Middletown transcript., 1898-08-20
THE FREEDOM OF HAYTI.
HOW THIS RICH ISLAND BECAME A
REPUBLIC.

L
, sudden, not Only INTERESTING but in
r pOrtant in view cf ihe attitude til
I United States is e. riain Ia lake all tia
! concerns the Wes, Indies. The acQu
siiion of Cuba mears hat tv+nin III
and IT no very distant day y, rliaps, III
United States Will dominate if sh
does not absolutely control, Cuba
sister islands of The West Indies.
Therefore, the past of Hayti as
may hint OF its future is of genera
interest and Importance.
1t was this mountainous island tha
Columbus called Hispanola, aud Id,
French rechristened tn. Queen Of the
Antilles.
In order to understand the pr0gres
sive changes which have taken place il
the condition of Hayli and its evolu
tion into its pres Mt republican form oil
government one must begin at the
very beginning.
"The island is believed to have con.
tanned at the time of its discovery by
the Spaniards, above one million In
habitants of the Carrib tribe of In.
dians.
But incredible as it may appear, in
consequence of this Wholesale butchery
by the Spaniards, and The severe druid.
gerry they were compelled to undergo
in the mines, the natives were reduced
to about sixty thousand in thu brief
space of sixteen years.
The race of native Indians was soon
entirely destroyed. Their place was at
first supplied by Indians forcibly car
ried off from the Bahama Island, and
by adventures from Spain and other
European countries, aud in the follow
ing century by the Importation of vast
numbers of negloes from Africa. The
Spanirds retained possession of the
whole island till 1865, when the
French obtained footing on its west
coasts and laid the foundations of a
colony that afterward became SO
| fiourshing.
In 1891, Spain ceded to France half
of the island. and in 1776 the possess.
ions of France were still further in
| creased.
From 1776 to 1889 the colony had
attained the acme of Its prosperity nd
its produce and commerce were then
equal or superior to that of all the
other West India Islands.
Unhappily, this prosperity was as
brief as it was signal, and the ruin
that soon overwhelmed the colony was
complete.
In 1889 the population Of the colony
was 665, 900. 1t exported that year g.
600, 900 pounds of coffee and 1885,.
600. 900 pounds of sugar.
Many French families of note had
emigrated to the Island and settled on
it as planters. Slaves were imported
at the rate of 10000 year; in 1889 the
black population was between five and
six hundred thousand. The whites
numbered only 10000. But beside the
white and the negroes there was a
third class arising from 'he intermix-
ture of the white and negro races.
There were various classes of these
mulatt0es; in all they numbered about
thirty thousand.
The mulattoes were nOminally free,
but they occupied very degraded So
cial position. They were regarded as
public property and were obliged to
serve in the colonial militia without
pay. They could hold no public trust.
nor fill any of the liberal professions.
They were not allowed to sit at table
with white man, or bear the same
name or be buried in the same spot.
Such was the state Of society in the
colony of San Domingo in 1889 and
1890, when France was shaken by the
revolution and the fall of Louis
XVI.
San Domingo was not lorg in re-
spending to the agitation that broke
out in Paris.
When the celebrated declaration of
rights, asserting all men to be "free
and equal' reached the island, the
whites looked upon their ruin as GER
tain. The mulattoes believed the
French TO be their friends; they be-
came turbulent and rose in arms; the
uprising was however, soon put down.
The negro population Of the island
remained quiet, the coniagion of the
revolution had not reached them yet.
When the national assembly learned
of the alarm the new constitution had
excited in the colonies they adopted
measures to allay the storm. They re-
NOhCU nu ICS toloOtOu lCintibO ~ ob0NO@
holding in the colonies and left San
Domingo virtually free to make its
own laws in the mat er. This gave
great ffense to society in France |
known as the Amis des Noirs, which
was devoted TO the interests Of the
blacks.
James Oge, a young mulatto who
hand been sent to Paris to be educated,
became possessed Of the flea that it
was his destiny to return to Hayti and
become the deliverer of his people. Ac-
cordingly, he set sail, landing in Hayti
in October, 1890. He at once announce
ed himself as the redresser OF all
wrongs. A force of 200 mulattoes
Joined Oge. At the head Of these he
some outrages, until be was
defeated by the French and forced to
seek safety In the Spanish part Of the
island. The Governor-General de-
maded Oge from the Spaniards, and in
nEorol, 1701 kba anthnfootio 1,ou woa