Causes of Poverty in Haiti

Running Head : Root Causes of Poverty in Haiti

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Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the sub continent of South America . The present level of poverty in this country can be traced back to the turbulent history of the first Black nation in the world . After they were able to destroy the Napoleonic army in the series of bloody battles freeing themselves from the French control and bringing to an end the slavery , Haiti was proclaimed free in 1804 .The ruling elites

were faced with a daunting task , they were faced with a difficult choice of whether they should restore the economy through reinstatement of the sugar plantation or preserving emancipation through allowing small holding systems which were inefficient (Fass , S 1990

The Haitians were opposed to a system of forced labor in the plantation regarding it as slavery . They instead called for the independent land distribution for all the people . This decision has been pointed out as one of the factors that led to the reduction of the earning power of the newly independent citizens of Haiti . France demand for compensation for the losses of the French farmers in the slave revolution left the country in a bad situation economically , crippling it completely and making the young nation deeply indebted . The economic boycott by the slave owning powers added salt to the injury as the economy could not survive under those conditions . The effects of these measures by the foreign powers on this...