Dominicans in Haiti: A Brief Overview

The coat of arms for Baron de Thabares, or Jose Campos Tavares, who served in the court of Henri Christophe. A formerly enslaved person from Spanish Santo Domingo, Tavares initially fought against Haiti before pledging loyalty to Dessalines and Henri Christophe. Examples such as Tavares illustrate how Haiti could appeal to people of African descent in the eastern part of the island. The royal almanacs of Christophe's kingdom also mention additional members of the military and court with the Thabares surname, suggesting relatives of Jose Campos Tavares were additional persons with roots in Spanish Santo Domingo.

Certainly one of the most important elements in the history of the foreign presence in Haiti, Dominicans can be somewhat difficult to track. Sharing an island and lacking an effective border until the 1930s, contact between the peoples of both sides of the island can be traced to the colonial period. Trade, particularly of cattle from eastern Hispaniola, was an important export to Haiti since the colonial period. Many on the frontier also depended on access to markets in Port-au-Prince or Haiti for imported goods. Of course, runaway slaves from Saint Domingue fled across the border. Last, but certainly not least, over 20 years of political unification also led to contacts, families, and economic ties across the frontier. Of course, quantifying the number of Dominicans in Haiti during the 19th century is difficult (although some estimate about 15,000 Dominicans currently reside in Haiti, perhaps higher), but the higher population of Haiti and demographic pressure on the land favored greater Haitian migration into the DR than the other way around. Nonetheless, the bicultural frontier included many 'Dominicans' who lived in Haitian territory, married Haitians, and, in some cases, served in the Haitian military. Thorald Burnham also found Dominicans to be the most common foreign-born spouses in the Port-au-Prince marriage records for 1850-1871, which is suggestive of the larger than expected presence of them in Haitian society. One can easily imagine perhaps a few thousand Dominicans living and working in Haiti during the 19th century, with many more making occasional visits or business trips to either the border or markets in Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien. 

Xavier Amiama, pintor de la noche en Haiti. Amiama was a  Dominican painter who moved to Port-au-Prince in 1935. A friend of Petion Savain and other Haitian painters, Amiama participated with the Centre d'Art. His paintings capture much of popular culture in Port-au-Prince.

Since Haiti abolished slavery and caste restrictions in Santo Domingo during the periods of unification, Haiti likely appealed to many Dominicans of African descent in ways white elites did not appreciate. Thus, a 'Dominican', Jose Campos Tavarez, enlisted in the Haitian army and served Dessalines and Christophe. Indeed, Campos Thabares became a baron in the court of Henri Christophe. His relatives also served Christophe as additional men who in Christophe's military share the Thabares name. Decades later, other Dominicans remained loyal to Haiti after initially fightinf for separation in the 1840s. At least some Afro-Dominicans may have seen Haitian unification as a period of social advancement through military service and their own personal autonomy. Some of them also came from Saint Domingue or had origins there through colonial maroon settlements or battalions aligned with Spain during the Haitian Revolution. Pablo Ali, for instance, was from Saint Domingue (Haiti), but later sided with Dominican separatists in 1844. In short, Haiti signified many things to residents of eastern Hispaniola, and could have attracted more than a few to remain loyal as the commitment of Dominican elites to independence and racial equality were uncertain.

Dominican president Juan Isidro Jimenes spent much of his formative years in Haiti. His father, who also served as president of the Dominican Republic, was a political exile who died in Port-au-Prince. After returning to the Dominican Republic, Juan Isidro launched Casa Jimenes, a transnational firm exporting timber and other products from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. His life serves as an example of the close commercial links between the northern regions of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Cap-Haitien, Montecristi and Puerto Plata were closely linked through active coastal trade. 

Besides Haiti's appeal to Afro-Dominicans and the economic interests of some residents of the Cibao region, the movement of Haitians into l'Est led to the establishment of local families with ties to both sides of Hispaniola. Some of these families later relocated or returned to Haiti after the 1844 separation, but connections led to occasional visiting, travels, and trade long after. Many of the political officials and generals of Christophe were sent to administer the East after Boyer succeeded in reunifying the entire island, and some married locals or left behind descendants. Unsurprisingly, many families in the North of Haiti retained ties to branches in Puerto Plata or Santiago. These include Ricourt, Beliard, Heureaux, Charrier, and other families. Many Europeans and Caribbean foreign merchants in Hispaniola during the period of unification (1822-1844) and after also established a presence in both countries. The Deetjen of Holland, for instance, were present in Cap-Haitien and Puerto Plata, with members who served in various capacities Haiti or the Dominican Republic. Descendants of African American immigrants in Samana were also connected to other African American communities or Protestant sects in Haiti. According to Aubin, Corsicans in the Dominican Republic were also active in Cap-Haitien, presumably building upon their economic and social bonds with their compatriots to establish businesses or engage in commerce. Last, but certainly not least, Caribbean-born merchants in Santo Domingo left after the 1844 separation, moving to Port-au-Prince and Jacmel, but retained ties to their relatives who decided to remain (an example of Jacmel-Santo Domingo connections can be traced in this genealogical essay).  

Ricardo Limardo Ricourt, a prominent resident of Puerto Plata in the 19th century, was born in Cap-Haitien. His parents were of Haitian and Venezuelan origins. His Haitian mother was likely related to the Ricourt family of Cap-Haitien, which may explain his birth in the historic city. Examples of Dominicans with familial ties to Haiti and travels back and forth across the border abound.

During the Dominican War of Restoration in the 1860s, several Dominicans used Haiti as a base of operations and site of refuge. Hundreds, if not more, found refuge in the neighboring republic, where Geffrard offered clandestine support. Dominicans in Cap-Haitien contributed to an increase in exports from Cap-Haitien, possibly through the use of Haitian ports for Dominican goods carried across the border. Close economic ties linking Cap-Haitien to Montecristi and Puerto Plata predated this era, but likely grew in the future decades as business ties of Haitian and Dominicans in Haiti's north were strengthened. Dominican political exiles had already found refuge in Haiti in the 1850s (former president Manuel Jimenes died in Port-au-Prince), but the War of Restoration, as a more established war of national liberation, brought a new dimension to Haitian-Dominican relations. Familial ties, as well as shared interest in preserving the independence of the island, redefined Haitian-Dominican relations based on solidarity (at least for some), and may have shaped subsequent antillanismo politics through Betances, Gregorio Luperon, Firmin, and other Caribbean intellectuals. They saw the future of the Greater Antilles best secured through a federation. And, like the Dominicans before them, Cubans and Puerto Ricans in Haiti after 1868 found support against Spain.  In fact, Dominicans in Haiti may have been a bridge of sorts between Haitians and Spanish-speakers from Cuba and Puerto Rico. Some of the Dominicans on the frontier who lived in Port-au-Prince, such as the wife of Gregorio de Noba, who was raised in the Haitian capital, would have been part of the small Spanish-speaking population in Haitian cities who could have acted as intermediaries between other Latin Americans and Haitians. 

Dr. Francisco Henriquez y Carvajal lived in Cap-Haitien for five years during the 1890s, eventually returning to the Dominican Republic after the assassination of Lilis. While in Haiti, he practiced medicine and maintained ties with Dominicans. 

Moving into the 20th century, the Dominican presence in Haiti continued but gradually shifted with the onset of US imperialism. The US, for instance, gradually transformed the bicultural borderlands, which was later finalized by the 1937 massacres of Haitians under Trujillo. Given the rising economic centralization of the Dominican Republic, fewer residents on the frontier would have needed to rely on access to Haitian markets for foreign imports. Moreover, the nature of Haitian immigration in the DR transformed as Haitian canecutters were needed in the east and south rather than the frontier. The rise of the Trujillo regime similarly transformed the regional power networks of caudillos who, in the past, had easy access to Haiti as a site of operations to launch revolts against national governments in Santo Domingo. Dominican political exiles continued to come to Haiti during the Trujillo regime, including leftists escaping political repression. Two of them, in fact, were involved with an attempt to organize HASCO workers, Benjamin Peguero La Paix (a Dominican "Negro") and Morales, a printer. Prior to the presence of Dominican communists, labor organizations from the east were also active in Port-au-Prince during the 1920s, perhaps suggesting some degree of transnational labor solidarity during the US Occupation. Peguero La Paix had been active among labor organizing in Santo Domingo before ending up in Haiti, and his surname itself may suggest Haitian origins (some Haitian artisans were active in Dominican towns since the 19th century).

Haitian novelist Jacques-Stephen Alexis was the son of a prominent Haitian writer and a mother of Dominican origin, Lydia Nuñez. According to Eric Sarner, Alexis's mother's landowning family came to Haiti in the middle of the 19th century. Perhaps due to his Dominican background, Alexis was sympathetic to the plight of Dominican and Cuban prostitutes in Port-au-Prince (as well as the prospects for solidarity between the oppressed in Haiti and the DR). Indeed, it may have shaped the pan-Caribbean ethos of novel, L'espace d'un cillement, in which many characters have blended Caribbean backgrounds.

Furthermore, if the testimony of older Dominicans is worth anything, some Dominicans saw Haiti as more cosmopolitan and economically vibrant (until the 1930s, perhaps). Dominican prostitutes working in Port-au-Prince, a presence developed in the early decades of the 20th century, seems to have expand during the US Occupation. These women may have influenced popular music by introducing their American and Haitian clients to Dominican-style merengue. Haitians returning from the Dominican Republic also imbibed these musical influences, but Dominican sex workers, musicians, artists, and others participated. Dominican painter Xavier Amiama, who arrived in Port-au-Prince in the 1930s, also demonstrates the cultural interest some Dominicans held in Haiti's culture. Amiama, who collaborated with Haitian indigenist painters of the Centre d'Art, often depicted the nightlife of the Haitian capital and Vodou scenes, perhaps suggesting the need for a more nuanced perspective on Dominican conceptions of their western neighbor. A number of political, aesthetic, and familial links may explain the continued presence of Dominicans in Haiti from this era onward. In short, things are more complicated than just a cockfight.

Bibliography

Aubin, Eugène. En Haiti; planteurs d'autrefois, nègres d'aujourd'hui; 32 phototypies et 2 cartes En couleur hors texte. Paris: A. Colin, 1910.

Averill, Gage. "Haitian Dance Bands, 1915-1970: Class, Race, and Authenticity." Latin American Music Review / Revista De Música Latinoamericana 10, no. 2 (1989): 203-35. 

Burnham, Thorald. Immigration and Marriage in the Making of Post-Independence Haiti, York University, 2006.

Camarena, Germán. Historia de la ciudad de Puerto Plata. Santo Domingo: Corripio, 2003.

Cheesman, Clive. The armorial of Haiti: symbols of nobility in the reign of Henry Chistophe. London: College of Arms, 2007.

Eller, Anne. We Dream Together: Dominican Independence, Haiti, and the Fight for Caribbean Freedom. Durham: Duke University Press, 2016.

Fumagalli, Maria Cristina. On the Edge: Writing the Border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2015.

Herrera R., Rafael Darío. Montecristi entre campeches y bananos. Santo Domingo: Academia Dominicana de la Historia, 2006.

Johnson, Sara E. The Fear of French Negroes: Transcolonial Collaboration in the Revolutionary Americas. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.

Lundius, Jan, and Mats Lundahl. Peasants and Religion: A Socioeconomic Study of Dios Olivorio and the Palma Sola Movement in the Dominican Republic. London ; New York: Routledge, 2000.

Matibag, Eugenio. Haitian-Dominican Counterpoint: Nation, State, and Race On Hispaniola. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Péan, Marc. L'illusion héroïque: 25 ans de vie capoise, 1890-1915. Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie Henri Deschamps, 1977.

Turits, Richard Lee. "A World Destroyed, A Nation Imposed: The 1937 Haitian Massacre in the Dominican Republic." Hispanic American Historical Review 82, no. 3 (2002): 589-635.

Gallop

The Duroseau family's approach to Haitian mereng was of the sautant variation. Like Théramène Ménès, the Duroseaus saw the meringue as similar to the two-step and notation in 2/4. If there really were 3 different types of meringue (lente, "lively" and carnavalesque), the meringues recorded by Fabre Duroseau fall in the lively camp. This, in turn, means they were likely intended for dancing. They also sound somewhat like ragtime, which may not entirely be a coincidence as some Haitians were inspired by African American music. Ford Dabney, a black American composer who lived in Haiti for a few years in the beginning of the 20th century, is an example of the interest Haitians held in ragtime. Additional highlights from Haitian Piano include "Jeannette" and "Un Soir #2." The latter is more of a meringue lente with the typical grace and elegance of the genre. Some hints of jazz and ragtime can be heard. 

Meringue Frangeul

Alberto Mesirca playing a meringue arranged by Frantz Casseus. Based on the title, "Meringue Frangeul," it is almost certainly a composition by Fernand Frangeul or at least inspired by him. Frangeul was a major figure in Haitian music publishing of the early 20th century. According to Constantin Dumerve, Frangeul often put popular meringues he heard in Port-au-Prince to sheet music. Thus, many of his songs may be illustrative of popular taste, not just bourgeois audiences for salon music. Meringues published by Frangeul include a number of tunes famously recorded by Haitian orchestras in the 1940s and 1950s. "Patience, ma fille" and "Banm Pam San Dous" may be the best known.

Les Zizipans

A mereng composed by the head of the Musique du Palais, Occide Jeanty. According to Corvington's history of Port-au-Prince, Zizipans was the Carnival band of Georges, roi du Oual-Ouadi, who came to Port-au-Prince from the countryside at some point in the late 19th century. Thus, the song may represent how carnival musicians in the late 19th century sounded, even if the Musique du Palais was a military band. Indeed, the song does sound sound something like a Carnival band marching through the streets.

Nan Fon Bwa

Perhaps the best recording of "Nan Fon Bwa" I have encountered so far. Coulanges uses a highly rhythmic approach that excels with this composition. Who needs drums if you can provide rhythm and melody on the guitar?

Les Indiens de Guadeloupe

A short video on Indian migration to Guadeloupe. 

Cocolos in the Dominican Republic

Another interesting video on West Indian migration to the Dominican Republic.

Samana Americans

This short video is a useful introduction to the Samana Americans of the Dominican Republic. It's interesting as an example of how some older Samana Americans recall their origins. One can detect the influence of Dominican nationalism, assimilation, and schooling has shaped the history of their community in Hispaniola. For example, the older woman who speaks English refers to problems with Haitians as part of the reason many African Americans left the island, partly due to religious differences. She explicitly alludes to Roman Catholicism as one of the problems, despite most Dominicans of the era also being nominal Catholics. Indeed, unlike previous generations, these Dominicans lack the condescending attitude of their settler forebears, who saw Dominicans as lazy and had limited cultural contact with them. After hearing the two elderly Samana Americans speak, I am more inclined to believe the success of the Samana settlers may have had more to due with the isolated nature of their settlement. This allowed them a degree of community autonomy that may have been lacking in Haiti, which had a greater population density that probably impeded the forms of communal autonomy the Protestant African Americans desired. The fact that most also received land and did not have to sharecrop or sell their labor on estates probably helped. The successful African American emigration to Haiti proper, however, was urban. Their descendants were able to retain some degree of separate identity, but the urban experience likely weakened any isolationist community attempts.

African American Emigration to Haiti

James Theodore Holly's son, Arthur, opened a clinic. Arthur Holly also contributed to the Ethnological Movement and esoterica.

Although perhaps more than 15,000 African Americans lived in Haiti for at least some time across the 19th century, little has been said of those who chose to stay in the Caribbean republic. A plethora of historians have studied the causes and context of the two major waves of black emigration to Haiti, but few have said much of any detail on the descendants of those who decided to permanently reside there. Scholars disagree on how many stayed, and since there is a wide disagreement on the total numbers who came in the 1820s (estimates run from 6,000 to 13,000), one must make an educated guess on the total numbers of black Americans who were either long-term residents or naturalized Haitians. Of course, tropical disease, climate, and many eventually leaving Haiti significantly reduced the black American population. Besides neighborhoods like Bourg Anglais in Port-au-Prince and Protestant churches in various Haitian towns, African Americans appear to have blended into the general population after a few generations. Unlike the Samana Americans in the Dominican Republic, descendants of the same black emigrants of the 1820s, black settlers in Haiti proper seem to have left fewer distinctive traces. 

Bishop John Hurst of the AME Church was born in Haiti. He was a descendant of African American immigrants. Like some other Haitians of African American descent (Hezekiah Grice's son, Francis, for example), he was educated in the US and died there. The AME's growth in Haiti and the Dominican Republic often relied on locals of African American heritage or West Indian migrants.

After attempting to track down individual African-Americans who emigrated, and consulting a variety of secondary and primary sources, it is possible that a few thousand chose to stay in the Black Republic. One can reach this estimate based on a fraction of the 6,000-13,000 emigrants remaining in Haiti from the 1820s onward. Some scholars have suggested that many or even most of these migrants stayed (or could not afford to pay for passage back to the US) while others propose a lower proportion remaining. However, a lower estimate is safer until more evidence is unearthed. It is difficult to imagine  even a third of the estimated numbers of African American emigrants of the 1820s staying in Haiti. Their numbers would have created a more lasting impact in Haitian towns, since most sources indicate that's where they eventually chose to settle. Later, of the 2000+ who came in between 1859 and the end of the US Civil War, perhaps a few hundred remained. This can be guessed from a source cited by Dixon that located over 200 African-American from the Geffrard-supported emigration program still in Haiti by 1864-1865. Since some of the 450 Louisiana Creoles who came to Haiti around the same time may have decided to remain, it is possible that over 200 African Americans became Haitians. This means that at least several hundred or a thousand stayed. They would have either assimilated into the larger population or joined West Indians and older African-Americans in the Protestant communities of urban Haiti. In addition to the organized emigration of African-Americans and Louisiana Creoles of Color, continuous individual or small-scale movements occurred throughout the century.

Part of a message by Pierre-Aristide Desdunes of New Orleans about Vodou and visting his cousin's property in Haiti. The Desdunes of New Orleans maintained contact with their relatives in Haiti, including a Haitian senator. Emile Desdunes and Pierre-Aristide's father returned to Haiti multiple times, with the former sent to Haiti for his education. Emile Desdunes later became a colonel in the Haitian military and an agent for Louisiana Creole emigration to Haiti in the 1850s. Another Desdunes was also prominent among Louisiana Creoles of color: Rodolphe Desdunes , who was part of the Comité des Citoyens.

Estimates from the size of the Protestant denominations, which also included West Indians or whites from Europe, would indicate that by the 1830s, Port-au-Prince may have had well over 100 or more African American residents. Jacmel, Cap-Haitien, Saint Marc, Les Cayes, and other Haitian towns almost certainly had their own communities, often based around early Protestant churches and denominations. This probably boosts the total number, and if one counts African Americans in Samana and other parts of eastern Hispaniola, one can easily imagine at least several hundred African American residents  or long-term sojourners in Haiti by the 1830s. Most were probably the emigrants who came through Boyer's supported plan. Individual African-Americans or smaller groups who came continuously also contributed to the black American population of the island, such as John Bell Hepburn, who emigrated to Haiti in the 1830s. Thorald Burnham and Julie Winch are among the few scholars to highlight the continuous nature of African American emigration to Haiti since abolitionists, free blacks, and emancipated slaves came singly or in smaller groups to Haitian free soil until the the end of the US Civil War. Some, perhaps sailors, educated free blacks, and those of Saint-Dominguan origin, may have returned to Haiti between 1804-1820. Silvain Simonise, for instance, was born in South Carolina and after his completing his education in France, decided Haiti was a better home than the US. Loring Dewey's correspondence also refers to the presence of free blacks from the US in Haiti prior to the Boyer emigration project. In some cases, African Americans came to Haiti after Emancipation.

Alonzo Holly, son of James Theodore Holly. He studied in Europe and the US, but spoke on Haiti's behalf during the Occupation to UNIA audiences. All of Holly's children have left a mark in Haitian medicine, religion, or intellectual thought.

Another complication of tracking African Americans in 19th century Haiti is the question of Louisiana Creoles. Creoles of color retained links with relatives in Haiti, and, according to Duplantier, perhaps 450 emigrated there between 1859 and the end of the US Civil War. Examples of Creoles of color traveling to Haiti include Pierre-Aristide Desdunes, who recounted visiting his Haitian cousins. Another Desdunes, Emile, was educated in Haiti and chose Haitian citizenship. Emile Desdune was the initial agent for Louisiana Creole emigration to Haiti under Emperor Soulouque. Other Creoles, such as Joseph Colastin Rousseau, also chose Haiti as their homeland, and remained cognizant of their ancestral and cultural ties with Haitians. These groups, unlike free blacks from the antebellum US, were Francophone and predominantly Catholic, which made it even easier for them to assimilate into Haitian society. The fairer-skinned among them may have excelled as colorism possibly assisted in their assimilation. Moreover, their presence in Haiti was a topic of interest in Port-au-Prince newspapers, highlighting familial ties between prominent Haitians and Louisiana Creoles. Nevertheless, arriving at an accurate estimate of the numbers who chose to stay in Haiti is difficult, and may require a comparison with Creole emigration to Mexico during the same period.

Prince Saunders was one of the most prominent African-Americans who came to Haiti in the early 19th century. An educator initially associated with Henri Christophe, he stayed in Haiti to serve the government until his death in 1839.

Since we are assuming that at least several hundred African Americans chose to become Haitians, predominantly in urban areas, one can begin to tackle the question of their influence and legacy in Haiti. Through the AME, Baptist, Episcopalian, and Wesleyan Methodist churches, African American influence in Haiti probably surpassed their actual numbers. The AME Church, an independent African American Protestant denomination, included prominent members among the African American settlers. John Allen, Bishop Richard Allen's son, chose to emigrate, where his skills in printing were valued. Although Allen eventually returned to the US, the African Methodist Episcopal church sent clergy to cater to the spiritual needs of the emigrants in Haiti. Other African American Protestant settlers likewise influenced Haiti's spiritual terrain by introducing camp ground meetings and bible study sessions at their homes in Morne-à-Tuf. Indeed, African-American Protestants built perhaps the earliest chapel in Haiti in the 1830s, which Corvington claimed could hold up to 200 people. Corvington also mentions small schools established by African Americans in the area, which may have contributed to the retention of the English language and Protestant faiths among descendants of the settlers. Some of the names associated with black American families in that time were remembered by Joseph Jérémie in his memoir: Jackson, Jacsin, Cook, Day, Jones, Horton.

Septima Clark, an African American educator and activist, had a mother and uncle who lived in Haiti. Her mother lived there for less than 8 years, but her relatives may have stayed in Haiti longer. Her mother's brother worked for a cigar factory there as a sampler before eventually returning to the US.

African American Protestants were also active in other parts of Haiti besides the capital. Jean Price-Mars's father, for instance, converted to the Baptist faith because African Americans were active in forming early churches in Dondon, Cap-Haitien, and Grande Riviere du Nord. Indeed, according to Jacques C. Antoine's study of Price-Mars, it was an African American, Samuel Waring, who came to Haiti to enter the coffee trade, who established the Baptist church in Price-Mars's hometown. Thomas Paul, another important black Baptist in Haiti, was active in the 1820s. For the Wesleyan Methodists, who were established in Haiti quite early and included some prominent local families (Pressoir, Bauduy, and Louis-Joseph Janvier's grandfather), African Americans were also present. Indeed, a Pressoir married an African American, suggestive of close ties between Haitian converts and African American immigrants. The growth of their denomination in the later decades of the 19th century partly relied on locals of African American descent, such as Alexandre Jackson and Joseph Hogarth, for native clergy, educators, and preachers. Similarly, the Episcopalians under James Theodore Holly recruited two native-born Haitians who were probably of African American origin: Pierre Jones and Charles Benedict, who were educated in the US and contributed to Haiti as educators, school inspectors, and reverends of the Episcopalians. Theodora Holly also worked in education, suggesting a close link between African American Protestants and intellectual (moral?) elevation of Haiti. 

Theodora Holly, daughter of James Theodore Holly, spent time in the US contributed to the African American press articles about her Haitian homeland. She was active in the UNIA and connected African American and Haitian women through the International Council of Women of the Darker Races of the World.

For some of the African American emigrants, particularly James Theodore Holly, black America had to contribute to the moral elevation of Haiti through antebellum notions of Anglo-Saxon civilization's superiority. Protestantism was perceived as superior to Catholicism and Vodou, and African Americans could be agents for the salvation of Haiti as the black nationality. Of course, many Haitian intellectuals also saw in Haiti the rehabilitation of the black race or shared the civilizationist discourse of African American black nationalists. However, most Haitian intellectuals were either nominally Catholic or avoided overt references to religion (unless denigrating Vodou and African 'atavism'). Thus, African American Protestants contributed to a distinct form of black nationalist thought in Haiti through their religiously-informed worldview. Haitian Protestants, like Louis Joseph Janvier, came to share their preference for Protestantism over Catholicism, but never relinquished the idea of Haiti as part of the "Latin" world. Nevertheless, the African American and West Indian Protestant presence acted as a bridge between African American and Haitian thought by the rise of Garveyism, further cementing Haiti's role as a symbolic central node of black intellectual thought, despite the small numbers of actual UNIA adherents in Haiti. It also facilitated Haitian-African American cultural contact and exchange, perhaps making things easier for Haitians of Protestant extraction, such as Price-Mars, to visit Tuskegee and find inspiration in racial uplift, Booker T. Washington and African American leadership.

Article from Le Progrès on Louisiana Creoles and African American immigrants in Haiti. Haiti under Geffrard introduced some urban amenities while also experiencing a brief economic boom from the rise of cotton prices during the US Civil War. African American immigrants were believed to be best suited to drastically improve Haiti's cotton industry in the Artibonite region.

Beyond the religious impact, which, unsurprisingly, influenced intellectual and political thought, African Americans in Haiti also left behind a presence in the trades, crafts, and urban laboring masses. According to a source cited by Nicholls, African Americans contributed to an improvement in the quality of Haitian trades and artisan occupations. Thus, even if the vast majority of African American immigrants, who were were northern free blacks, abandoned agricultural pursuits, their intended purpose in Haiti, many left behind a positive legacy in urban Haiti. An apprentice of James Forten, for instance, was a prominent sailmaker in Cap-Haitien mentioned by Benjamin Hunt. Louisiana Creoles of color were associated with trades in New Orleans, and those who stayed in Haiti likely contributed to the improvement of standards. Many found work in other sectors, such as Edouard Osmont of New Orleans, who ran a restaurant in 1860s Port-au-Prince. Robert Wainwright, according to Corvington, enjoyed a favorable reputation as a cabinetmaker for bourgeois families in Port-au-Prince. Black artisans would have interacted with their Haitian counterparts in Bel Air or Morne-a-Tuf, perhaps sharing skills or marrying locals who could have expanded business and clientele networks. If the black immigrants were fair-skinned, it would not be surprising if local Haitians saw them favorably and marriage between the two groups could have assisted in the upward social mobility of the petit-bourgeois. Freemasonry probably contributed to their assimilation, too, as many free blacks and Haitians were members of lodges. James Theodore Holly himself was a member, and performed funerary rites for Freemasons of different religious backgrounds.

This article from Le Progrès alludes to the familial ties between Creoles and Haitians.

Among tailors, shoemakers, and bakers, Benjamin Hunt identified African Americans or Creoles as running the best establishments in Port-au-Prince ca. 1860. These African American artisans in the lucrative trades, like the later Cuban immigrants, therefore improved local standards and may have introduced new forms of fraternal organization and mutual aid associations. They also played a pivotal role in the urban transformation of Port-au-Prince as new restaurants, neighborhoods, and early attempts at modernization required forms of labor that the local population either could not meet or perform. Of course, Haitian towns by the 1820s had local artisans and popular quarters such as Bel Air. But African American and Louisiana Creoles could find success as more reputable artisans or by filling in niches for new services. For instance, most of the Louisiana Creole emigrants were masons, bricklayers, builders, carpenters, tailors, or shoemakers, which meant they could have provided a number of services for the bourgeois residents of Haitian cities. Some may have also used their background as mechanics for repairing mills or other machinery associated with sugar production and distilleries. Like the Cubans or West Indian immigrants, some African Americans could do quite well in Haiti. Indeed, John Hepburn, who became a prominent commerçant, ran the finest hotel and magasin in 1860s Port-au-Prince, located near Place Geffrard. He is credited by Corvington for introducing ice cream and may have been the wealthiest African American in 19th century Haiti. Born to a white father and enslaved mother, Hepburn, like his brother, Moses, who stayed in northern Virginia, inherited some of his father's wealth, which, combined with his knowledge of English, facilitated his rise as a trader with connections to British or North American firms. African American medical professionals, artists, and similar educated professionals could also thrive in Haiti.

Reverend Pierre E. Jones was one of the native clergymen trained by James Theodore Holly. He was educated in Philadelphia with another native Haitian. Based on his surname, it is likely that Jones was a descendant of African Americans, perhaps the very same Jones who were part of the African American Protestant community in Morne-a-Tuf.

African Americans were also engaged in a variety of occupations among the "proto-proletariat" of Port-au-Prince and other towns. Many found work as servants for English or Anglophone residents and companies. McKenzie, whose Notes on Haiti are invaluable for information on Haiti during the Boyer years, alluded to his African-American servants. McKenzie and other foreign sources alluded to the ubiquitous presence of African-Americans in Port-au-Prince. Hunt identified them among the rag-pickers in Port-au-Prince, or the day laborers. Burnham's analysis of marriage records found many employed as washerwomen, ropemakers, shoemakers, or leatherworkers. Among the day laborers and urban poor of them, some were described as indolent, like Haitian natives. This probably reflects the class bias of Haitian elites and class or racial biases of white foreigners' accounts, who saw in the Haitian poor alleged racial characters of tropical laziness and vagrancy. However, even by the late 19th century, Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien were developing poor quarters where much of the population struggled to find work or lived a meager life. Some black immigrants from the US entered this category, and, consequently, become harder to track. Through their Protestant networks and benevolent societies, one may surmise that such immigrants and their descendants have shaped 19th century working-class culture.

Michel Mauleart Monton Michel Mauleart Monton was born in New Orleans to a Haitian father. He was raised in Haiti and became an immortal figure by composing the music for Oswald Durand's Choucoune. Monton's life is a great example of continued links between Louisiana Creoles and Haiti. 

In terms of agriculture, the Louisiana Creoles probably did not invest much in land. Yet other sources identify them as bringing machinery to Haiti for agricultural production. Some may have retained familial ties to landowning families, like the Desdunes. Such connections may have enabled Creoles access to large estates where they could have experimented with revivals of sugar production or cotton and tobacco. Some African Americans also pooled their resources together and achieved moderate success. Fanning, for instance, came across an article from a Quaker publication about 8 black immigrant families near Port-au-Prince who collectively owned land and sold produce at the Port-au-Prince market. Their frugality and cooperative farm may have made them more successful than other African American farmers who worked as sharecroppers on Haitian estates or small-scale farmers who had to deal with peasant neighbors stealing their crops and animals. Given their unfamiliarity with agriculture and urban backgrounds, it is not surprising that most moved to cities. The example of James Theodore Holly's initial colony at Drouillard demonstrated quite clearly the toll of tropical disease on African Americans, too. In the early 1820s emigration wave, African Americans were also blamed for introducing smallpox, which devastated Haitians and the immigrants. 

Advertisement for John Allen, a prominent African-American who came to Haiti in the 1820s and stayed longer than most. His hope for free produce movement and manufacturing in Haiti came to a bust, which may have prompted his eventual return to the US.

Despite not knowing exactly how many African Americans permanently settled in Haiti across the 19th century, it was likely at least 1000. Rural migration appears to have largely failed, but many African-Americans stayed in the various cities and towns. Families who descend from these migrants include the Hogarth, Jones, Holly, Wainwright, Jackson, Hurst, Simonise, Day, Horton, Gordon, Cook and many others. While they occupy a prominent place in the history of Protestantism in Haiti, many were active links between Black America and Haiti well into the 20th century. The legacy of James Theodore Holly and his Haitian-born or raised children best exemplify this trend. Through their activism and intellectual engagement with Black America, they're the best example of Haiti-African American transnational links. Arthur Holly even became a major figure in the Ethnological movement, part of a shift among Haitian intellectuals with regards to Vodou and Haiti's African heritage. Their Protestant congregations pushed the Haitian state toward greater religious liberty, and many members became active in various trades. Unfortunately, African Americans in Haiti were not able to benefit from a government like that of Henri Christophe, which could have pushed for stronger industrialization through textile production, education, agrarian reform, and shipping. Just imagine if African Americans like Forten and other prosperous free blacks would have been able to support Haitian industry and reforms to industrialize and make Haiti less dependent on the Western powers? Sadly, by the time large-scale black American migration to Haiti developed, Boyer and subsequent Haitian governments were ensuring such an alternative would be impossible. 

Bibliography

Antoine, Jacques Carmeleau. Jean Price-Mars and Haiti. Washington, D.C.: Three Continents Press, 1981.

Bell, Caryn Cossé. "Pierre-Aristide Desdunes (1844-1918), Creole Poet, Civil War Soldier, and Civil Rights Activist: The Common Wind's Legacy." Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 55, no. 3 (2014): 282-312. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24396705.

                      . Revolution, Romanticism, and the Afro-Creole Protest Tradition in Louisiana, 1718-1868. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1997.

Burnham, Thorald. Immigration and Marriage in the Making of Post-Independence Haiti., York University, 2006.

Comhaire-Sylvain, J. S. "Urban Stratification in Haiti." Social and Economic Studies 8, no. 2 (1959): 179-89. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27851206.

Corvington, Georges. Port-au-Prince au cours des ans. Montréal: Éditions du CIDIHCA, 2002.

Dean, David M. Defender of the Race: James Theodore Holly Black Nationalist Bishop. Boston: Lambeth Press, 1979.

Dixon, Chris. African America and Haiti: Emigration and Black Nationalism in the Nineteenth Century. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2000.

Dubois, Laurent. Haiti: The Aftershocks of History. New York: Picador, 2013.

Dumervé, Constantin. Histoire de la musique en Haïti. Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie des Antilles, 1968.

Duplantier, Jean-Marc. Nos frères d'outre-golfe": Spiritualism, Vodou and the mimetic literatures of Haiti and Louisiana., Louisiana State University, 2006. 

Fanning, Sara. Caribbean Crossing African Americans and the Haitian Emigration Movement. New York: NYU Press, 2015.

Griffiths, Leslie John. A History of Methodism in Haiti: 1817-1916. SOAS., 1987.

Hunt, Benjamin S. Remarks on Hayti As a Place of Settlement for Afric-Americans ; And on the Mulatto As a Race for the Tropics. Philadelphia: T.B. Pugh, 1860.

Jérémie, Joseph. Souvenirs d'une enfance heureuse et d'une jeunesse déjà lointaine par Jérémie. Port-au-Prince, 1940. 

Mitchell, Mary Niall. ""A Good and Delicious Country": Free Children of Color and How They Learned to Imagine the Atlantic World in Nineteenth-Century Louisiana." History of Education Quarterly 40, no. 2 (2000): 123-44. doi:10.2307/369533.

Newsome, Effie Lee. "Early Figures in Haitian Methodism." Phylon (1940-1956) 5, no. 1 (1944): 51-61. doi:10.2307/272475

Nicholls, David. From Dessalines to Duvalier: Race Colour, and National Independence in Haiti. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996.

Pamphile, Léon Dénius. Haitians and African Americans: A Heritage of Tragedy and Hope. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2008.

Plummer, Brenda Gayle. "Garveyism in Haiti during the US Occupation." Journal of Haitian Studies 21, no. 2 (2015): 68-87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43741122.

Romain, Charles-Poisset. Le protestantisme dans la société haïtienne. Port-au-Prince, Haïti: Impr. H. Deschamps, 1986. 

Seraille, William. "Afro-American Emigration to Haiti During the American Civil War." The Americas 35, no. 2 (1978): 185-200. doi:10.2307/980903.

La presencia China en Cuba

A short video on the Chinese presence in Cuba. Very informative.

Puerto Rican Emigration to Hawaii

This short Puerto Rican documentary on the diaspora in Hawaii is rather informative. It contextualizes Puerto Rican emigration to Hawaii by discussing the political, economic, and social conditions which led to an estimated 5,000 Puerto Ricans relocating to Hawaii in the early 1900s. Part 2 can be found here.

French Antilleans in Haiti: 1848-1934

Edouard Bloncourt in the Blue Book of Haiti. His import-export business in Cap-Haitien was predated by his merchant past in Port-de-Paix. The Bloncourt family is from Guadeloupe, and Edouard was likely the relative who assisted Yves Bloncourt when he came to Haiti after WWI.

The presence of Afro-descendants or even white Creoles from Martinique and Guadeloupe in Haiti during the 19th and early 20th centuries is surprisingly difficult to investigate. Perhaps due to their cultural and linguistic similarities, the 1500 or more French Antilleans who came to Haiti during the aforementioned period are harder to locate than Syriens or Anglophone West Indian immigrants. The vast majority, according to Zacair, who relied heavily on French consul reports, were from Guadeloupe. Many married into Haitian families and therefore a large number of Haitians today can trace their ancestry to the French Caribbean. The Bloncourt, Boutin, Rabouin, de Catalogne, Demeuran, and many other families have ancestors who came to Haiti during this era, particularly after 1848. Many were "mulattoes" of the professional and bourgeois classes who established maisons de commerce in various Haitian port cities, like the Boutin family in St. Marc. Others were artisans, musicians, mechanics, educators, engineers, merchants, street vendors, laborers, and skilled workers, searching for opportunities beyond the confines of their colonial homes. Like Anglophone Caribbean migrants, such people were possibly also inspired by the idea of living under a black-ruled government where racial discrimination would not curb their freedom.

Gérard de Catalogne is in the second row, second from the left. Son of a Creole father from Martinique and a Haitian woman, de Catalogne diffused the reactionary ideas of Maurras in Haiti.

Indeed, the concentration of land ownership among the white plantocracy after 1848, plus restrictions on the newly freed and "free colored" class after emancipation would have been enough push factors to make Haiti an attractive location. Many former slaves found themselves trapped, working for their former masters as poorly paid plantation laborers. It is also probable that many in Guadeloupe and Martinique saw independent Haiti as a model for the Caribbean. In fact, long before 1848, free people of color from the French Antilles were in Haiti (not to mention connections during Haiti's colonial period). One Edmond Thetis of Martinique served in the army of Henri Christophe before returning to Martinique in 1811, implicated in a revolt. Joseph Saint-Remy, who wrote a biography of Alexandre Petion, was a Haitian born in Guadeloupe. His parents, inspired by Haiti's racially inclusive Constitution of 1816, which invited anyone and everyone of African or Amerindian descent the right to Haitian citizenship, eventually chose to resettle in Haiti.

Migrants from Martinique and other parts of the Antilles were identified as street vendors and artisans in Cap-Haitien and other towns of the Republic, as this 1892 article illustrates.

Saint-Remy's father, a carpenter, brought the family to Les Cayes. The same biographical notice in Saint-Remy's book also claims the father and grandfather of President Salomon were originally from the French Antilles, suggesting another politically important family of French Caribbean roots. Besides the several families from the French Antilles who came to Haiti during this era, Cyril Bissette, whose Revue des colonies published Haitian writer Ignace Nau, also invested time and labor in defending Haiti from what he saw as Schoelcher's attempts to paint Haitian society as hopelessly divided into black versus "mulatto" castes. Bissette even saw Haiti's potential as the capital of a future Caribbean confederation. Of course, one must not forget Guillaume Guillon-Lethière, a Guadeloupe-born artist, who painted The Oath of Our Ancestors. This famous painting of the Haitian Revolution and the uniting of blacks and "mulattoes," with the will of God, must have signified dignity and liberty for oppressed slaves and free people of color living before 1848.  Of course, there were exceptions to favorable views of Haiti among French Caribbean people of color, as the case of Victor Cochinat  in the late 19th century reveals. The journalist from Martinique's vitriolic articles triggered a response from Louis Joseph Janvier, which demonstrates another side of French Caribbean perceptions of Haiti.

Marc Boutin, born in St. Marc to parents from Guadeloupe, inherited his father's maison de commerce. Along with his mother, the family expanded the business to include Port-au-Prince. Aubin also refers to him as one of the French subjects owning land in Haiti. In his case, it was Caradeux, in the Cul de Sac plain. 

Clearly, Haiti was already etched into the minds of many in Guadeloupe and Martinique, perhaps especially so with educated free people of color. Haiti likely appealed to blacks in Martinique and Guadeloupe after 1848. The rise of a socialist party and labor movement in Guadeloupe by the 1890s, one that was specifically linking race and class, may have seen in the Haitian revolutionary past something inspirational. More work needs to be done exploring this, particularly on Hégésippe Jean Légitimus and allusions to Haiti among black workers of the late 19th century. His opponents, for instance, sought to compare him to "savage" Haiti, going so far as calling him a papa loi. For others, Haiti may have signified something else. For example, by the time the Third Republic arose, the "mulatto bourgeoisie" of Martinique were identified by metropolitan authorities as pro-republican and the best local allies. This process is summarized quite well in Church's Paradise Destroyed: Catastrophe and Citizenship in the French Caribbean, which unfortunately does not explore the Haitian connection or the ways in which natural catastrophes may have encouraged migration to Haiti.

Dr. Justin Castera of Jacmel was a martiniquais descent.

It very well could be the preference shown by many French Caribbean businessmen for the Liberals in Haiti was related to their liberal bourgeois politics. This shared fervor for liberalism, plus growing personal ties through marriage, cemented their attachment to the Liberal party. As one would expect, their open sympathy caused tensions with the Haitian government. For example, Ludovic Goubault's transparent support for Haitian rebels in Jeremie during the 1883 revolt illustrates how French West Indians intervened in the political affairs of Haiti. In addition to business and marriage with the Haitian upper classes, some even served in the Haitian military or married into the families of generals. According to Thorald Burnham, Andre de Thomas, for example, married the daughter of a major general and served as his attaché. This gave the "moucas" a surprisingly large influence in Haiti.  Consequently, going to the Black Republic may have meant not solely economic opportunity in commerce, but a chance to participate in the affairs of an independent republic.

Gaston Gerville-Réache worked as a teacher in Port-au-Prince for a short time. Once elected to the French National Assembly, he spoke for Guadeloupeans in Haiti during the turbulent year of 1883. In Paris, he also contributed to Benito Sylvain's La Fraternité . Unlike him, other French Caribbean educators, musicians and professionals stayed in Haiti. Louis Astrée, for instance, was a major figure in 19th century Haitian music as the director of the Musique du Palais.

But, who exactly were these immigrants? How were they received by the Haitian population? Did they chose to become Haitian citizens? After consulting Zacair's article and some of the sources, their position in Haiti was often paradoxical. For instance, they were able to practice professions in Haiti that were prohibited to foreigners. Others, despite marrying Haitians and establishing close ties with the Haitian political and economic elite, exploited their status as French subjects to make inflated claims on the Haitian government for compensation during moments of political turmoil. In fact, some of these French Caribbeans became consuls, while others were involved in larger French commerce or financial interests. As one can expect, French Antilleans, as well as other black immigrants, were occasionally attacked by Haitian political figures for their exploitative behavior and refusing to become Haitian citizens. In terms population and demographics, the "moucas" or French Antillean subjects were clearly an important presence. Indeed, they were numerous enough to form their own quarter in Cap-Haitien, by Bas de la Ravine. In Port-au-Prince, French and French Caribbean residents were involved in a mutual aid society, but Zacair hints at intra-community tensions as the business community sought to exclude workers from Guadeloupe and Martinique from the benefits of the society. Intellectually, some, such as Fernand Keitel, launched Le Cable, a Capois journal highlighted by Marc Péan. For most of the aforementioned groups, assimilation seems to have occurred relatively quickly. This was likely the case for the lower classes, too.  A cursory exploration of Haitian literary references to the French Antilles also sugguests this. Velleda Petite-Caille, in Justin Lhérisson's famous novel may be the best early example.

The Monfleury usine for the preparation of coffee. Aubin claimed Monfleury père  to be of Martinican origin.

As a card reader, she attracts a wealthy clientele, ultimately launching her husband into high society of fin de siècle Port-au-Prince. But Velleda, who does not come from the Martinique "mulatto" bourgeoisie. So, she continues to mispronounce some French phrases, thereby demonstrating an affinity with uneducated lower-class Haitian Creole speakers, whose elocution was also mocked by their social superiors. However, she was not a target of derision or singled out for her origins in Martinique, and her marriage with Eliézer suggests a great degree of cultural compatibility. Unfortunately, her fate does not end well in the novel, but there is no suggestion of bias or exclusive attitudes towards her due to her non-Haitian origins. Perhaps the ease at which she could establish a reputation for fortune-telling is matched by those of the French Antilles who could join Vodou congregations. Burnham alludes to Civil Blain, a Martinican in 19th century Bel Air, who left behind a lakou bearing his name. It is reasonably clear that the lower class waves of migrants from the French Caribbean were capable of assimiling well with locals in the urban popular quarters. Their skin color, language, and the ease with which they could travel into the interior of Haiti likely facilitated this, which perhaps masked their presence in the archives. Many practiced small trades in towns like St. Marc, Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haitien, Aux Cayes, Jacmel, or Gonaives, which brought them into regular contact with Haitians of all backgrounds. Perhaps the commonality of language and culture enabled positive interactions or professional relations, as well as marriage and progeny.

A bizarre story involving from Oct 1900 involving a Haitian woman and her husband from Martinique or Guadeloupe. 

In Eugène Aubin's En Haïti; planteurs d'autrefois, nègres d'aujourd'hui, published five years before the US Occupation, direct accounts of French West Indians abound. Aubin describes landholders, owners of usines for the preparation of coffee, a pious woman from Guadeloupe, an engineer by the name of Emmanuel Odeide working for the Manneville habitation, merchants, and spouses. Examples of their presence abound, such as the wife of General Dorsey Falaise of Croix des Bouquets, a Guadeloupean woman. These French West Indians are described by Aubin as mixing with locals due to language and color. However, his account also attests to their significance in new developments in the economy. Perhaps the business end of the French Caribbean community was ultimately negative for economic development by encouraging dependency on foreign imports, but during the 1870s and 1880s, they introduced some new technology in the coffee industry. Octave Francis, a "mulatto," was identified as one of the first to establish a usine for preparing coffee, in Petionville. Francis's mother was from Martinique while his father was from St. Thomas. While they may not have directly controlled the production of coffee, Francis, Monfleury, and other foreign-owned usines improved the quality of Haitian coffee, thereby increasing prices on the global market while, in some cases, weakening their Haitian intermediaries.

Yves Bloncourt was an early proponent of the Boy Scouts in Haiti.

Another family with origins in Martinique, the Montfleury, were associated with the usine in Carrefour, which was expanded by the two Montfleury sons and a French partner, Bertin.  Their usine employed 50 employees and 150 trieuses, leading to a new community to service the workers in the area. Some also contributed to tentative steps towards restoring sugar production or large-scale production in the Cul-de-Sac plain by providing essential services, like mechanics, management or engineering. A letter to a Haitian who criticized Martinican and Guadeloupean residents was published in Le Nouvelliste. The author, A. Charlesin, appears to be a Martinican or Guadeloupean forger-mechanic working in Haiti. Meanwhile, Zacair describes one who managed a plantation near Leogane managed by a French Antillean. Haiti en 1886 mentions a Martinican horticulteur known throughout Port-au-Prince. Thus, their presence was linked to early capitalist intrusion into the Haitian economy and new industries and businesses, shaping new social relations and methods of production while simultaneously weakening the local merchant class.

President Louis Borno was the son of a naturalized Haitian from Guadeloupe. His non-Haitian roots were a subject of concern to Jacques Roumain, who criticized Borno for being a puppet president of the US Occupation. 

Despite difficulties in knowing exactly how many French Caribbean peoples were in Haiti during the 19th and 20th centuries, their influence likely surpassed their actual numbers. Through commerce, education, music, the arts, and industry, migrants brought with them new ideas, concepts, and interactions which connected Haiti and the French Antilles within the archipelago and their diasporas in France. The Bloncourt family, for instance, had branches in Haiti and Guadeloupe, while Haitian presidents with origins in Martinique and Guadeloupe can be found in the Duvaliers and Louis Borno. Gerard de Catalogne, a descendant of a Martinican and a Haitian woman, was a major figure in 20th century Haitian journalism and politics. In Paris, Haitians such as Firmin brushed shoulders with Adolphe Lara of Guadeloupe. Thus, the French Caribbean and Haiti enjoyed a mutual influence in which the earlier migrations of Martinicans or Guadeloupeans was a pivotal part. The French Caribbean residents in Haiti may have also been influential in aspects of folklore and Vodou dance. Unsurprisingly, the paradoxical relationship of these migrants with Haiti and France illustrates a semi-colonial character in Haiti-France relations. The political independence of Haiti was gradually eroded as France, Germany, and, by the 20th century, the US, increasingly dominated its economic affairs. Those of Martinique or Guadeloupe roots knowingly or unknowingly contributed to this development, even if adopting Haitian citizenship, by encouraging the cultural orientation of the Haitian elite.