investigate this topic because she is solely interested I finding out why Haiti’s socio-economic structure deteriorated after the Haitian Revolution ended in 1804. It has always been the curiosity of the researcher to discover Haiti’s state prior to this major revolt and also to find out the factors which caused the socio-economic break down of the colony. This research seeks to educate the researcher and whoever may read it in an effort to broaden their knowledge on Haiti’s socio-economic structure and why it is the way it is.
Introduction
The Haitian Revolution was a strategy used by African slaves in Haiti to resist slavery. In the 18th century, Haiti was the richest colony in the entire Caribbean and was the largest market of cane sugar. They accounted for half the sugar used in the Americas and Europe; they also produced cotton, coffee and indigo which were also used in developing France socially and economically.
Even though Haiti was very successful in its own and France’s economical endeavours, the strategy used was somewhat detriment as they applied brutal measures to the enslaved who worked on their plantations. According to Liberties Lost: Caribbean Indigenous Societies and Slave Systems written by Hilary McD Beckles and Verene A. Shepherd, it was the background of the civil war between the free mixed race and French communities and their mutual opposition to French domination, that those enslaved on the 22nd of August 1791, launched the greatest revolt for freedom from slavery ever known.
Due to the revolt that lasted for thirteen long years, there was mass destruction in property, plantations and loss of many lives. These resulted in the break down of the socio-economic structure and further more the economy. This research will address the socio-economic state of Haiti or previously known as ‘St. Domingue’ prior to the revolt and the factors that contributed to the deterioration of its socio-economic break down which will be used to prove that it was the Haitian Revolution that destroyed the French colony.