Caribbean Crossing: African Americans and the Haitian Emigration Movement - Hardcover

by Sara Fanning (Author)

Shortly after winning its independence in 1804, Haiti's leaders realized
that if their nation was to survive, it needed to build strong diplomatic bonds
with other nations. Haiti's first leaders looked especially hard at the United
States, which had a sizeable free black population that included vocal
champions of black emigration and colonization. In the 1820s, President
Jean-Pierre Boyer helped facilitate a migration of thousands of black Americans
to Haiti with promises of ample land, rich commercial prospects, and most
importantly, a black state. His ideas struck a chord with both blacks and
whites in America. Journalists and black community leaders advertised emigration
to Haiti as a way for African Americans to resist discrimination and show the
world that the black race could be an equal on the world stage, while
antislavery whites sought to support a nation founded by liberated slaves.
Black and white businessmen were excited by trade potential, and racist whites
viewed Haiti has a way to export the race problem that plagued America.