Thread by @ajplus

Today in 1791, enslaved people in Haiti launched a rebellion against European colonizers — sparking global revolts that collapsed the slave trade.

Haiti became the world's first Black-led republic and the first country founded by former enslaved people.
#SlaveryRemembranceDay 🧵

Haiti was the second country in the Americas to gain independence, after the U.S.

But the U.S. did not recognize Haiti for decades. Rather, it sent aid to French colonizers to suppress the rebellion by enslaved people, over fears it could spark similar revolts in the U.S.

The French enslaved some 770,000 African men, women and children in Haiti — double the number of enslaved people sent to North America.

Deaths were so high on plantations, the enslaved population was fully replaced about every 20 years.

It was Europe's most "profitable" colony.

Haiti was the first country in the world to fully abolish slavery — after its rebellion led by enslaved people.

Europe and the U.S. would not fully ban both slavery and the slave trade for decades longer:
Britain: 1833
France: 1848
United States: 1865
#SlaveryRemembranceDay

France forced Haiti to pay reparations to former slave owners as a condition for independence.

Haiti paid 150M francs to ex-slave owners, equivalent to $20–30 billion today.

The payments took 120+ years and forced Haiti to get loans from French banks, crippling its economy.

France was not the only country to ensure former slave owners got reparations.

▪️ UK used taxpayer money to pay slave owners $350B (£300B) in today's dollars.
▪️ The U.S. paid slave owners $300 for every enslaved person set free.

They paid former enslaved people no reparations.

Haiti was part of the global slave trade. European countries kidnapped about 12.5 million people from Africa for enslavement in the Americas.

An est. 1.8 million people were killed on those journeys (the "Middle Passage") by disease, violence, confinement and other abuses.