AHC: A richer and powerful Haiti

SPJ

Ever since the earthquake that happened in Haiti that 2 years ago I'm sure the state of the country and its people have been on all of our minds here. As well I'm sure that many of you know that there are still many Haitians who still remain homeless since then and that the majority of the problems faced by the Haitian people today is due to the lack of capital held by there country.

So with this in mind I'd like to challenge anyone here to think of any POD that takes place between the Haitian revolution and 1900, or even today, which could have made Haiti a more powerful nation, or even a world power, which could have helped them to recover from a situation such as this better than they have in OTL.

PS: I hope that by posting this I do not come off as unsympathetic and I am sorry to any I have hurt.
 

Pesterfield

After independence France slammed them with a massive debt to pay off, getting rid of that would do a lot of good.

I'm finding conflicting numbers though
reduced to 60 million francs in 1838. Finally paid off in 1883.
reduced to 90 million francs, not paid off until 1944 or 1947.
 

sudfamsci

what if it was under English protection during and after the Napoleonic war? that solves the dept at lest and two good trade partners, GB and the USA.. that with a stable and semi-competent government should make at lest as good as Cuba.
 

Infinity

Banned
SPJ said:
Also when and how would Haiti even become a state. I think that its people have always been rather protective of their independence.
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Although there's nothing like an earthquake to humble people. If there was ever a time to question their national pride, independence, and status as the poorest country in the western hemisphere, it's after the Earthquake. There's no reason why a country in the 21st century should have such a poor infrastructure. If they're incapable of making it on their own, then it's in their interest to join a more sophisticated political and economic system that can.
 

Fearless Leader

Donor
One option that's been raised before is the possibility is to make Napoleon more ideologically favourable towards the plight of the slaves. Leclerc's expedition isn't sent/is redirected and Haiti has a smoother path to independence than OTL...

Another option could be that Louverture manages to successfully negotiate with the British to secure some sort of informal alliance in exchange for resisting Leclerc and tying down the French. With British aid and a better execution of his existing strategy, the Haitian expedition is even more of a disaster than OTL (a bit of a stretch but plausible) and results in Haiti gaining it's independence under Louverture a few years earlier than OTL. Furthermore under Louverture the Haitian state is more moderate and has a much more favourable reputation in UK and to a lesser extent, the USA. Perhaps then in the peace that follows the Napoleonic Wars, France is forced to recognize Haitian independence.

Perhaps in this scenario Louverture can organize a stable succession and lay the foundations of a workable republic though that might be a bit of a stretch. Such a scenario IMO would greatly increase Haiti's chances of success. Though in TTL it will still have a LONG way to go I think that in such a scenario Haiti will undoubtedly be better off than OTL.
 

SPJ

sudfamsci said:
what if it was under English protection during and after the Napoleonic war? that solves the dept at lest and two good trade partners, GB and the USA.. that with a stable and semi-competent government should make at lest as good as Cuba.
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I'm not sure if that could work. The Haitian revolution ended in 1804 and the Napoleonic wars where from 1803-1815. The two US presidents in office around that time where Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809, and James Madison 1809-1817, and I know that Jefferson hated the idea of the revolution in Haiti and thought that a country with black leaders was pretty much a bad idea. Also even though he liked the thought of colonizing freed slaves outside of the US he did not want any to go to Haiti because he thought it might lead to having revolutionary desires spread to the USA. So such protection being given during his presidency seems far fetched to me. When it comes to Madison and his opinions and plans . . . I haven't the foggiest! :confused:
 

Infinity

Banned
The Ubbergeek said:
tell that to peoples of New Orlean. Some years ago it was, but...
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Joining the U.S wouldn't make Haiti invincible. Although 7.0 magnitude earthquakes don't typically destroy entire cities with 2 million people.

Although with hurricane Katrina, people were warned to evacuate, and they didn't listen. Also, there was a pretty extensive rescue mission. Unlike Port-Au-Prince there weren't corpses in the streets of New Orleans. Nor were there savages fighting over food, and water. Although a lot more could have been done to help the people of New Orleans. Not to mention disaster could have been averted with a higher levi. The fact is, although being of greater economic consequence, hurricane katrina did not take nearly as many lives as the Haiti earthquake. Lastly, although relocation was slow, the victims of hurricane Katrina have far more opportunities to start a new life than the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
 
Dan1988

Dan1988

SPJ said:
So with this in mind I'd like to challenge anyone here to think of any POD that takes place between the Haitian revolution and 1900, or even today, which could have made Haiti a more powerful nation, or even a world power, which could have helped them to recover from a situation such as this better than they have in OTL.
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As much as I hate to say it, the only way that is going to happen is if the slave rebellions in Haiti were crushed and Haiti eventually ended up as yet another department of the French Republic. That's the only way I can see it happening.
 

sudfamsci

SPJ said:
I'm not sure if that could work. The Haitian revolution ended in 1804 and the Napoleonic wars where from 1803-1815. The two US presidents in office around that time where Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809, and James Madison 1809-1817, and I know that Jefferson hated the idea of the revolution in Haiti and thought that a country with black leaders was pretty much a bad idea. Also even though he liked the thought of colonizing freed slaves outside of the US he did not want any to go to Haiti because he thought it might lead to having revolutionary desires spread to the USA. So such protection being given during his presidency seems far fetched to me. When it comes to Madison and his opinions and plans . . . I haven't the foggiest! :confused:
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i was thinking they would be defended by the British and have it's dept dissolved at the end of the wars. have them get good trade relations with the British and eventually America and it think it could be the French Cuba well off but small. i wouldn't want them to be too relint on the us yet with the war of 1812 right around the corner.
 

eliphas8

Well if Haiti controls the whole island thats one advantage, if then Napoleon doesnt invade the country could be significantly better off. They could end up a bit like Brazil where they always remain weak but eventually start gaining strength closer to the modern day if you butterfly the earthquake. Of course not on Brazils level (you will never see the acronym BRIHCS).
 
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