Relations internationales et classe politique en Haïti (1784-1814)

Abstract

The passage from colonial rule to independence présupposes the ermegence of a political class capable of autonomously governing the new sovereign state. Did the colonial society of Santo Domingo permit the creation of such a ruling class takenfrom among those persons previously subjugated - mulattos, free blacks, créole slaves or bossales ? This study shows that the " élite " that took control in the révolution in Haiti was chiefly composed of mulattos and free blacks present at the end of the period of slavery. This class remained attached to the large plantation System, and with that, to a System of foreign relations that alone was capable of assuring an outlet for exportable items— sugar and particularly coffee. From the beginning of the Haitian republic, the ruling elite was largely subordinate to thepowers destined to dominate the new state in the coming décades : Europe and the U.S. Independence was the victory of an élite offree blacks which maintained, even reinforced, its lies with the great powers at the cost of an almost permanent political dependency.