![]() Descendants of Polish-Haitians were peasants like the great majority of most of the residents on the island. Cazale became a center of their community. He granted the Poles classification as Noir (black), who constituted the new ruling class, and in the constitution granted them full Haitian citizenship. Polish soldiers are credited with contributing to the establishment of the world's first free black republic and the first independent Caribbean state.Īfter Haiti gained its independence, Dessalines recognized the Poles and spared them when he ordered the massacre of most French whites and many free blacks (mulattos) on the island. Władysław Franciszek Jabłonowski, who was half-black, was one of the Polish generals but died of yellow fever soon after reaching Saint-Domingue. Out of those Polish soldiers who remained alongside the French, some intentionally failed to properly follow orders and refused to murder captured prisoners. Surviving Polish soldiers admired their opponents, and some of them eventually turned on the French army and joined the rebelling Haitians. After they arrived and began to be thrown into battle, the Polish platoon learned that the French were trying to suppress an uprising by enslaved Africans fighting for their freedom from white masters.īoth French and Polish soldiers had high mortality, with more dying because of yellow fever than being killed in warfare. Some were told that there was a revolt of prisoners in Saint-Domingue. The Poles may have been hoping to receive French support in restoring Poland's independence from its occupiers- Prussia (later Germany), Russia, and Austria-which divided the country in the late 18th century. In 1802, Napoleon dispatched a Polish legion of around 5,200 men to join the French forces in Saint-Domingue to suppress the Haitian slave rebellion. ![]() They were given special status as Noir (legally considered to be black, not white despite actual race) and full citizenship under the Haitian constitution by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the first ruler of an independent Haiti. Some 400 to 500 of these Poles are believed to have settled in Haiti after the war. Cazale has descendants of surviving members of Napoleon's Polish Legionnaires which were forced into combat by Napoleon but later joined the Haitian slaves during the Haitian Revolution. Cazale, a small village in the hills about 30 kilometres (19 mi) away from Port-au-Prince, is considered the main center of population of the ethnic Polish community in Haiti, but there are other villages as well. Polish Haitians ( Haitian Creole: Polonè-Ayisyen, colloquially: Lepologne Polish: Polscy Haitańczycy, Polonia w Haiti, Polacy w Haiti French: Haïtiens polonais) are Haitian people of Polish ancestry dating to the early 19th century a few may be Poles of more recent native birth who have gained Haitian citizenship. Minority of Polish ancestry in the Caribbean island of Haiti Polish Haitian Regions with significant populationsĬazale, Cap-Haïtien, Fond-des-Blancs, Jacmel, La Baleine, La Vallée-de-Jacmel, Port-Salut, Saint-Jean-du-Sud ![]()
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