WHO LED THE BOYCOTT ON HAITI IN 1806?

 

Bob Corbett
June 1995

In the book, POLAND'S CARIBBEAN TRAGEDY, I was surprised to read the following:

p. 296: "In January 1806, France and Spain convinced the American government to declare a trade embargo against Haiti."

POLAND'S CARIBBEAN TRAGEDY by Jan Pachonski and Reuel K. Wilson. Boulder: Eastern European Monographs, 1986.

I have always read that it was the U.S. that led the movement toward the embargo. This embargo had a devastating effect on Haiti's economy and is, in significant measure, a major factor in the entire economic history of Haiti. My own research for a paper I did a few years ago suggested that the U.S. was quite concerned with internal politics of the U.S. which suggested a hypocritical position:

• For the South, announce support of an embargo and make it official policy.
• For the Northeast, which needed Haitian molasses for its rum distilleries, to quietly ignore it's own embargo.

But, these authors come along and assert that the U.S. did not lead and originate such an embargo, but were led by France and Spain.

I'm interested in this for a couple of reasons -- one being that I just want to understand what happened during this period. Another is that U.S. critics of current Haitian policy always seem to blame the U.S. for virtually everything that has happened negatively to Haiti. I have even repeated the claim under question myself (the one of how led the embargo -- me, making the claim it was the U.S.). So, I'd like to know what the actual historical evidence supports.

Can anyone out there shed light on this subject?

Thanks,  Bob Corbett corbetre@webster.edu

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