Article: A Giant Step for Mankind Made in HaÃ¯ti

[7] Boukman (also Boukmann, Dutty Boukman or Zamba Boukman) was a leader of the rebellion in its initial stages. He had come to Haiti by way of Jamaica, then to become a maroon in the forest of Morne Rouge. Giant, powerful, fierce and fearsome, he was an inspiring leader.

[8] Proposed English translation of Boukman's Prayer on theLouvertureProject.org

[9] French General Donatien Rochambeau is infamous for his use of human (African)-eating dogs trained in Cuba. The animal were sent to to island without food rations with expressed order from Napoleon that they be fed exclusively human flesh. See La fÃ �rocitÃ � blanche: gÃ �nocides occultÃ �s de 1492 Ã nos jours -- Amelia Pumelle-Uribe

[10] William Wilberforce, who inspired the British Act of 1807 wrote a pamphlet in that same year in which he declared: "It would be wrong to emancipate (the enslaved Africans). To grant freedom to them immediately would be to insure not only their masters' ruin, but their own. They must (first) be trained and educated for freedom Truth be told, there were compelling military and economic imperatives that pushed Britain to adopt the 1807 Act, which merely rendered the so-called "trade" illegal but failed to abolish racial slavery on British territory. Over a million captured Africans were still regarded by the British Government as legal human property and forcibly held captive for over another two decades. Following the 1807 Act, the British Navy imposed on slaving ship captains a fine of 100 pounds per enslaved person found aboard. This also meant that thousands upon thousands of Africans were thrown to the sharks by slavers who attempted to avoid the fine. How much did the British Government profit from these fines?

[11] It is remarkable that an obviously unsympathetic white missionary entered in his "BRIEF HISTORY OF DESSALINES FROM 1825 MISSIONARY JOURNAL" the little known fact that Dessalines published a proclamation, offering to the captains of American vessels the sum of forty dollars for each individual native or black man of colour, whom they should convey back to Hayti. The actual proclamation, dated January 14, 1804, reads as follows: LibertÃ � oÃ � la mort! Gouvernement d'Haiti, Quartier gÃ �nÃ �ral, le 14 janvier 1804, premiÃ �re annÃ �e de l'indÃ �pendance d'Haiti. Le gouverneur-gÃ �nÃ �ral, considÃ �rant qu'un grand nombre de noirs et d'hommes de couleurs supportent, aux Etats-Unis, toutes sortes de privations, parce qu'ils n'ont pas les moyens de retourner en Haiti, dÃ �crÃ �te qu'il sera comptÃ � aux capitaines de navires amÃ �ricains la somme de quarante piastres pour chaque individu qu'ils pourront ramener dans le pays. Ce dÃ �cret sera imprimÃ �, publiÃ �, aussitÃ �t expÃ �diÃ �, et une copie en sera immÃ �diatement envoyÃ �s au CongrÃ �s des Etats-Unis. Le Gouverneur GÃ �nÃ �ral, Dessalines

[12] The Charles X Ransom, initially established at 150 million Francs by the French was extorted at gunpoint from Haiti between 1825 and 1947.

[13] MICHAELLE JEAN CALLED TO MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD: (British Crown to Pay Long Overdue Reparations) by Jafrikayiti, April 7, 2007

[14] In 1822, the murmur of freedom and equality circulating among Charleston's black population turned to action, as Vesey hatched a plot for a slave uprising. More than 9,000 slaves and free blacks were attracted to Vesey's plot to "liberate" the city of Charleston.Denmark Vesey and his co-conspirators had been in touch with then-President Boyer of Haiti. Indeed, one of Vesey's lieutenants, Monday Gell, had written two letters to the president of Haiti seeking support for the planned insurrection. http://www.ipoaa.com/denmark_vesey__and_his_co.htm

[15] July1861: Spanish gun-boat aggression against Haiti - At issue: Haitian support to Dominican generals Cabral and Sanchez who were resisting attempted Spanish annexation of Dominican Republic. Spanish Admiral Rubalcava collects $200,000 ransom and 21-gun salute from Haitian President Fabre Nicholas GÃ �ffrard.

1861-1865: Spain annexes neighboring Dominican Republic by invitation of its white and mulatto minority: Fearing a return of slavery on the island, Haiti helps anti-Spanish forces to regain Dominican Republic's independence.

1872: German gun-boat aggression against Haiti. Commodore Basch collects 3000 Sterling Pounds from the Haitian government and defames Haitian flag with German excrement.

1877: March: French gun-boat aggression against Haiti. At issue: resumption of payments on the 1825 ransom""balance then re-estimated at 20 million Francs-or. December: Repeat of Spanish gun-boat aggression against Haiti. At issue: Suspected Haitian assistance to rebels fighting to abolish slavery in Cuba.

August 1883: In the midst of popular riots in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, diplomatic representatives of France, Britain, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Holland, Norway and Sweden sign ultimatum threatening Haitian President Lysius FÃ �llicitÃ � Salomon of bombarding Haiti's National Palace. See Time to Stop Resisting Haiti's Resistance by Jean Saint-Vil, November 2002

[16] During a recent August 2009 visit to Cuba, a Haitian friend informed the author that his Cuban host were proud to assert the little known fact that Haiti had provided a passport to the founding father of their nation, thus facilitating his struggle for independence (from Spain)

[17] "Souvenez-vous, mes chers enfants, leur disais-je, que quoi que vous soyez esclaves, vous Ã �tes cependant chrÃ �tiens comme vos maÃ �tres; que " ceux qui ne vivent pas chrÃ �tiennement tombent aprÃ �s leur mort dans les enfers. "Quels malheur pour vous si, aprÃ �s avoir Ã �tÃ � les esclaves des hommes en ce monde et dans le temps vous deveniez esclaves du dÃ �mon pendant toute l'Ã �ternitÃ �. Ce malheur pourtant vous arrivera infailliblement si vous ne vous rangez pas Ã votre devoir puisque vous Ã �tes dans un Ã �tat habituel de damnation: car, sans parler du tort que vous faites Ã vos maÃ �tres en les privant de votre travail" vous n'approchez point des sacrements".Venez Ã moi mes chers amis" .

PÃ � Fauque de Cayenne ki ap preche, Les marrons de la libertÃ �, p.504 Jean Fouchard, Editions de l'Ã �cole, 1972.

[18] The grave of Scipio Africanus"Scipio Africanus (1702 - 21 December 1720) was a slave born to unknown parents from West Africa

He is remembered because of the elaborate grave, consisting of painted headstone and footstone, in the churchyard of St Mary's in Henbury, which is a grade II listed building.[1] Both stones feature black cherubs and the footstone bears the unusual epitaph:

I who was Born a PAGAN and a SLAVE

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