Ancestry Day – January 2, 2025

History of Ancestry Day

On January 1, 1804, the Republic of Haiti, formerly called ‘Saint Domingue,’ proclaimed its independence from the French colonial government. Thus, Haiti became the first post-colonial independent, black-led nation in the world and the first Caribbean nation to abolish slavery. The African bondsmen working for the French on coffee and sugar plantations, allowing them to gain wealth through a brutally effective enslavement system, had been at war with one another for many decades before this victory.

By 1789, Haiti was a colonized state with over 500,000 imported African bondsmen who were overworked, malnourished, and severely oppressed. The oppressed bondsmen began seeking retribution on the night of August 21, 1791, in what is now known as the Haitian Revolution. The proprietors of the plantations were killed after being dragged from their homes and burned at the stake. Over 4,000 French citizens were slain in the following two months, and 180 plantations were destroyed. About two million French francs were lost as a result. In retaliation, the French quickly formed a militia and started fighting back resulting in the death of 15,000 African bondsmen.

To mitigate the volatile situation, The French National Assembly extended citizenship, civil, and political rights to free Africans and mulattoes in March 1792. Slavery was likewise abolished in the island’s Northern Province by Leger-Felicite Sonthonax, a recently appointed governor. These actions did not affect the struggle until January 1, 1804, when independence was declared. According to the “Encyclopedia of African American Politics,” about 200,000 blacks and thousands of mulattos lost their lives because of disease and war.