Haitian American - History

History

During the 1790s, Haiti was the main place of exploitation sugar cane in the world, being also the most affluent of the French colonies. Haitians, whose country was populated by a majority slave (original Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Africa), rebelled against their owners and began fighting for independence. However, this rebellion caused a mass exodus encouraged by panic: Many whites of French descent and blacks, free and slave, emigrated to the United States seaports establishing large French-speaking communities in New Orleans, Norfolk, Baltimore, New York City, and Boston. France was a good place to live only for college and for some Haitian middle-class people, but most Haitians were poor. For this reason, many Haitians decided to emigrate to United States. This migration is basically developed between the late eighteenth and the nineteenth century. Thus, many Haitians living in the United States studied in college. After of this period, there are four period of migrated en masse o United States in the history of Haiti: the United States occupation of Haiti, the Duvalier regime, and the overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Between 1957 to 1986, when the Duvaliers ruled Haiti, the political persecution that suffer the Haitians caused that many Haitian professionals, the middle class, and students emigrated to others countries. Haitians in sought political asylum or permanent residence status in many countries such as the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, France, Dominican Republic. Between 1977 and 1981, 60,000 Haitian boat people landed in South Florida, most of them migrated to a neighborhood called "Little Haiti".

In the 1980s, many Haitian immigrants arrived in the United States by boat on the shores of Florida. They were known as the "boat people." In these years was also a significant brain drain from Haiti, since early 1980s, thousands of Haitian doctors, teachers, Social Workers and entrepreneurs moved from Haiti to New York and Miami. Haitians also began working in restaurants and music stores. In 1986, 40,000 Haitians who came to the United States seeking political asylum, achieved permanent resident status. In 1991, there was another wave of Haitian boat people. However, with the government of Clinton, many were not allowed to reach the shores of the United States, so that they were stopped at sea, and back to Haiti. others were detained. Between 1995 and 1998, 50,000 Haitians obtained temporary legal status.