Going Backwards Toward the Future: From Haiti to Saint-Domingue

This article describes the Haitian Revolution and Independence as both a war of secession from the colonial Metropole, and a war of national liberation. The Haitian Revolution itself is considered as an accident in the modern Western world’s sphere of influence, and its structural consequences remain today in process of resolution both internally and externally. The history of Haiti is viewed, in the long-term, as the failure of the attempt evolving during the 19^th century to find a compromise to bridge this unexpected split. I suggest that today Haiti is living a forced return to assimilation in the Western world as defined by the wealthy countries since colonial times, the current process being placed under the leadership of a new Metropole: the United States of America. My reflection will conclude by noting that the oligarchy of the French-oriented citizens of Haiti is in a precarious position, and that it too emerges as a loser in the accelerated decadence of the state and the nation. This article proposes that acknowledgment of these fractures and attempts at repair can aid Haiti in grappling for its “state” of freedom from an inner point of departure.