January 1, is celebrated as a public holiday nationwide in Haiti. On this day in 1804, Haitian independence was declared. Jean-Jacques Dessalines presented the Haitian Declaration of Independence, the key document, when he gave the Independence Day speech delivered in Haitian Creole.

“Citizens: It is not enough to have expelled the barbarians who have blooded our land for two centuries; it is not enough to have restrained those ever-evolving factions that one after another mocked the specter of liberty that France dangled before you. We must, with one last act of national authority, forever assure the empire of liberty in the country of our birth; we must take any hope of re-enslaving us away from the inhuman government that for so long kept us in the most humiliating torpor. In the end we must live independently or die.”

“Independence or death…let these sacred words unite us and be the signal of battle and of our reunion.” ( The translation published in Slave Revolution in the Caribbean 1789-1804: A Brief History with Documents) January 2, Ancestor’s Day was and is celebrated to honor the founders of the nation and commemorate those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the Haitian people. The island, previously called Saint Domingo, assumed its original Taino name “Haiti,” meaning land in the mountains.

A tradition honoring the independence of the nation is the eating of “joumou” ( a squash/pumpkin soup) , as the soup is symbolic of equality and freedom. During the colonial era, the French had forbidden the soup, a delicacy for the French, and thus, joumou became a symbol of defiance and liberation for the Independence movement. The local Haitian restaurant prepares and serves the soup on New Year’s Day, and every Sunday.

Free but not equal

The hypocrisy of the United States and French Declarations of Independence were blatantly exposed with reference to Haitian independence. The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizens inspired Haitian groups continuously seek freedom from France. “The French National Assembly recognizes and declares, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and citizen:

  • Men are born free and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions can be based only on public utility.
  • The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and imperceptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

Interestingly, the Haitian Declaration of Independence was modeled after the American Declaration, as its intention was to create the first independent black republic in the world.

The first words of the American Declaration express the equality of all men: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” However, the actions of both France and America demonstrated that the Haitians, despite a monumental event of global significance, were not considered human and as such equals.

The reactions of the United States and France were initially disbelief; how could sub-humans of inferior intelligence and capability, suited only for enslavement, possibly defeat three white empires (France, Britain, Spain) and gain independence. After disbelief came white supremacy rage; how could those black heathens believe in any sense of the imagination, freedom or not that they were deserving of equal status with whites. France let the Haitians know that despite freedom from enslavement, that they were still viewed as sub-human property. As such, the Haitians were forced to pay reparations for their freedom: Haiti was forced to pay 150 million francs to secure its independence, and it took Haiti 122 years to pay off the debt, finishing in 1947. This deliberate action severely damaged Haiti’s ability to prosper.

There was an immediate embargo and isolation of Haiti by the United States. Most critically, the United States refused to recognize Haiti as a nation for sixty years, until 1862. There was the fear that Haiti would threaten United States economic interests, but mostly fear of revolts by the enslaved in the United States upon hearing of the successful revolution and freedom from enslavement. What the United States and historians have not been open about is that because of the French loss of Haiti and the economic despair it brought, the United States benefited and doubled its size due to the Louisiana Purchase from the French.

All in all, white supremacy ideology and the fears of other black independence revolts hindered Haiti’s development and progress as a nation and the world recognition that it deserves. There are lessons to be learned about colonialism and its root, white supremacy ideology. The first lesson is that the declaration of freedom, justice, and equality of all men is simply hypocrisy as these words apply only to those designated as white. What other lessons will the Haitian experience reveal about white supremacy ideology?