Haiti Paid for Its Own Freedom for 122 Years

In July 1825, French warships arrived at Port-au-Prince with a bill: 150 million francs for the freedom Haiti had already won. This map-driven history follows the money from the ultimatum to the double debt, the banks, and the American takeover of Haiti's finances, and separates what is documented from what is only modelled. Was it a debt or a ransom? We test it three ways: was it coerced, did it become a machine of loans, taxes and banks, and how much of Haiti's poverty can it honestly explain. Cost estimates are attributed to the New York Times' models and are contested. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:33 1. The Richest Colony 4:20 2. The Ultimatum 8:28 3. The Double Debt 11:15 4. Who Actually Paid 14:54 5. The Debt Crosses the Ocean 17:25 6. The Number Everyone Argues About Sources: The New York Times, "The Root of Haiti's Misery" (20 May 2022): https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/wo... The New York Times, "Haiti's Lost Billions" timeline: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2... The New York Times, "Banks and the Eiffel Tower" (CIC): https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/wo... The New York Times, Aristide restitution campaign: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/wo... Wikipedia, Haitian independence debt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian... #mapsodic #haiti #history #maps Watch next: How America Bought a Continent, and Failed to Buy Greenland:    • How America Bought a Continent — and Faile...