From: "Robert Fairchild" <solarbobky@xxxxxxxxx>
Gerald Murray in “Strategic Culture in Haiti” states that the early Haitian
leaders were completely ignorant of the agricultural system (small
independent farmers) predominating in the northern United States.“None of
the earliest Haitian military leaders, however—not Toussaint, not
Dessalines, not Henri-Christophe—recognized this peasant agriculture as a
valid system....simply following the only systemic precedents of which they
were aware: (1) The European-style plantation was the only agricultural
model with which most of them were familiar; the peasant provision plots
were viewed as a secondary supplement, not as the dominant economic model.
It was not on the newly emergent post-colonial menu of economic
alternatives that should be available to individuals.”
They were apparently also completely unfamiliar with the principles of the
American Revolution (all men are created equal and endowed by there creator
with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness) and the French Revolution (freedom, equality,
brotherhood):
“From the point of view of rulers, there were no systemic precedents for
what today are called
“respect for human rights”; there was no cultural menu item on the
inventory of rulers for
consulting with those they ruled.”
As the second post colonial nation in the hemisphere, why didn't they look
to the first for ideas?
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