Talk:Slavery in Haiti

To do

 * François Mackandal
 * Flesh out revolution
 * Flesh out modern day

Proposed Edits
This article should be split into two - Slavery in Saint Domingue and Slavery in Haiti (which, since it was illegal from Haiti's first constitution, should simply re-direct to slavery in Saint-Domingue). Compare with Slavery in the United States which starts at American Revolution. Elements on child labour should be a separate article on Child Labour in Haiti. Anacaona (talk) 11:35, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

This entry has room for great improvement. As suggested above, I plan on fleshing out the modern day slavery section of this article. I feel as if many aspects of the topic are missing such as a discussion of sex trafficking, labor trafficking, child trafficking, anti-trafficking efforts both domestically and internationally, as well as effects of the earthquake on the current state of slavery. I wish to make a few changes in the structure of the page to reflect the new information that I would like to add, which will also make the article flow better.

I will be exploring suitable references by exploring United Nations reports and these academic journals: The Journal of the Society of Latin American Studies, The Journal of Negro History, and The Caribbean Quarterly.

I would appreciate any feedback that will help me on my quest to revise this entry. Any suggestions on possible difficulties or additional references to explore, or general comments about possible sections that should be included in the revised entry would be greatly appreciated. Kdumelle13 (talk) 20:18, 25 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Restaveks are also NOT slaves and isn't a form a slavery. As has mentioned, it is called child labor. A comparison between the conditions of slaves and child laborers are not even comparable. Most children do not object, because of their impoverished state, in which the child may receive a form of commerce (food, housing and sometimes education) and there is no punishment for runaway child laborers. This "form of slavery" is entirely OR, and an author who calls "child labor" slavery is not credible and is not adhering to the definitions of both cases and quite frankly we should know better and ignore them. Child labor and restaveks should be removed from this article. Savvyjack23 (talk) 17:57, 8 June 2017 (UTC)


 * I find no evidence of kidnapping of children in Haiti to warrant child slavery. It seems completely voluntary on the grounds of living impoverished, with the hope of gaining something (or anything) in return. According to the restavek article: "Unlike slaves in the traditional sense, restaveks are not bought or sold or owned, could run away or return to their families, and are typically released from servitude when they become adults (at 15 they would have to legally be paid); however, the restavek system is commonly understood to be a form of slavery." --How can this be understood as slavery? This is entirely contradictory to the premise. A 2009 study by the Pan American Development Foundation found that, "leading indicators of restavèk treatment include work expectations equivalent to adult servants and long hours that surpass the cultural norm for children’s work at home." A contradicting 2002 survey found that restaveks were allowed to sleep as long as or longer than the household children, received fewer beatings, 60 percent or more attended school, and many had their own bed or mat. ---Admits contraction to the conditions of slavery. A human rights violation no doubt, as children are not old enough to make these decisions outright and should not be working adult labor. However, they feel compelled to do so, again because of poverty which is the real form of slavery here and it is that and only that, which leaves them no choice. Savvyjack23 (talk) 18:25, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

Peer Review
Great contributions have been made to this article! For improvement, I would suggest further editing, and I would also advise to look over each claim to ensure that it is neutral. Other than that, the content that has been added has definitely improved the article by giving a more thorough explanation of the various forms of modern day slavery in Haiti. Good job! JOzuna25 (talk) 18:05, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

Peer Review 2
Your contribution addresses many aspects related to the issue in question and definitely improves comprehensiveness of the whole entry. I suggest you revise the article, rewrite and reorganize some sentences. You may also work on illustrations. More explanations about the relation between pictures and the main issue (modern slavery) can be added below these pictures（e.g. the pictures of Haitian girls). In addition, you may clarify the relation between human trafficking and modern slavery. It seems that you address both issues in the article, but you should really focus on modern slavery. Great job overall!Feihuamengxue (talk) 19:54, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

Peer Review 3
Although I do not know much about this topic, I can agree that this article is a good one and that adding more information and comparisons about slavery then and now will improve the article.

Meaganlarson (talk) 00:59, 9 October 2016 (UTC) Meagan Larson

Some Thoughts
I won't elaborate to much on the false equivalency of Human trafficking, child labor vs Institutionalized Slavery. By this logic China is guilty of "enslaving" North Koreans and Russians are guilty of enslaving Russians and Africans for sex. Institutionalized Slavery is significantly different. Following the logic of this Wiki the USA still has slavery.

That said, I would like to know where in Africa did the slaves originate. We group Africans and "Black" as one people, but like "Whites"they are many peoples. Did Haitians and Jamaicans originate from the same regions or Tribes? We do the same to Native Americans. We must understand that the idea of "race" is new. Ethnicity, Tribes and to some extent Nationality were what distinguished and divided people. For example, the Chinese are many ethnicity, but are dominated by the Han. Japan has at least three unrecognized ethnicities... I digress. The descendants of the slaves of the Americas are a blend of many ethnicities, especially in USA and Brazil.

Perhaps, there should be a separate entry for the Historical Slavery of Haiti. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:5500:5081:6D00:6134:D1A1:FBC4:E5CD (talk) 22:39, 25 August 2019 (UTC)

Citation 83 has expired (Global Slavery Index)
Citation 83, https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/haiti/, leads to a 404. The citation is used 12 times. I checked on the first use of the citation, "estimated 237,700 enslaved persons" and found that the 2018 data from https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/data/country-data/haiti/ actually showed 59,000- Off by a factor of FOUR!

If it were only used once, I'd simply replace it on my own, but I'm concerned about the 11 other claims that would be missing citations. Does anyone else have experience with such an extensive change?

CKnowles1170 (talk) 01:02, 23 August 2020 (UTC)

Please fix
First sentence of article..."Slavery in Haiti began after the arrival of Christopher Columbus on the island in 1492 with the European colonists that followed from Portugal, Spain and France."

Second sentence of the "History" section..."In the Pre-Columbian era, other Caribbean tribes would sometimes attack the island to kidnap people into slavery."

Both can't be true. 24.93.109.183 (talk) 05:01, 28 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Undoubtedly slavery in Haiti began with the aboriginal Caribbean tribes; historical (written) slavery began only after Columbus and the Spanish forces subjugated the tribes of the island, making them miners of gold. Aearthrise (talk) 13:53, 28 May 2023 (UTC)

Two Class system prior to colonization
On this site, following your own links, we find that the indigenous people of Haiti were living in a two class system, commoners and overseer with a chief ruler. The claim that Haiti didn’t have slavery before colonialism seems to be wrong. If there is a caste system in place, no social mobility, one group is forced to labor while others are not, that is slavery. 2600:8806:9106:5800:4475:975E:9CB4:8200 (talk) 01:09, 13 February 2024 (UTC)