At a Glance
Haiti: References & Edit History
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Additional Reading
General works
Useful introductions include Thomas E. Weil et al., Haiti: A Country Study (1982); Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, Haiti: The Breached Citadel, rev. and updated ed. (2004); and Charles Arthur, Haiti: A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture (2002). Robert Lawless, Haiti’s Bad Press: Origins, Development, and Consequences (1992), gives a well-documented account of how outsiders have viewed Haiti. A helpful collection is Charles R. Foster and Albert Valdman (eds.), Haiti—Today and Tomorrow: An Interdisciplinary Study (1984). Robert Lawless, Haiti: A Research Handbook (1990), provides an extensive guide to the literature up to 1990.
Geography
Guy Lasserre, Paul Moral, and Pierre Usselmann (eds.), Atlas d’Haïti (1985), is a collection of maps and French-language discussions. An important source on the geography of the colony of Saint-Domingue is Médéric-Louis-Elie Moreau de Saint-Méry, A Civilization That Perished: The Last Years of White Colonial Rule in Haiti, trans. and ed. by Ivor D. Spencer (1985; originally published in French, 2 vol., 1797–98), a significant but still useful abridgement of the French version.
Society and culture
The classic caste interpretation of Black-mulatto relations is the 1941 study by James G. Leyburn, The Haitian People, rev. ed. (1966, reprinted 1980). David Nicholls, From Dessalines to Duvalier: Race, Colour, and National Independence in Haiti, rev. ed. (1996), offers a contemporary reexamination. Some noteworthy insights into a particular societal element are found in Michel S. Laguerre, The Military and Society in Haiti (1993).
The classic anthropological work is Melville J. Herskovits, Life in a Haitian Valley (1937, reissued 2007). The best writing on present-day rural Haiti is Timothy T. Schwartz, Fewer Men, More Babies: Sex, Family, and Fertility in Haiti (2009). A literary-oriented work is J. Michael Dash, Culture and Customs of Haiti (2001). Also useful are Harold Courlander, The Drum and the Hoe: Life and Lore of the Haitian People (1960); and Brian Weinstein and Aaron Segal, Haiti: The Failure of Politics (1992).
Religion
Alfred Métraux, Voodoo in Haiti (1959), was the first authentic full-length account of Vodou (Voodoo). Two contemporary accounts are Joan Dayan, Haiti, History, and the Gods (1995); and Elizabeth McAlister, Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora (2002). Karen McCarthy Brown, Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, updated and expanded ed. (2001), perceptively explores the influence of Vodou outside Haiti. Leslie G. Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti (1992), examines the relationship of Vodou to Roman Catholicism.
Economy
Mats Lundahl, Politics or Markets?: Essays on Haitian Underdevelopment (1992), provides an excellent overview of economic problems. Collections giving more information include Deidre McFadyen (ed.), Haiti: Dangerous Crossroads (1995); and Robert I. Rotberg (ed.), Haiti Renewed: Political and Economic Prospects (1997). Jennie M. Smith, When the Hands Are Many: Community Organization and Social Change in Rural Haiti (2001), examines grassroots organization among the rural population. Timothy T. Schwartz, Travesty in Haiti: A True Account of Christian Missions, Orphanages, Fraud, Food Aid, and Drug Trafficking (2008), documents the adverse effects of U.S. aid policies and practices on the Haitian economy.
History
The best-known histories include the Nicholls work cited above; Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Nation, State, and Society in Haiti, 1804–1984 (1985); Robert Debs Heinl and Nancy Gordon Heinl, Written in Blood: The Story of the Haitian People, 1492–1995, 3rd ed. newly rev. and expanded by Michael Heinl (2005); and the classic C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution (1938; 2nd ed., rev., 1963). A useful collection of historical and contemporary writing is Charles Arthur and Michael Dash (eds.), A Haiti Anthology: Libète (1999). The classic work on Haiti’s important relationship with the United States is Brenda Gayle Plummer, Haiti and the United States: The Psychological Moment (1992). Paul Farmer, The Uses of Haiti, 3rd ed. (2006), discusses the nature and effects of foreign involvement in Haiti. A good discussion on François Duvalier is Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Haiti, State Against Nation: The Origins and Legacy of Duvalierism (1990). Peter Hallward, Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment (2007), is an important work on Jean-Bertrand Aristide, especially his relationship with the United States.
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
- James A. Ferguson
- Christian Antoine Girault
- Murdo J. MacLeod
- Robert Lawless
-
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Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Country Profile: Literacy rate removed. | Aug 28, 2026 | ||
| Added top questions and noted Haiti's participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. | Jun 19, 2026 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated Head of government. | Nov 12, 2024 | ||
| Modified title of Web site: Teach Democracy - Haiti and the Boat People. | Aug 09, 2024 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated Head of state and Head of government. | Jun 10, 2024 | ||
| Link added. | Apr 08, 2024 | ||
| Updated to mention widespread gang violence in Port-au-Prince. | Mar 08, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Teach Democracy - Haiti and the Boat People. | Feb 06, 2024 | ||
| Link added. | Aug 03, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: GlobalSecurity.org - Haiti. | Aug 24, 2022 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated Head of state and Head of government. | Sep 20, 2021 | ||
| Updated for the assassination of Jovenel Moïse. | Jul 08, 2021 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated for the assassination of Jovenel Moïse. | Jul 07, 2021 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated head of government. | Apr 19, 2021 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated head of government. | Mar 06, 2020 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated head of government. | May 10, 2019 | ||
| Add new Web site: The University of Kansas - Institute of Haitian Studies - HAITI: A Brief History of a Complex Nation. | Jan 16, 2019 | ||
| In the People section, updated urban-rural breakdown. | Dec 28, 2018 | ||
| Add new Web site: Official Site of the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti in Washington, DC, United States. | Jul 18, 2018 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated head of government. | Jan 04, 2018 | ||
| Add new Web site: National Geographic Kids - Countries - Haiti. | May 02, 2017 | ||
| Corrected display issue. | Feb 24, 2017 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated head of state. | Feb 10, 2017 | ||
| Updated History section regarding the aftermath of the intended 2015 presidential election. | Aug 09, 2016 | ||
| In Economy section, revised text regarding export destinations. | May 18, 2016 | ||
| In Economy section, added data chart. | May 18, 2016 | ||
| In People section, added data charts. | May 16, 2016 | ||
| In People section, revised text regarding religion and demographic trends. | May 16, 2016 | ||
| Added locator map to the Introduction. | May 16, 2016 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated Head of government. | Mar 30, 2016 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated head of government. | Feb 29, 2016 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated Head of state. | Feb 17, 2016 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated head of state. | Feb 12, 2016 | ||
| Updated for elections of 2015 and President Michel Martelly's leaving office. | Feb 09, 2016 | ||
| Photograph of January 2016 protests added to History section. | Feb 09, 2016 | ||
| Updated history section for Martelly's dissolution of parliament. | Jun 09, 2015 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated head of government. | Jan 28, 2015 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated head of government. | Dec 22, 2014 | ||
| Deleted photograph. | Jun 11, 2014 | ||
| Add new Web site: The Catholic Encyclopedia - Haiti. | Feb 26, 2013 | ||
| Add new Web site: Foreign and Commonwealth Office - Haiti. | Dec 27, 2012 | ||
| Add new Web site: Iloveindia.com - Haiti. | Dec 27, 2012 | ||
| Add new Web site: Maps of World - Haiti. | Dec 27, 2012 | ||
| Updated for damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. | Nov 05, 2012 | ||
| Changed Justice and Constitutional framework sections to reflect amendments to the constitution. | Jul 23, 2012 | ||
| Changed Religion section to reflect removal of special protection for Vodou from the constitution. | Jul 23, 2012 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated name of prime minister to Laurent Lamothe. | May 16, 2012 | ||
| Country Profile: Added name of head of state and head of government, along with urban-rural, life expectancy, literacy, and GNI per capita statistics. | Feb 27, 2012 | ||
| Updated Administration section for 2011 election results. | Apr 21, 2011 | ||
| Updated for final results of 2010–11 national elections. | Apr 21, 2011 | ||
| Updated for result of March 2011 presidential run-off election. | Apr 05, 2011 | ||
| Updated death tolls from 2010 earthquake and cholera epidemic. | Mar 02, 2011 | ||
| National anthem added. | Dec 21, 2010 | ||
| History section handled to add mention of refugee camps in Port-au-Prince and the cholera outbreak in the country. | Oct 26, 2010 | ||
| Information about the Smithsonian Institution's cultural restoration efforts added. | May 18, 2010 | ||
| Introduction thoroughly revised. | Feb 18, 2010 | ||
| History section thoroughly revised. | Feb 18, 2010 | ||
| "Cultural life" section thoroughly revised and updated. | Feb 18, 2010 | ||
| Media added. | Feb 18, 2010 | ||
| Land section thorougly revised. | Feb 18, 2010 | ||
| "Government and society" section thoroughly revised and updated. | Feb 18, 2010 | ||
| Bibliography thoroughly revised and updated. | Feb 18, 2010 | ||
| People section thoroughly revised. | Feb 18, 2010 | ||
| "Economy" section thoroughly revised and updated. | Feb 18, 2010 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated area and population figures. | Feb 12, 2010 | ||
| "Land" section thoroughly revised and updated. | Jan 13, 2010 | ||
| Media added. | Jan 13, 2010 | ||
| History section thoroughly revised and updated. | Jan 13, 2010 | ||
| Country Profile: Updated Official name. | Oct 20, 2009 | ||
| Added new Web site: National Geographic - Travel and Cultures - Haiti. | Apr 20, 2009 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Mar 25, 2009 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Sep 11, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: Lonely Planet - The Channel Islands, Europe. | May 22, 2008 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Dec 14, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: Official Site of the Embassy of The Republic of Haiti in Washington, D.C. | Aug 16, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: Library of Congress - Haiti - Selected Internet Resources. | Aug 08, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - Haiti. | Jul 25, 2006 | ||
| Article revised. | Mar 25, 2004 | ||
| Article revised. | Sep 14, 2001 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Aug 24, 1998 |
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