AHC: The First Haitian Empire Survives

With a POD of 1804, (its creation), keep Haiti under the rule of Emperor Jacques I, and his elected successors.

Have Jacques I not be assassinated, and have the British begin to trade with Haiti, rescuing their economy. That would allow Haiti to train a professional army, and bring much of their population back into the workforce.
 
Have Jacques I not be assassinated, and have the British begin to trade with Haiti, rescuing their economy. That would allow Haiti to train a professional army, and bring much of their population back into the workforce.

Britain did trade with Haiti, and was it's largest economic partner. Because of the decade of blockades, French coastal cities and their trade collapsed, with the French being shut out of lucrative markets in Latin America and the Caribbean. After 1815 France only held about 10 percent of the Haitian trade, which was largely dominated out of Manchester.

The biggest issue of Haitian impoverishment comes from the French indemnities they had to pay. France refused to recognize the new country until 1825, when Haiti agreed to pay some 150 million francs, so called restitution for lost property, slaves, ect. For a little country, this was a massive price and they only agreed to pay it in the face of an embargo from the United States, France, and Britain, which would've crippled the country even further. Avoid the massive indemnity and you might give Haiti a shot.

Saving the empire is a different matter, though. I'm not too knowledgeable on that side of the story.
 
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