[thegaulofthem]

> (It could be worse: Haitians who had freed themselves from slavery by the mass murder of their oppressors were made to pay a huge amount of compensation to them!)

At risk of starting a fun flame war, it’s more complicated than that.

Outside of a contingent of Polish mercenaries, whom were deemed something to the effect of honorary blacks, the new former slave regime effectively genocided the whites of the island. Men, women, children, the works. Not only that, but they threw in the mixed as well. Then went about taking all of everyone’s property.

I don’t know where the exact reasonable line is for revenge when you’ve been enslaved, but I’m certain they went well and unquestionably over it.

To that end, I don’t know where the reasonable counter-balance is for France to make claim against the former slave colony for its crimes against humanity but the idea that they have clean hands and or are owed something is an appalling revisionist history of the country.

[tourmalinetaco]

> appalling revisionist history

And this is where most of the problems lie. It’s like a game of telephone, someone says one thing and its passes along until its an extremely toned down propagandist version of what it was before.

[skydhash]

> I don’t know where the exact reasonable line is for revenge when you’ve been enslaved, but I’m certain they went well and unquestionably over it.

If so, pretty much every nation is guilty of genocide. The Spanish eliminated the natives in Hispaniola and Latin America. Saint Domingue was basically a meat grinder under the French. There were basically no international law, only allies. I don’t condemn genocide, but do you think if the rebellion failed, the French would have pardoned everyone? Dessalines was guilty of genocide, but most other nations have done worse (Napoleon and his wars).

N.B. Haiti is very small. And the white population was tiny at the time. People always going on about that because black slaves killed white slave owners 200 years ago.