U.S.-Haiti relations: A primer

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Relations between the United States and Haiti have been closely intertwined since they were separately born in blood in revolutions against European colonizers centuries ago. Often, it has been a thorny relationship involving invasion, race and economic questions.

In the wake of an earthquake that shattered Haiti, President Obama pledged today that the United States would help with rescue and humanitarian efforts. Although it is likely that the United States would help any country in the Caribbean, Obama noted that this disaster was especially devastating.

“For a country and a people who are no strangers to hardship and suffering, this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible,” the president said. “We are reminded of the common humanity that we all share. With just a few hundred miles of ocean between us and a long history that binds us together, Haitians are neighbors of the Americas and here at home. So we have to be there for them in their hour of need.”

The United States and Haiti are the oldest republics in the Western Hemisphere, the United States rebelling against Britain at the end of 18th century and Haiti overthrowing the French at the beginning of the 19th. But whereas the American Revolution was led by the wealthy and educated, Haiti’s uprising was led by Francois-Dominique Toussaint L’ouverture, a black Spartacus, a freed slave leading an army of slaves who traced their lives to Africa.

It was race that kept the United States and Haiti apart in the early years despite their common battle against colonial masters. Southerners feared the former slave republic at a time when slavery was going strong in the United States.

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-- Michael Muskal

Photo gallery: Earthquake hits Haiti | Twitter: Reports from Haiti | Resources: How to help

Top photo: Vice President Joe Biden listens as President Obama makes a statement in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room on Jan. 13. Credit: Brendan Smialowski / Bloomberg News